Enjoying a summer night Friday as they would love to do more often, the Padres served themselves several scoops of ice cream.
There was the series-opening win over the Dodgers, a 7-1 decision.
As for the smaller scoops:
On top of quieting Dodgers fans, who were making Petco Park feel like Dodger Stadium — a mini-trend that’s rearing its Big Blue head this weekend — the Padres earned a tactical victory.
By mustering four insurance runs, their offense gave Mason Miller the night off after he’d warmed up in anticipation of pitching the ninth inning.
If you think that detail wasn’t important, give a listen to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and his counterpart.
“We needed to get Mason Miller in that game, and unfortunately, we didn’t,” said Roberts, who preferred to see Miller try to close out a 3-1 game rather than loom as a potentially greater threat Saturday and Sunday.
Said Craig Stammen: “Giving Mason an extra day (off) allows us to use him a little more aggressively the next couple of days.”
The managers’ comments reaffirmed that Miller is baseball’s best closer.
“The Reaper,” more so than most relief aces, affects not just games but series.
As the uber-closer warmed up in Friday’s eighth inning with the Padres ahead 3-1, Roberts tried to steal a scoreless inning with reliever Jonathan Hernández.
Hernández is having a rough, if brief, ride this season. The powerful righty, 29, joined the Dodgers last month after the Phillies chose not to promote him from Triple-A, making him a free agent.
But we’ve seen the Dodgers, year after year, hit the jackpot with low-cost relievers.
This time the Padres didn’t let that happen.
Gavin Sheets poked a one-out single. Xander Bogaerts and Ty France earned walks. Sung-Mun Song bounced a two-out single to center field. France, drawing a throw to third base that got him thrown out, ensured Bogaerts would score behind pinch-runner Jase Bowen.
By the time Rodolfo Durán hit a finesse double and Fernando Tatis Jr. drove a firm single, each driving in a run, Roberts was doing a slow boil.
“The Reaper” was on Doc’s mind.
“With Mason Miller at the back end, you just can’t walk guys, and then you open yourself up to soft contact, infield’s got to play in,” he said.
Reminder: Padres relievers have rescued this team, and perhaps this season.
They’ve bought time for an offense that’s stood last or near last in runs scored, and they’ve offset a fair amount of pain caused by Padres starters. On this night, the bullpen got some relief from other units.
“Always great to add on runs, no matter when it is,” Miller said. “Especially late. Anything can happen down the stretch of the game. So, you put a couple of insurance runs on there, and feel pretty good going into the ninth.”
Saturday, the Dodgers erupted.
Easing Roberts’ concerns about Miller being available to get six outs, as he did in the middle game of this week’s sweep of the Braves, the Dodgers’ offense caught fire.
If there was a bright spot to L.A.’s barrage against Randy Vásquez, who may need a reset, it was this:
I can bring up underrated George Hendrick of the 1977 Padres.
The nine runs Saturday by L.A. were its most in San Diego since a 10-run frame in Mission Valley against the ‘77 Padres, for whom Silent George played a good center field and batted .311 with 23 home runs and an adjusted OPS 45% above the league average.
Dodgers fans were even more of a presence Saturday than they usually are in the East Village.
Their cheers at Petco Park were thunderous.
Again, I’ll never criticize Padres season ticket holders for selling their tickets to Dodgers games. The profits can defray the cost of several other tickets, boosting Padres revenues and fan support. No one needs reminding that gas costs six bucks a gallon. Or that San Diego stands as one of the country’s least affordable cities.
Barring the Padres becoming as good as the Dodgers are, I don’t see how the Padres can ensure that Dodgers fans won’t snap up tickets and create a Chavez Ravine vibe when their team succeeds.