SAN DIEGO >> The Dodgers’ fielders, by the numbers and by the eye test, are neither an asset nor a liability. Like most teams, their defense is a typical amalgamation of strong and weak points.

Although the Dodgers were somehow not charged with a fielding error Sunday, their defense against the San Diego Padres was a disaster.

Blame the mid-afternoon shadows at Petco Park, or simply a bad day at the office, the Dodgers made four plays that were scored hits that could easily have been errors on the defense. The unfortunate victim: starting pitcher Julio Urías, who matched a season high with eight hits allowed, and was charged with two earned runs.

The adventures began in the first inning.

Center fielder James Outman got a late read on a fly ball by Fernando Tatís Jr. — his jump was 14 feet below average, per Statcast — and the ball glanced off Outman’s glove at the end of a diving run. The official scorer granted Tatís a double.

The next batter, Manny Machado, hit a more conventional double to drive in Tatís with the game’s first run.

Xander Bogaerts then hit a ball to the warning track in right field, causing Mookie Betts to leap in front of the wall. Almost as soon as the ball hit Betts’ glove, it bounced out. Machado was on second base with another RBI double, the second earned run charged to Urías that could have been an out.

“I just missed it,” Betts said.

With two outs in the fourth inning, the Padres’ Jake Cronenworth kicked off a rally by hitting a playable ground ball to second baseman Miguel Vargas’ right. But the rookie couldn’t get his glove on the ball, which trickled into right field for a single.

Later in the inning, Urías’ own left arm betrayed him. Ha-Seong Kim hit a comebacker, and Urías’ high-arcing throw forced Freddie Freeman to leap up just as Kim touched first base. Initially scored an error, the play was later changed to a single.

Urías got Austin Nola to pop out to end that jam, and his 5 2/3 innings amounted to a mostly successful tightrope act.

“Those (defensive mistakes) are things that Julio weathered,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “One was self-induced. To consistently win baseball games, to convert outs that you need to, we’ve got to do that. Today I don’t think we did a great job of it. Fortunately for us, it didn’t come back to haunt us.”

The Dodgers began the day 15th in MLB in defensive efficiency, eighth in Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and 14th in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS).

Back in business mode

Roberts said watching Friday’s game remotely offered a “completely different perspective” from managing in the dugout.

Bench coach Danny Lehmann managed the game in San Diego, a 2-1 Dodgers win, while Roberts attended his son’s graduation in Los Angeles. He said he watched the game live on an iPad afterward. How did it feel?

“More nervous,” Roberts said. “With the vantage point of watching the game, you can see ... more balls and strikes. Then I’m more emotional, because from the side you can only see (pitch) height, or if a guy gets a hit, or hangs a breaking ball, or whatever. I can show my emotions more than being in the dugout. So I was more emotional.”

Korea bound?

The Dodgers are on a short list of clubs who could play in South Korea next season, and according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Dodgers and Padres will kick off the 2024 regular season with two games there in late March.

Both teams declined to comment on the report.

MLB has never staged games in South Korea, but the Dodgers are no stranger to the country. In Jan. 1994, the Dodgers signed pitcher Chan Ho Park, and he became the first Korean pitcher to appear in a major league game that same season.

The Dodgers also employed Korea natives Hee-Seop Choi (2004-05) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (2013-19). The Padres employ Kim, a Korean-born infielder.

Also

Roberts said he could not comment on the Padres’ postgame scoreboard display Friday, which featured an altered photo of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw crying. “I was surprised by it,” Roberts said. ... Betts started his fifth straight game in right field — his second-longest streak this season at the position — but he’ll be back at second base today in Milwaukee, Roberts said.