Shohei Ohtani takes funny shot at Padres as Dodgers fans invade Petco Park
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The Padres snapped a seven-game, two-series sweep streak for the Dodgers during Game 1 of a road trip down to San Diego, with new Padre Luis Arráez hitting an RBI single to walk things off in the bottom of the ninth. The Dodgers took Game 2 on the back of James Paxton's best start to date and a Teoscar Hernández grand slam, but the Padres ultimately took the series thanks to an almost perfect seven-inning outing for Yu Darvish.
Shohei Ohtani might've been able to help in Game 3, but he was sidelined with back tightness toward the end of Game 2 and kept on the bench on Sunday. He's expected to return with no issue on Monday afternoon, but he had to watch the Dodgers lose from the dugout for a night.
During his off day, he was asked about the crowds at Petco, which broke a record for attendance this weekend, even as the Padres continue to trail the Dodgers in the standings. He praised Padres fans for their passion, but also noted how well Dodgers fans travel (especially when it's only a two-hour drive down to San Diego) and said it was hard to tell Padres fans apart from Dodgers fans.
Shohei Ohtani was asked his impression of sellout crowds at Petco Park the past 2 nights: "Overall just very passionate fans here in San Diego. But I also do see that there are a lot of #Dodgers fans. So it’s hard to determine who’s home and who’s away."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 12, 2024
Shohei Ohtani throws light shade at Padres as Dodgers series brings record attendance numbers to Petco Park
Sports Business Journal reported that 46,701 fans were at Petco on Saturday (the day the Dodgers won their only game of the series, funnily enough), "the largest crowd in the ballpark’s 20 seasons," which absolutely has everything to do with the team the Padres were facing rather than the home team themselves. Dodgers fans probably came down to watch their team attempt to extend their streak to 10 games and three series, and the Padres are sure to see the difference as soon as the Rockies roll into town on Monday night.
Even with the unfortunate series win, the Padres are still around six games behind them for first in the division, and the Dodgers are slated to take on the 19-23 Giants and 17-23 Reds in their next two series, which isn't likely to give the Padres, who are facing the Braves late this week, any room to catch up.
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