"Their plan is working" - MLB analyst roasts Dodgers' fierce rivals with brutal trade deadline dig

The Los Angeles Dodgers had their 70th win of the season against the San Diego Padres with a 6-0 victory on Saturday. The Dodgers also won the series opener yesterday to end their four-game losing skid.

During their losing streak the Dodgers conceded the NL West lead to the San Diego Padres. But the Dodgers retook the lead partly due to their rivals' performance.

San Diego's starter Dylan Cease was off the radar from the start. He allowed four walks in the very first inning. But that trend continued when in the next frame, Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith drew their 2nd walks of the game.

With two outs, Freddie Freeman came to the box but what seemed like a routine flyball catch attempt was dropped by Jackson Merrill for his first error of the season. The Dodgers took a 5-0 lead in the process.

It was insured with a home run from Teoscar Hernandez, capping off his team's win. L.A. Times journalist Dylan Hernandez had a fun way to describe the Dodgers' performance, trolling the Padres to have brought out the best in them after murky form.

"Instead of improving their team at the trade deadline, the Dodgers decided to count on the Padres self-destructing again. The plan is working," Hernandez wrote.

Mike Shildt comments on Padres' unusual game

Padres manager Mike Shildt acknowledged that the end result of the game was different to what the Padres had planned.

"That was an odd game," said Mike Shildt. "Not happy to get thrown out, we had a plan, they made some plays and when you're down it hurts a little bit more. It's an odd game when you out-hit a team and lose 6-0."

The Padres would hope to get the win in the series finale on Sunday to get equal with Dodgers in the standings.

About the author

Nikhil Parshy is a baseball and ice hockey journalist at Sportskeeda, and after starting out as a cricket reporter, he has been an analyst with SK since November 2022. His interest in the sports were piqued a few years back after watching highlights on YouTube and he has followed the game ever since.

The Chicago Cubs breaking the 108-year curse in 2016 to lift the World Series remains Nikhil's favorite baseball moment. Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani has been his favorite player ever since he started following the game, while the LA Dodgers are his favorite team.

As a writer, Nikhil maintains a strong attention to detail and rigorously cross-checks information. He seeks to strike a balance in his writing such that the regular reader gains an insight into player profiles, while also keeping in mind that the non-regular reader is not put off by jargon and shallow analysis.

Nikhil is an avid public speaker, and when not writing about baseball, he regularly participates in debates and quizzes.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash