Following his team’s ugly 4-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in front of another sold out Petco Park crowd of 43,881 (a good many of whom were Dodgers fans) during which his team managed only four hits (three singles and one double) and only one walk (Andy Pages in the top of the fifth inning to give the Dodgers their first base runner of the game), Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters:

Truer words have never been spoken.

Roberts’ team went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base, which led to the current 22-21 NL West second place Padres taking two of three from the current 27-15 NL West first place Dodgers.

But perhaps of greater note in Sunday’s loss was that in only his second start since returning from the injured list after missing most of the 2022 season and all of the 2023 season after two Tommy John surgeries, 29-year-old Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler stood tall and owned up to his rough outing.

“It’s gonna take me a minute,” the entremely popular 29-year-old Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt University told reporters. “I don’t think you can recreate everything that goes along with being a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues, and, you know, I want to get deep into games and set us up to win, and I didn’t do that today.

“But I think in this rehab thing, you kinda gotta also look at the good things, and so, you know, I threw some good pitches and got into some bad counts, and good hitters put good swings on it. But I think I’m even a little bit more encouraged today than I was the last one.”

Buehler allowed three earned runs on five hits in his 3.1 innings of work, during which he walked two and struck out two on 77 total pitches, of which 45 were strikes.

As for that “…didn’t threaten” thing, Dodgers future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts had two of those four Dodgers hit, including his 11th double of the season in the top of the sixth inning. It was the Dodgers only extra base hit of the game.

But what’s done is done, and it’s on to San Francisco for three games against ‘The Hated Ones.’

Play Ball!

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