Dodgers’ NL West title celebration cut short in 7-1 loss to Padres

The last week of Dave Roberts’ first regular season as Dodgers manager presents a logistical puzzle and a philosophical quandary. The puzzle involves the paring of his 40-man roster down to the 25-man unit allowed during the playoffs. And the quandary revolves around determining the relative importance of resting his players for October and hunting for home-field advantage.

The Dodgers arrived in San Diego, the site of a 7-1 loss on Tuesday, fresh off a Sunday afternoon fiesta to celebrate a fourth-consecutive division title. Their opponent for a National League division series is already set. A date with Washington awaits Oct. 7.

All that’s left to be determined is which club hosts the series. Washington holds a two-game advantage in the standings, although the Dodgers own the tiebreaker.

“For us, it’s about playing good baseball and remaining sharp,” Roberts said. “And not to get complacent, and lose that edge. I’ve been on teams where teams continue to keep that momentum, and teams that go the other way. I think that for us, knowing that we have something really important to play for incentivizes us.”

Even so, Roberts made maneuvers Tuesday in deference to his team’s position of strength. He removed Kenta Maeda after four innings. He fiddled with his lineup to spread around at-bats midway through the game. Adrian Gonzalez left after two at-bats due to a sinus infection. Alex Wood impressed Roberts with his second scoreless inning in relief since returning from the disabled list.

The Dodgers trailed from the first inning onward, felled by a pair of homers from outfielder Hunter Renfroe. The rookie hit a three-run shot off Maeda in the first inning and a grand slam off Louis Coleman in the eighth.

The Dodgers vanquished San Francisco in the race for the National League West on Sunday. After a day spent nursing his hangover — “I was exhausted,” Roberts said of his level of activity Monday. “I was good to no one,” — Roberts found a new opponent to monitor from afar.

Roberts kept his eye on Washington’s game with Arizona in the hours before the Dodgers took the field. The prospect of home-field advantage appeals to Roberts. His team entered Tuesday with a 53-28 record at home and a 37-38 record on the road.

“Considering the way we’ve played this year at home, we put a lot of value on it,” Roberts said. “It’s not the end-all, be-all, but with where we’re at right now in the win-loss, we’re going to try to catch the Nationals.”

The first inning Tuesday was lucrative for Maeda and painful for the Dodgers. By recording three outs, he reached 170 innings, which netted him a $250,000 bonus. He has now earned $11.4 million in 2016, building on a $3-million base salary.

But in the process, Maeda put his team in an early hole. After allowing a pair of singles, Maeda faced Renfroe, playing in the sixth game of his career. Maeda pumped a slider. Renfroe responded with a homer over the fence in left.

“In the beginning of the game, I didn’t really have my stuff,” Maeda said. “I was trying to find my pitches.”

Maeda would not allow any more damage, but he would not last long. Roberts removed him from the game after four innings, with the team indicating Maeda was working under a strict pitch count.

The Dodgers’ initial schedule called for Maeda to start on Wednesday and throw a simulated game next week to prepare for Game 3 of the NLDS. Maeda implored the team to let him throw on Tuesday and in Sunday’s season finale instead. The Dodgers acquiesced, and moved Jose De Leon to Wednesday.

The switch came with financial allure for Maeda. His outing Sunday will be his 32nd start, providing him with a $1.5-million bonus. Roberts sounded thrilled about Maeda hitting his incentives.

“In the spirit of his contract, if he performs and he posts, he’s going to be compensated,” Roberts said. “I applaud our organization for acknowledging that and putting Kenta in a position to continue to get compensated, and take care of his family. Because he deserves it.”

Maeda was still in the game when the Dodgers scored. In the third inning, Chase Utley turned on a belt-high, 90-mph fastball from Paul Clemens for his 13th home run.

The Dodgers had a chance to break through in the sixth. Utley led off with a walk against reliever Jose Torres. Corey Seager hit a single. Gonzalez took a one-out walk. But the bases were left loaded after popups by Yasmani Grandal and Josh Reddick.

“We just really couldn’t get anything going,” Roberts said.

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes