Shohei Ohtani managed to get on base, but the Dodgers were held down by Darvish and lost the game.

In the highly anticipated first game of the three-game series at home, the San Diego Padres, led by Yu Darvish's strong pitching, suppressed the Dodgers’ lineup, which only managed three hits throughout the game. Ultimately, the Padres narrowly defeated the Dodgers 2-1, securing their fourth consecutive win and catching up to the Dodgers, tying for the division lead.

Five days ago, Darvish, who started against the Dodgers and gave up 4 runs in 4 innings, today threw just 74 pitches to complete 6 innings, striking out 5, walking 2, and allowing only one hit. Although that hit was a career-first home run by Dodgers rookie Alex Freeland in the top of the third inning, Darvish only gave up that single run, successfully shutting down the Dodgers’ offense.

After Darvish left the game, the Dodgers managed to get runners in scoring position with two walks in the top of the eighth and hit two more hits in the top of the ninth, but still failed to score. Ultimately, the Padres avenged their sweep by the Dodgers in last week’s three-game away series by winning the first home game this week.

Dodgers starter Blake Snell threw a season-high 97 pitches in this game, pitching 7 full innings for the first time this season, with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks, giving up 6 hits. Among those, one walk and three hits occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning, which led to the Padres scoring 2 runs to take the lead. Although he only allowed those 2 runs, he suffered his second loss of the season (3 wins).

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who posted a .385/.512/.754 slash line in his first 18 games in August, returned to the starting lineup after a day off. He drew one walk but went hitless in his other three at-bats. Despite two of those hits being among the hardest-hit balls by any batter that day, both were caught, and he was unable to contribute in this crucial matchup.