Padres’ Manny Machado hails Blake Snell as “big competitor” ahead of game vs. Dodgers

The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers clashed for a crucial National League West series with the series opener hosted at Petco Park on Friday.

After suffering a series sweep in Los Angeles over the weekend, Manny Machado and the Apdres were out for revenge against the reigning World Series winners at home.

Machado and. Co. were facing former Padres hurler Blake Snell from the mound in the series opener on Friday. The All-Star slugger hailed his former teammate ahead of the contest. Machado said on Marty Caswell's MartyTimeTv:

"We faced him for the first time last series. We gotta go out there and compete with him, he's definitely a big competitor and trying to go out there and outcompete him."

Snell pitched seven strong innings for the Dodgers in the series opener, allowing two runs with five strikeouts. However, the two-time Cy Young winner was unable to stop the Padres from winning 2-1 on the night.

Dodgers manager hails Blake Snell despite defeat in series opener against rivals

While Blake Snell was solid from the mound in his seven innings, the Dodgers hitters failed to back their ace, scoring just once in the game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hailed the performance of the ace.

"Really good lineup and he really navigated it. Got through seven innings. Just a really stellar performance," Roberts said of Snell,

The Dodgers hitters were unable to get past Padres ace Yu Darvish, who allowed just one run over a single hit across six innings. The Dodgers manager acknowledged his team's shortcomings after the loss.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out Darvish," Roberts said. "They went to the ’pen, and [we] really threatened a couple times late but just couldn't get that big hit."

With the narrow win in the series opener, the Padres have tied the Dodgers at the top of the NL West with a 73-56 record. The remaining games of the series are expected to deliver another hard-fought contest between the fierce rivals.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash