“It’s the Padres.”

Keep telling yourself this.

Yes, a win’s a win, but a win over the (now) 50-81 National League West cellar dwellers is supposed to happen, especially for a Dodgers team that once led the division but has lost six of their last 10 games and currently sits in third place within the division.

Now, if the Dodgers can pull off a series win or perhaps even a three-game sweep over the (now) .382 Friars, the team that they no-hit back on May 4 in Monterrey, Mexico and have beaten 10 of 14 times thus far this season, then we may be onto something here.

The truth of the matter is that dressed in their annual Player’s Weekend uniforms and in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 47,559, the Dodgers actually looked like those once first place Dodgers again; something that they haven’t done in nearly a month. They actually hit the snot out of the ball for a change and actually went (brace yourselves) 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while stranded only seven runners on base. No … really.

In fact, by the end of the fifth inning, every Dodger in the starting line-up had a hit, including left-hander Rich Hill (aka: D Mountain), with his two-RBI single to center field to make it a (then) 9-0 ballgame. When the dust finally settled, the Dodgers had amassed 11 runs on 13 hits, including home runs by left fielder Chris Taylor, third baseman Justin Turner, and a monster pinch-hit bomb by Max Muncy that landed halfway up the Right Field Pavilion.

Muncy does his signature bat drop after crushing Padres right-hander Phil Maton‘s 91-mph fastball, sending it halfway up the Right Field Pavilion for a pinch-hit two-run home run in the seventh inning on Friday night.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

It was beautiful and exactly what the struggling Dodgers – and their fans – so desperately needed.

“We definitely needed a win,” Hill told reporters after the Dodgers lopsided 11-1 win over the Padres. “Everything needs to be tightened up as we move on here into September. As we know, things get amplified and you want to be as close to perfection as you can be.”

Perfection indeed.

In fact, the 38-year-old Boston, Massachusetts native and 14-year MLB veteran left-hander took a perfect game into the fifth inning, when Padres left fielder Hunter Renfroe finally laced a leadoff double into the right field corner. He would, however, be left stranded on base, as the crafty left-hander worked his was out of the inning with runners at the corners.

Sporting his Player’s Week ‘D Mountain’ jersey, Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill was absolutely brilliant on Friday evening, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning. He would finish his night allowing no runs and only two hits, while walking none and striking out eight in his six innings of work. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

As for his two-run base hit, the 6′-5″ / 220-pound shared his analytical hitting prowess with reporters after the game.

“Yeah… I closed my eyes. Predetermined swing and he hit my barrel. I’ll take it,” Hill kidded.

The lone Padres run came at the expense of just-turned-28-year-old (on August 18) Dodgers right-hander Yimi Garcia, who had been activated from the 10-day disabled list for right forearm Inflammation just prior to Friday night’s game. The Moca, Dominican Republic native took over for Dodgers right-hander Pedro Baez in the top of the eighth inning. Garcia gave up a leadoff single to Padres center fielder Manuel Margot and then a one-out double to Padres shortstop Freddy Galvis before retiring the side without further damage.

Turner put the Dodgers recent struggles and their inability to hit with runners in scoring position into perspective following Friday night’s dominating win.

“A lot has been said about hitting with runners in scoring position, so it was good to get that off our back early and hopefully we can settle down and relax and continue to take good at-bats in those situations,” Turner said. “Offense is contagious. All year long, when it goes good early, it goes really good. When opportunities are lost early, it seems to build up and that anticipation or anxiety of those at-bats as the game goes on instead of just shrugging it off. It’s something most guys in here are aware that we have to do a better job. But I don’t think the recipe is to try harder. It’s to relax and not try to do as much.”

Although the game was pretty much out of reach when Turner hit his two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning on Friday night, the Dodgers offensive outburst was a welcomed sight for anxious Dodger fans.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

While the Dodgers were beating up on the lowly Padres on Friday, they got some much-needed help from the St. Louis Cardinals and the Seattle Mariners, who defeated the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks respectively. By doing so, the Dodgers chipped away at the two teams’ lead over them in the NL West standings and they now trail the second place Rockies by 2.5 games and the division-leading Dbacks by 3.5 games, with 33 games remaining in the 2018 regular season. As such, the seven games remaining between the Dodgers and Dbacks, and the six games remaining between the Dodgers and Rockies loom even larger down the stretch.

But first the Dodgers need to do to the Padres what they are supposed to do to the Padres – sweep them.

After all, “It’s the Padres.”