Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo debuts with heavy heart in loss to Padres

SAN DIEGO — Three pitches into his major league debut, Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo watched some baseball chaos erupt.

He hardly seemed fazed. Alfonzo was dealing with so much more.

Playing under trying circumstances, Alfonzo, 26, played seven innings at catcher and came to the plate for the first time to a huge ovation in the third as the Dodgers ended up falling 5-2 to the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

The Padres ended their season-long eight-game losing streak, but the Dodgers still hold a 14-game lead over their Southern California rival in the National League West.

When Alfonzo was called up to the major leagues Saturday, it came amid news that his sister and stepmother remained missing after last month’s earthquake in Venezuela. Reports surfaced earlier Sunday that his loved ones had died in the rubble of a collapsed building.

Alfonzo still went through with his first game in the major leagues, which he had waited for through nine seasons in the minor leagues. He finished 0-for-2 at the plate.

“I don’t really know what to say about it, outside of my heart goes out to him and his family,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So he is in (the lineup). But obviously, heavy heart is not even justifying (the emotions). I don’t really want to go too far because I’ll get emotional. … It’s very tough.”

The game got off to a bumpy start with Alfonzo behind the plate as the Padres’ dugout erupted over a check-swing strike three pitches into the game. San Diego infield coach Ryan Goins and manager Craig Stammen were ejected before the first out was even recorded.

Without solid command, Emmet Sheehan held on to allow one run over 4⅓ innings, while giving up three hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

With Kyle Hurt on the mound for the Dodgers in the seventh inning, Tatis beat out an infield single for a run and Manny Machado added a three-run home run for a 5-0 lead.

While using a relentless offense to win 10 of their previous 12 games, the Dodgers were held without a hit through four innings against San Diego left-hander JP Sears. The first hit came on a Miguel Rojas single with two outs in the fifth inning.

They finally broke through in the seventh, getting RBI singles from Alex Freeland and Shohei Ohtani. Alfonzo’s day ended when Tommy Edman pinch hit for him in the seventh and struck out. Edman had been a late scratch with ankle soreness after he was hit by a pitch Saturday.

Ohtani was back in the leadoff spot as the designated hitter after he missed Saturday’s game with right biceps soreness.