Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — While the Dodgers have started to separate from the Padres in the NL West standings, it has proven more difficult to separate from them in the actual games between the two club. The outcome of all four contests played so far this year has hung in the balance going into the late innings, and this first game at Dodger Stadium was no different. However, after San Diego tied the ball game up in the top of the 7th inning, the Dodgers immediately responded to the challenge with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman both blasting home runs in the bottom of the frame to give the Dodgers a 4-2 win.
Dodgers starter Dustin May was brilliant, matching Cy Young winner Dodger nemesis Blake Snell pitch for pitch in this one. In fact, you could make the argument that May was even better than his counterpart, retiring the side pretty easily in every of the first six innings. Gone was the lack of command that sometimes characterizes outings from Code Red. Instead, it was just cold-blooded effiiciency.
On the other hand, Blake Snell wasn’t giving up a whole lot either, but a couple of walks came back to haunt him big time. In the bottom of the 3rd, nine-hole hitter Trayce Thompson and leadoff man Mookie Betts both walked to to start the frame, setting up Freddie Freeman’s first big moment of the evening. Freddie watched a Snell slider go into the dirt, and then Number 5’s eyes lit up when a four-seamer was headed right into his wheel-house in the lower part of the strike zone. He ripped the pitch to the gap, allowing Thompson to score and Betts to scamper home after him.
But that was pretty much all the Dodgers got in the early part of the game, despite having multiple runners on base. Meanwhile, Dustin May was cruising. Needing only a handful of pitches an inning, May mowed through the Padres’ batting order, giving up only three hits and no walks in the first six innings.
However, the 7th would prove trickier to navigate for the lanky right hander. After getting two quick outs, May gave up a double to Xander Boegarts. Then, after getting squeezed on a pitch to Matt Carpenter, May gave up his only walk of the game. Friars skipper Bob Melvin pulled Carpenter off first and inserted the speedier Rougned Odor to pinch-run for Carpenter. That move by Melvin would prove critical as Ha-Seong Kim smashed a double down the line. And though the throw and relay were perfect, Odor was able to slide into home with the tying run just under Will Smith‘s tag.
That might have put a sour taste in the fiery May’s mouth at the end of the outing, but it shouldn’t be understated how great he was on Friday. Maybe the best outing of his career, given the length and efficiency of it.
However, the Dodgers still had a ballgame to win. And to that end, Mookie and Freddie were more than happy to oblige. Reliever Tim Hill replaced Snell in the bottom of the 7th, and retired Trayce Thompson on a fairly routine ground ball to start the inning. Cue the fireworks. Mookie Betts bashed a 3-1 sinker into the stands in left field and two pitches later, Freddie Freeman went yard to the right field stands. Whew.
Now up 2-1, the game was far from over, especially against the potent Padre lineup. Caleb Ferguson got into a little trouble in the 8th when the Friars had men on first and third with just one out, but Evan Phillips came into the ballgame and put an end to that rally good and quick. It only took three pitches, and Manny Machado grounded into a double play to end the Padres threat and essentially end the game. The San Diego bats were quiet in the 9th, and the Dodgers had secured their fourth straight victory over their rival to the south.
“Mookie hitting a home run kind of just reenergizes everything,” Freeman said after the game. “As an offense, you got to take it upon ourselves to go out there and obviously, Mookie did against them in San Diego off Josh [Hader] and was able to get it off Tim there. So Mookie is the one with the massive hits. So hopefully, he continues that.”
“That’s why they’re superstars,” concurred Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Every time they get up to bat, they can change the game. That was a big lift.”
Cans of Corn…
- The final line of May’s great night: 6.2 IP, 5 H 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
- This was J.D. Martinez’s first game back off the IL. He got a single in four trips to the plate.
- Caleb Ferguson is back from paternity leave after he and his wife became the proud parents of baby boy Brooks. I don’t know if the little Ferguson will play baseball, but if he does, best to avoid playing third with a name like that.
- To make room for Ferguson and Martinez, infielder Michael Busch and reliever Wander Suero were sent down to OKC.
- It’s going to be an early start Fox broadcast for the Dodgers and Padres on Saturday night. 5:10 first pitch. Julio Urias vs. Joe Musgrove in a sequel to Sunday’s thriller in San Diego.
