Steve Webb
Wooboy. I’m not sure I can do another eighteen of these. In a game that started out sloppy, but ended up thrilling, the Dodgers topped the Padres 11-6 in twelve innings. The two teams went after each other like a couple of punch-drunk palookas on a Friday night fight card. They kept connecting with body blows, but neither could land the knockout punch. That is, until Corey Seager led off the top of the 12th inning with a home run that scored two. After that, the Padres’ will seemed broken, and the game was essentially over. David Price was once again brilliant in relief, pitching the final two innings in the victory.
About five hours earlier, starters Walker Buehler and Ryan Weathers both managed to skate around some traffic during the evening. Weathers managed to make it into the 4th inning unscathed, but long at-bats and occasional wildness elevated his pitch count, and he was lifted before finishing the frame. Buehler, on the other hand, seemed to be pitching around traffic on the bases all night. He gave up seven hits over six innings, and struck out four.
The Padres were able to scratch across a run in the bottom of the second on a solid RBI single by light-hitting catcher Luis Camposano that scored Manny Machado. And then in the fifth, Buehler was touched up for a solo home run by Fernando Tatis, Jr., who was just activated off the IL today.
In between the two runs off Buehler, the Dodgers were able to score once, on rookie Luke Raley‘s first career homerun, a shot off reliever Dan Altavilla in the top of the fifth. So in the past few days, Raley has gotten both his first major league hit and his first home run. A couple of souvenirs for the Raley mantle piece.
Then things got a little sloppy in the next couple innings. First, the Dodgers were the beneficiaries in the top of the sixth. With runners at first and third and two outs, Chris Taylor hit a hot grounder deep into the hole at short. Tatis made a diving stop, but so eager to stop Justin Turner from scoring from third, he made a wild and ill-advised throw to second base to try to get a force out to end the inning. The throw went into the outfield and not only did Turner score, but Max Muncy was able to scamper home from first as well. Taylor himself was able to score another garbage run on a passed ball on a third strike to Zach McKinstry.
The messy inning ended with the Dodgers now on top 4-2. But the Dodgers gave one of the runs right back in the bottom of the 7th when Zach McKinstry was a little overeager on a turn of a potential inning ending double play. McKinstry’s throw to first was wild, and pinch hitter Ha-Seong Kim scored from third. McKinstry was able to make up for the error in the very next inning when he doubled home Will Smith from second. The game went into the bottom of the eighth with the Dodgers up 5-3.
Corey Knebel came in to pitch for the Dodgers. And though he had been lights out in previous outings, tonight, he was, um, not. He gave up three hits, including a two-out, two-run double from Jurickson Profar to tie the game. Kenley Jansen had to be called upon to bail out Knebel and end the inning without further damage.
The ninth inning was punch and counter punch. In the Dodgers’ half, Mookie Betts led off with a solid single off new reliever Mark Melancon, the eighth Padres pitcher of the night. Corey Seager was out on a nubber in front of the plate, but Betts moved to second. Justin Turner, already the player of the month for the Dodgers, stepped to the plate with an RBI chance. He did not disappoint. He ripped a solid single past the shortstop and Mookie Betts crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.
The Padres tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a run that was willed into existence by Manny Machado. After Kenley Jansen got two quick outs, Machado came to the plate and appeared to be in some physical discomfort. However, he managed to work a two-out walk from Kenley Jansen. In spite of whatever was bothering him, Machado promptly stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Eric Hosmer then managed to sneak a ground ball through the right side of the infield and Machado hobbled home. Jansen got the next out, but the damage had been done. Extra innings anyone?
Remember, extra innings in 2021 are played with the goofball rule of starting the inning with runner on second base. Max Muncy was able to move Will Smith to third, but he could advance no further. Dennis Santana came in to pitch in the bottom of the 10th, but was plagued by wildness. Not really in control of any of his pitches, he hit Jorge Mateo and walked Trent Grisham in between a fly out and a strikeout, which resulted in the bases loaded with Padres with two outs. Somewhere in there, both benches cleared and there was a delay of several minutes while the umps got it all sorted out.
Fernando Tatis, Jr. came to the plate in an epic finish to the inning. Sticking with the slider through most of the at bat, Santana froze Tatis, and the Padres slugger helplessly watched strike three land in Will Smith’s glove. The Dodgers went quietly in their half of the eleventh. And David Price was simply awesome in his half of the inning, stranding his runner at third with consecutive strikeouts of Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers.
Then in the twelfth, the dam burst. Corey Seager led off with a two-run homer (that sentence sounds so weird, but that’s what happened). Now, 8-6, the Dodgers continued to pepper reliever Tim Hill with a thousand paper cuts. There were hits, another Tatis error, and believe it or not, a sacrifice fly from David Price. When the dust had finally cleared, the Dodgers were up 11-6.
The game came to a merciful end just after midnight, when David Price struck out Victor Caratini. The Dodgers move to 12-2. It’s the best start by a defending World Series champ ever. Kershaw vs. Darvish tomorrow. Let’s do this…
And now, I need a drink…
