Dave Roberts Knew Walker Buehler Would Show the Dodgers Exactly What They Lost

Dave Roberts didn’t need to guess. He knew exactly what was coming.

Before the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the San Diego Padres on Friday night, someone asked the manager how badly he thought Walker Buehler wanted to beat his old team. Roberts laughed and gave a brutally honest answer.

“Badly,” Roberts said. “He would love nothing more than to shove it up our you know what.”

Roberts was right. Buehler went out and did exactly that.

The right-hander held the Dodgers to one run over 5 1/3 innings, scattering three hits and striking out six. The Padres won 7-1, cutting Los Angeles’s lead in the NL West to eight games. San Diego improved to 43-37 while the Dodgers dropped to 52-30.

Buehler’s comeback tour reaches a new peak

This wasn’t just any start for Buehler. He spent seven seasons in a Dodgers uniform, won two World Series rings, and became one of the most competitive arms in the game. Then injuries and a roster crunch sent him packing. He bounced to the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies before San Diego took a shot.

Coming into Friday, Buehler had a 3.96 ERA. Not terrible but not vintage Buehler either. But against his former club, with a division series brewing at Petco Park, he found another level.

The edge was obvious. The crowd felt it. The Dodgers felt it. Buehler was locked in from the first pitch, working quickly and attacking the zone. The one run he allowed came on a solo homer, but by then the Padres had already built a cushion.

Roberts recognized the performance for what it was — a reminder of the competitor Buehler always has been. The Dodgers understood his mindset going in. They respected it. They just couldn’t stop it.

What comes next in this rivalry stretch

The series continues Saturday with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for the Dodgers against San Diego’s Randy Vasquez. If the Padres win again, the gap shrinks to seven games. If the Dodgers bounce back, they reassert control in a division they’ve dominated for years.

Either way, Buehler got his moment. He turned a grudge into a quality start against the organization that helped make him. And for one night in San Diego, that was enough.