Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — Ten. Years. Straight. Believe it or not, the last time the Dodgers didn’t make the playoffs, Dustin May was in middle school. That’s something. Amazing. And today, they clinched their spot with the best way imaginable. They completely trounced the San Diego Padres 11-2, riding great hitting up and down the lineup, but especially a two-home-run performance from Justin Turner, whose 7th inning grand slam was the dagger to the heart on this glorious Sunday afternoon.
Heaney stung by long ball and error to fall behind
Truth be told, Andrew Heaney‘s stuff was looking pretty good on Sunday. But the same old problem that’s been hounding him lately reared its ugly head again. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Dodgers’ lefty got dinged for yet another solo home run, this time by Friday night’s hero Jake Cronenworth. Then in the fifth, Jose Azocar, who has some kind of magic potion that works on the Dodgers, led off with a double. He advanced to third on a fly ball, and then scored when Freddie Freeman couldn’t field a groundball from Juan Soto cleanly. Freeman glove went flying off and Azocar scampered home without a throw. The unearned run put the Dodgers in an 0-2 hole with half the game already over.
JT & CT3 bang their way to a tie game
For the first four innings, the Dodgers couldn’t solve Padres starter Joe Musgrove; he seemed to be headed for a deep run into this ballgame. However, in the top of the 5th, a few fissures were starting to form in the dike. The first leak was created by Justin Turner, who blasted a cutter into the left field seats for a solo home run. After a Joey Gallo lineout on the next pitch, it was Chris Taylor‘s turn to shine.
Coming off a two-hit night on Saturday, Taylor was long overdue to go deep, not having hit a home run in nearly a month. That changed with one swing on Sunday. On the first pitch he saw from Musgrove, Taylor barreled up a cutter and sent it deep to left center. When it landed in the Padres’ bullpen, Taylor was the proud owner of his 9th home run of the season, and the Dodgers had themselves a new ballgame.
Muncy’s clutch hit puts the Dodgers out in front
More good news for the Dodgers in the 6th inning. Mookie Betts led off with a solid double to the gap in left center, his first hit of the series. (Welcome to the party, pal!) After a wild pitch put Betts at third, Musgrove had a real mess on his hands with nobody out. Trea Turner grounded out, but then Musgrove and the Padres got a little too cute for their own good.
Musgrove intentionally walked Freddie Freeman, and then plunked Will Smith on the elbow to load the bases. That brought up Max Muncy. And as we learned in Cincinnati, Muncy is not terribly fond of intentionally walking a guy to pitch to him, even if it’s Freddie Freeman. Musgrove got ahead of him 1-2, but Muncy was a step ahead of Musgrove. He lay back on a curveball and timed it up perfectly, banging it into right field for a 2-run single. The rally fizzled out after that, but the Dodgers had now put themselves in a position to win the game and the series. All the bullpen had to do was hold the lead for four innings and everybody could get on the plane happy.
Dodgers get two more with a little rally
If there were a few leaks in the dike in the 5th and 6th, the whole dam burst in the 7th. Cody Bellinger started things off with a one-out single to right, his first hit in what seemed like forever. Mookie Betts followed it up with his second double of the day to put runners at second and third. Trea Turner his a little wounded duck single to score Belli, and to be honest, that probably would have been enough for the Dodgers to be happy with the outcome of that inning. But the Boys in Blue weren’t done. Not by a long shot.
Freddie Freeman grounded to first for the second out of the inning, and once again, the intentional walk came back to bite the Padres. This time, the gave will Smith the free ticket to first to load up the bases for the left-handed hitting Max Muncy. Not a bad strategy with lefty sidewinder Tim Hill on the mound. However, the key to making the plan work was for Tim Hill to, you know, throw strikes. Instead, he issued Muncy a four-pitch walk and the Dodgers were now up 6-2.
JT slam breaks the game wide open
And then, the coup de grâce. With the bases still loaded, Padres skipper Bob Melvin went to his third pitcher of the inning, righty Craig Stammen, to face Justin Turner. Turner, who has been just incredibly hot since Memorial Day it seems, did not let the many Dodger fans at Petco down. Stammen started JT off with a juicy cutter over the middle of the plate and Turner just obliterated the pitch. Left Field. Upper Tank. Grand Slam. See ya!
In the last 15 games, Turner is hitting over .400 with a 4 bombs and an OPS of 1.233. And he’s not even the hottest guy on the team!
In garbage time, Trea Turner bashed a ball off the Western Metal Supply building to give him a 20/20 season. That made the final score 11-2.
Dodgers pen wraps up the win
Now with an overwhelming 10-2 lead, the Dodgers could have thrown Hanser Albert for the last three innings and still won the game. Instead, after Heaney, they threw Vesia, Martin, and with his first Dodger appearance of the year, Andre Jackson. Jackson, who hasn’t had a great year in OKC, pitched two scoreless innings to bring the game to a merciful end and make the drive back home on the 5 Freeway a very pleasant one indeed.
Get ready for some D-backs!
Dodger fans are going to get their fill of the Arizona Diamondbacks this month, as the teams will play eight times in the next ten days. There is a three gamer starting on Monday in Phoenix and then an unusual five-game set next week in Chavez Ravine. Of course, this is more scheduling weirdness caused by the lockout/work stoppage at the beginning of the season (remember that?).
Anyhooo… somewhere in this series in Arizona, you can expect the Dodgers to clinch the division, which should be met with some rejoicing at least. The ultimate goal is still six weeks away, but you gotta live a little bit in the moment, right? It’ll be Tyler Anderson vs. rookie Ryne Nelson on Monday night. First pitch: 6:40 PDT. Get those champagne bottles chilling, boys.
Cans of Corn…
- Chris Taylor and Andrew Heaney both showed up to Petco with a freshly shaved face. Not a bad look for either.
- Heaney struck out Manny on three pitches with two guys on base on three pitches. Pretty awesome.
- Freeman can literally throw his bat at a pitch and get a single.
- Freddie had a scary moment when he was trying to field a throw from Will Smith in the baseline. Max Muncy 2021 flashback. Yikes!
- Chris Martin seemed to injure his hamstring a bit on a bit. After talking it over with the training staff, he stayed in and finished the inning.
- Earlier this year, Joe Musgrove said that he didn’t consider Justin Turner a “threat.” He may want to amend those comments.
- After the game, it’s the annual dress-up travel day. We’ll post pics as soon as we get ’em.
- Dodgers 53 games over .500. High water mark for the year.
- The Magic Number is now 2.
