Costly Dodgers miscue resulted in back-breaking Padres' triple play

Tuesday night, opener of the last Dodgers-Padres game series of the season, 4-2 San Diego in the bottom of the ninth, no outs and runners on first and second, Miguel Rojas at the plate and Shohei Ohtani on deck.

Despite trailing by two, this was the most ideal situation the Dodgers could've found themselves in for this particular circumstance, especially given the preceding eight innings. Ohtani has been batting .548 with a 1.814 OPS since LA's series against the Marlins last week, and even if Rojas grounded into a double play, Ohtani would still have the opportunity to tie the game.

So, what's the play? Move runners up with a rare Dodgers bunt and take the out at first to get Ohtani to the plate seems like the move, right? Right?

Evidently not. After some announcer wizardry from the Padres' booth, Rojas swung on the second pitch he saw, a 100 MPH heater inside. He tapped the ball straight to Manny Machado at third, who stepped on the bag for the first force out. He tossed to Jake Cronenworth at second, beating a sliding Kiké Hernández. Cronenworth finished the relay with a missile to Donovan Solano at first to get Rojas by a step. Triple play. Game over, 4-2 Padres, one of the worst Dodgers losses of the season and a postseason clinch for San Diego.

Dodgers fall victim to Padres triple play after awful management gaffe

If getting triple played with Ohtani on deck wasn't painful enough, all of the news that followed about Rojas' at-bat makes this even more horrifying. The Dodgers did have the right at idea at first; they put up the bunt sign for Rojas on the first pitch from Robert Suarez, which was a 97.5 MPH fastball in the bottom-third of the zone that landed in the perfect place for Rojas to bunt. But then the Dodgers took the bunt sign down for the second pitch, Rojas swung away, Machado to Cronenworth to Solano, game over.

Dave Roberts said postgame that trying to bunt after the first pitch would've been "bunting into an out," but that's literally what a sacrifice bunt is. Even if LA had gotten doubled up, that still would've allowed Ohtani to try to get the Dodgers to extras (or the baton would've been passed to his superstar lineup mates with an intentional walk). If Rojas had just taken one for the team and struck out flailing, that still would've been better than what happened.

The Padres clinched a postseason berth and moved within two games of the Dodgers for the division lead, which was exactly what LA could not let happen. It wasn't just that San Diego had LA outgunned; the Dodgers willingly shot themselves in the foot.

Rojas felt bad after the game, but how long fan outrage at him and Roberts lasts is entirely dependent on how the next two games go. If Tuesday night's game is anything to go by, this team isn't instilling a lot of hope.