SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers’ offense has taken on the characteristics of a light bulb, flickering on and off as it is about to expire. It went dark again Friday night.

The Dodgers were held to three hits by Yu Darvish and the San Diego Padres’ bullpen and the Padres took a 2-1 victory in the opener of this weekend’s NL West skirmish.

The win pulls the Padres and Dodgers into a tie atop the division with just two games left in the regular-season series. And it highlights a familiar failing of the Dodgers’ recently – they are just 5-11 in their past 16 one-run decisions.

Darvish retired the first seven Dodgers in order before hanging a 2-and-1 sweeper to rookie Alex Freeland in the third inning. Freeland gladly accepted the gift, ripping it into the right field seats for his first major-leagu

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