Jim Cella
SAN DIEGO—Joc Pederson was the offensive star of the game, with a pair of home runs and five RBI, but it was a dramatic defensive play by Chris Taylor in the bottom of the ninth that preserved the series-clinching win for the Dodgers. Taylor’s catch-and-throw double play from left field cut down Trent Grisham at home plate for the final out of the game and gave Los Angeles a 7-6 victory over the Padres. The Dodgers have now won seven of their past nine games and are 9-4 on the year. San Diego loses for the fourth time in the last five games and falls to 7-6.
GAME RECAP: The Dodgers never trailed in the series finale as they put up crooked numbers in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Pederson was responsible for two of the three multi-run frames. He gave Los Angeles a 2-run lead in the second when he connected on a 2-2 pitch and sent it 418 feet to center field. His second home run of the year scored Taylor from third who tripled right before Pederson’s HR. The Dodgers would push the lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth. Pederson led off with a 6-pitch walk and moved to second on a passed ball in the very next at-bat to Will Smith. Pederson would score when Smith singled to right center. Kiké Hernández followed that with a double which rolled just inside the third-base line.
The Padres finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a 2-run homer from Fernando Tatis Jr. who had an exaggerated big bat flip to celebrate the longest HR of his career (430 feet). Pederson would 1-up Tatis Jr. in runs scored and distance in the top of the sixth. Corey Seager and Taylor hit back-to-back 1-out singles, and then Pederson layed into a Luis Patiño fastball and sent it 435 feet to dead center to give LA a 7-2 lead.
San Diego would make the game interesting with two runs in the sixth and single runs in the eighth and ninth. The Padres closed the gap to 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth on a 2-run double off the bat of Greg Garcia which scored Will Myers and Manny Machado. Myers hit a solo blast in the eighth to set up the dramatics of the ninth inning. With Kenley Jansen pitching for the second straight night, Tatis Jr. coaxed a 1-out walk and scored two batters later after singles from Grisham and Tommy Pham. Machado then lined into the inning-ending double play on a first-pitch cutter. Taylor was able to charge the ball and then throw a 93.3 mph 1-hop strike which Smith caught and applied the sweep tag on Grisham.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
HE SAID IT: “I don’t think I’ve ever ended the game on the defensive side like that.” —Chris Taylor on the difference between getting a walkoff hit or making a play on defense to end the game.
SAN DIEGO SERIES SUCCESS: The win gave the Dodgers a 2-1 series victory in the first series of 2020 with the Padres. Los Angeles has now taken 10 of the last 11 series from the Padres dating back to the 2018 season. The Dodgers are 9-3 at Dodger Stadium South in the past two seasons and own a 84-66 all-time mark at San Diego.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE DAY: The 7-6 win was the first 1-run victory of the year for the Dodgers. They are now 1-2 in games decided by a single run. LA is also 6-2 when they score first, 8-0 when leading after eight innings and 8-3 when they hit a home run in a game.
UP, UP AND AWAY: The Dodgers finished off their 9-game road trip by posting a 7-2 record. The success away from home carried over from last year when the Dodgers tied for the best road record in the NL (47-34). Winning on the road is nothing new to LA as they have won 47 road games in each of the past three seasons.
HE SAID IT 2: “I give us an A+” —Dodger’s manager Dave Roberts when asked about the grade he would give the team for the longest road trip of the season which has seen the team travel to Covid hot beds Texas and Arizona.
WELCOME TO THE 3-WIN CLUB: Ross Stripling had another solid outing on the mound for the Dodgers and picked up his third win of the season. He becomes the fourth pitcher in MLB, and second in the NL, to get to the 3-win mark in 2020. He joins Shane Bieber from Cleveland, Gerrit Cole from the American League New York team and Sonny Gray from Cincinnati to win their first three starts on the year.
Stripling went 5.2 innings and gave up four earned runs on six hits. He was able to spot his off-speed pitches which led to seven strikeouts. The seven Ks ties his season high (he also had seven vs. SF on July 24). Stripling walked a pair of batters as he threw 92 pitches which also tied his season high which also came against in the game against the Giants. Stripling now has a 4.00 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP in 2020.
A GOOD VIBE: Pederson continued his hitting success at Petco Park. His two long balls give him eight career HRs in his 42 games in San Diego. He is hitting .274 in his career at Petco and has driven in 25 runs. Pederson’s 5-RBI game tied his career high. The last time he drove in five runs was on Sept. 2 of last season vs. Colorado. His two home runs marked the 15th time in his career that he has gone deep twice in a game.
HE SAID IT 3: “I just like being in San Diego.” —Joc Pederson on why he has success in San Diego
6’S AND 7’S: Pederson and Taylor were the only Dodger players with more than one hit on Wednesday. The outfielders combined to go 4-for-7 with five RBI and five runs scored. That’s a pretty nice offensive output from the No.6 and No.7 hitters in the lineup.
DREAM WEAVER: Taylor produced his fourth multiple-hit game of the year and had the 21st triple of his career. Taylor also made the defensive play of the game in left field which is one of four positions he has started in during the year (if you count the DH as a position). He has had 26 total chances while playing left field, shortstop and second base and has yet to make an error.
HE SAID IT 4: “Chris has done so much for us to win ball games. He does so many things. He’s a manager’s dream and impacts the game any time he is in there.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on what Chris Taylor does for the team.
THE 2-POINT CONVERSION IS GOOD: Seager upped his team-leading hit streak to eight games when he laced a single to center in the sixth inning. Seager’s career-high hit streak is 19 games which came in 2016. Seager, who was starting his 12th game of the year, leads the team in hitting with a .347 average.
ERRORLESS STREAK ENDS: The Dodgers saw their 4-game errorless streak come to an end in the sixth inning when Hernández nearly hit Max Muncy in the head with a relay throw which allowed Garcia to advance to third base. The miscue was Hernández’ first of the year and ended a boot-free streak of 40 innings for LA. It was only the team’s fourth error of 2020.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will have their second “off” day of the season on Thursday. LA won’t see another days’ rest until Aug. 24 as they start a stretch of 17 games in 17 days on Friday when they host San Francisco at 6:40 p.m. The Dodgers are scheduled to start Julio Urías in the opener and then follow with Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. The Giants, who are using the “staff” approach to pitching this season, won’t announce starters until 45 minutes before each game so it is useless to try and project their rotation for the series.
