Padres become 1st MLB team to be shut out in 1st 3 games

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- No major league baseball team has ever been as futile in its first three games as the San Diego Padres.

The Padres simply couldn't find home plate in their opening series against their biggest rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first major league team to be shut out in its first three games.

The Padres set the MLB mark with 27 straight scoreless innings to open a season. The old mark was 26 by the 1943 St. Louis Browns, according to STATS.

"There is still perspective here, not to be lost," rookie manager Andy Green said after the Padres' 7-0 loss Wednesday night. "We still do have 159 games left and we will score runs this year. And we will win series this year."

But this was bad.

The Padres were outscored 25-0 in the opening series against the Dodgers. Their 15-0 setback on Monday was the most lopsided opening day shutout in major league history. The Padres lost 3-0 Tuesday night.

And Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda not only won his major league debut, but he hit his first home run.

The Padres thought they'd ended their scoreless streak in the sixth. Although Cory Spangenberg was called out trying to score on a grounder to first, the Padres appealed. A replay appeared to show Spangenberg got his foot across the plate before being tagged by A.J. Ellis. After a review of 3:02, the call was upheld.

"The reality is this: We had ample opportunities to score runs and I'm not going to cry about a call that is made in New York," Green said. "We had two chances with a guy on third base and we hit two soft ground balls. That is our opportunity."

The Padres had runners on first and third with one out in the fourth before Maeda retired Yangervis Solarte and Derek Norris.

With one out in the fourth, Maeda drove an 0-2 pitch from Andrew Cashner (0-1) into the seats in left field.

Maeda (1-0) waved to the crowd as he rounded third base and then got the silent treatment in the dugout from his teammates, who then mobbed him.

The right-hander signed an eight-year deal with the Dodgers in January after spending eight seasons with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese Central League.

His delivery bears some resembles to that of former Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo, with a pause at the top. He threw a full repertoire of pitches: two- and four-seam fastballs, sliders, curveballs and a changeup. Nomo, the first Japanese player to permanently join the majors, is now a special adviser to the Padres' baseball operations.

Maeda scattered five hits in six innings, struck out four and walked none.

Yasiel Puig also homered for the Dodgers, his first.

Cashner labored in the first, throwing 43 pitches, and the Dodgers jumped on him for four runs on four hits.

Chase Utley tripled on Cashner's sixth pitch and scored on Justin Turner's one-out RBI. Adrian Gonzalez drew the first of his three walks and scored on Carl Crawford's two-out double. Joc Pederson followed with a two-run single.

"It's definitely tough when a pitcher puts you in a hole like I did, the team in the hole by giving up four runs," Cashner said.

"It will come. It was just three games, three bad games. But I believe in these guys in the locker room and I believe in myself and there's no doubt we will come out of it. It's tough any time you lose but especially to those guys. I mean we play 162 games and it's one bad series we just got to play better from here on out."

TRAINERS ROOM

Dodgers: C Yasmani Grandal (forearm) and 2B Howie Kendrick (calf) will play in simulated games Friday. Both are expected to join the team for Tuesday's home opener. ... 3B Justin Turner, who is coming back from knee surgery, might sit on Thursday in San Francisco. Manager Dave Roberts said he's being cautious with Turner in day games after night contests.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: LHP Alex Wood begins his second season with L.A. with a scheduled start against RHP Jake Peavy and the Giants in the opener of a four-game series at San Francisco.

Padres: After a day off, the Padres begin a three-game series at Colorado with RHP Colin Rea (0-0, 9.00) scheduled to start against RHP Jordan Lyles. Rea pitched one inning Monday in the Padres' 15-0 loss to the Dodgers.