Just like their playoff elimination here last October, the Dodgers watched a winnable game slip away in an 8-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Saturday.
And just like last year, their defeat was sealed during a late-game collapse, the Padres mounting a seven-run, eighth-inning rally that was eerily full of uncomfortably familiar sights.
There was the score, with the Dodgers leading 3-1 just as they had during Game 4 of last year’s National League Division Series.
There was the pitcher, with right-hander Yency Almonte featuring prominently in another bullpen meltdown.
There was an extended, unrelenting offense from an underdog Padres squad, which began the night two games under .500 and 10 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
And, of course, there was the chant from a sold-out Petco Park crowd, passionately chanting “Beat LA!” deep into the San Diego night.
Granted, the stakes Saturday were nowhere near as high as they were last October. The repercussions will be limited, as well, with two games remaining in this early August series.
Still, for a Dodgers team that had won four straight games since an underwhelming trade deadline, Saturday’s result sent them plummeting back to earth.
In a series the Dodgers could have potentially put a fork in their Southern California rivals, they instead gave a fourth-place — but nonetheless talented — Padres team a sudden burst of new life.