Padres' season is already cursed thanks to Jake Cronenworth's broken glove
Padres can only hope brutal luck isn't a preview of what's to come.
The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers opened their season eight days before the rest of MLB as they played in a special two-game series in Seoul, South Korea. Fans all over the world tuned in regardless of the time and watched an entertaining game between these two NL West rivals.
The Padres held onto a slim 2-1 lead entering the top of the eighth inning as the Dodgers struggled mightily to come through with runners on base. The Dodgers were determined to change that in the eighth inning as they loaded the bases with nobody out. Kikè Hernandez drove in the tying run with a deep sacrifice fly, and the Dodgers were threatening for more.
Los Angeles had runners on first and second and one out as they looked to take the lead. An innocent-looking ground ball to the right side looked like the inning-ending double play ball that Adrian Morejon was looking for, but disaster struck.
Padres can only hope brutal luck isn't a preview of what's to come
omg the Dodgers just scored the go-ahead run because the ball went through Jake Cronenworth's glove pic.twitter.com/eXrPDQr8g3
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 20, 2024
The ground ball hit by Gavin Lux went right through the webbing of Jake Cronenworth's glove. He was in position to make the stop and potentially start an inning-ending double play, but the baseball gods said no.
The Dodgers would take the lead on that play and would tack on two more on RBI singles from their two best players, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, to extend their lead to 5-2.
The Padres held on all game long until absolutely brutal luck wound up costing them the game. There's a good chance if Cronenworth fielded that ball cleanly the Padres would've been out of the inning with the game tied. At the very worst it looked like they'd at least get one out on the play. They wound up getting none, and it cost them a huge game.
The Padres were hoping this game would be the start of a special season for them. Yes, last season was wildly disappointing, but they just made a big trade to land Dylan Cease and have talent everywhere you turn. This kind of start is the worst-case scenario for San Diego as not only did they lose, but luck was not on their side. When luck isn't on your side, it becomes increasingly harder to win baseball games.
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