Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — This whole game was one big eyeroll emoji. Powered by Mookie Betts, the Dodgers took an early 7-2 lead against the San Diego Padres, only to see the Friars put up nine straight runs, culminating in a four-run ninth. Even a mad rally in the Dodgers’ final at-bat couldn’t save this one from the dustbin of history, as team drops the opener of the series to the Padres by a score of 11-8.
Things were looking very promising, very early. Powered by a leadoff homerun from Mookie Betts, and another run in the second on a bases-loaded HBP, the Dodgers quickly erased an early lead by the Padres. Then, after the Friars tied it up again in the top of the third, the Dodgers took out a can on starter Pedro Avila in the bottom of the third. They sent nine batters to the plate in the inning, and scored five times.
Highlights of the big frame were a solo shot from Max Muncy, and then a bases-loaded near homer from Mookie Betts that turned into a double on a fan interference call when one of the Dodger Stadium faithful reached his glove over the fence to snag the ball before it banged off the wall. Still, it was part of a great night for Betts, who returned to the lineup on Sunday after sitting a couple of games. Mookie went 2-for-4 with 4 RBI and a run scored, keeping the pressure on Ronald Acuna Jr. in the MVP race. In addition, Betts’ 103 RBI ties an MLB record for runs batted in from the leadoff spot.
“Our offense starts with Mookie,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He gets on base, he can slug and you don’t see too many leadoff hitters driving 100 runs in a season. What he’s doing with the slug really is unprecedented.”
And that was about it for the Dodgers’ offense in this one. Staked to a nice five run lead, rookie Gavin Stone managed to navigate through five innings okay, giving up only four runs, but the wheels came off the apple cart for the young righty in the sixth. Truth be told, if this game meant anything, there would be no way Dave Roberts sends Stone out there to face the Padres’ lineup a third time, but since the bullpen had been pretty busy in Washington, Doc rolled the dice on his righty. It didn’t go great.
Powered by Manny Machado’s second home run of the day, the Padres scored three times to tie up the game. Ryan Brasier and Shelby Miller kept the Padres’ bats pretty quiet in the seventh and eighth, but the Padres’ pen managed to do the same to the Dodgers. The game went into the ninth inning all tied at seven apiece.
TRIGGER WARNING: People who enjoy crisp defense may be traumatized by the Dodgers’ performance in the top of the ninth.
It started on a deep fly ball from Trent Grisham off closer Evan Phillips. To the warning track, but definitely playable. Some miscommunication between outfielders Chris Taylor and James Outman led to the ball popping out of Taylor’s glove and landed on the ground for a two-base error. Then, after Grisham was bunted to third by Ha Seong Kim, Phillips induced a comebacker from Fernando Tatis Jr. However, Phillips couldn’t field the ball cleanly and it ended up being an infield single.
Then disaster struck, Juan Soto pulled a home run down the right field line, his second off Phillips this year. I’m sure the Padres slugger can have a fun story to tell his friends back home in October when the Dodgers are playing meaningful baseball. Xander Bogaerts went deep in the inning as well, and the Dodgers faced a huge uphill climb in the bottom of the ninth.
Though the top of the inning was a trainwreck, you have to give the Dodgers credit for mounting a comeback in the bottom of the ninth against elite closer Josh Hader. After a Mookie Betts lineout, Freddie Freeman singled and then took second when Will Smith drew a walk. Max Muncy struck out for the second out of the inning, but J.D. Martinez came through with a clutch single to center to score Freeman and cut the deficit to 11-8. Kiké Hernandez then drew a walk to load up the bases for Chris Taylor.
Taylor must have been eager to erase the defensive lapse from earlier in the game and he stepped in representing the winning run. However, there would be no walk-off grand slam against Josh Hader in this one. Instead, Taylor hit a soft liner right at Xander Bogaerts at short and the game was over.
So with the Gavin Stone experience complete, the Dodgers are back to the top of the rotation and… Lance Lynn? Yes, indeed. Clayton Kershaw has been moved to a Friday start in Seattle to give whatever is ailing that shoulder of his a few more days off to recuperate. So instead of seeing Kersh, Dodger fans will watch Lynn try to get back to his August form, a month in which he pitched actually pretty well for the Boys in Blue, posting a 3.57 ERA for the month. Game time on Tuesday 7:10.
