Betts blast lifts Dodgers to win over Friars

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers only got four hits on Saturday night, but much like in the series opener, one of those hits was a huge home run that proved to be the difference in the game. This time, it was Mookie Betts who did the honors, supplying a three-run clutch home run that broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. Walker Buehler gave up a couple of runs, but managed to pitch around some traffic to get his fourteenth win of the season. Then, the Dodgers held off a late Padres rally and escaped with a 5-4 win.

Lux and Betts stake Dodgers to early lead

When Padres starter Chris Paddack replays this game in his mind, there are going to be two walks that will particularly haunt him. The first came in the bottom of the third when Paddack walked the lead-off man, the struggling Cody Bellinger. Putting someone with Belli’s speed on the bases would proved immediately costly.

The next hitter, the newly recalled Gavin Lux, got quickly into an 0-2 hole. Earlier in the season, I would have thought that the at-bat was essentially over, but in this game, Lux was up there battling. He fouled off a couple of pitches and then sliced a 1-2 fastball into the opposite field for a double. Bellinger sailed around the bases, and slid into home ahead of the throw for the Dodgers’ first run of the game.

Then the Dodgers played a little old school, get-em-on, get-em-over, get-em-in baseball. Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to move Lux to third. It wouldn’t be the last time Buehler would play a key role in a Dodgers run in this one. Mookie Betts came to the plate, eager to erase the memory of being caught stealing in the first inning. Betts did just that, launching a sacrifice fly to medium-deep centerfield. The speedy Lux on third was able to tag up and score well before the throw arrived back in the infield and the Dodgers were up 2-0.

Tatis ties the score with another home run

One thing you can say about these Padres, their biggest stars certainly come to play when their opponent is the Dodgers. Both Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. were all over in this game, impacting it with both their gloves and their bats. The first evidence of this came in the top of the fourth. While Walker Buehler had gone through the order the first time with no damage, things started to go sideways for him the second time through. He got Adam Frazier to ground out to lead off the inning, but Machado got on base with a solid single to left.

Tatis, who loves the big moment, came up with a chance to tie the game with just one swing. And he did just that. He pasted a first-pitch slider from Buehler and sent it deep to left centerfield. It just cleared the fence for Tatis’s league-leading 38th home run of the year. More importantly, it tied up the game at 2-2.

Mookie magic

Hey Chris Paddack, here’s a tip. DON’T WALK THE FREAKIN’ PITCHER! Unfortunately for the Padres, Paddack ignored this sage bit of advice and it came back to haunt him big time in the bottom of the fifth. Paddack started the inning well enough, recording two quick outs. But then, Gavin Lux kept the inning alive with a two-out single. It was Lux’s second hit of the game, and he looked very good at the plate in this one, which is good to see if Dave Roberts plans on using him in left during Pollock’s absence. Usually with the hitter in the eight hole gets on base with two out, it’s just a way to clear the pitcher’s spot in the batting order and nothing more.

However, with Walker Buehler still hitting for himself, Paddack seemed to momentarily lose touch with the strike zone. He did the mortal sin of walking the pitcher with two outs and now he was stuck facing Mookie Betts with two men on. He wouldn’t even get that chance. Padres manager Jayce Tingler had seen enough and lifted Paddack in favor of Craig Stammen out of the bullpen. However, on the very first pitch Betts saw from Stammen, Mookie ripped a ball to deep left centerfield. It managed to reach the home run seats, and the game was turned on its head. 5-2 Dodgers.

Buehler goes seven

Walker Buehler wasn’t brilliant on Saturday, but he was good enough. He was fairly efficient with his pitches, and bore down when necessary to pitch around some traffic on the base paths. In seven innings of work, he gave up six hits and walked two, and only surrendered runs on the Tatis homer. However, it wasn’t a dominant performance by any means and with Corbin Burnes pitching eight no-hit innings on Saturday, the Cy Young contest got a lot tighter. The final line for Buetane on Saturday: 7.0 IP, 6 H 2 ER, 5 K.

Trouble for Treinen in the eighth

Blake Treinen has been so reliable that fans have come to expect dominance ever time he takes the mound. However, Saturday just wasn’t his night. He didn’t get rocked or anything, but the Padres’ best hitters got to him. First, he didn’t do himself any favors by hitting the leadoff man Adam Frazier on a two-strike count. After Frazier swiped second to get into scoring position, Manny Machado poked a ball up the middle to score Frazier. It was Machado’s third hit of the night. He seems to feed off the boos of the Dodger fans, of which there were plenty.

Machado kept the pressure on Treinen with a steal of second, and scored when Tatis got his third hit of the day, a single to left. It was a close play at the plate, but Will Smith was unable to field the throw from defensive replacement Steven Souza Jr. cleanly, and Machado was safe. Suddenly it was 5-4 and nobody was out. Eek! It was Treinen’s 64th appearance this season, and while he’s usually been lights out, it looked like he might need a day off here soon to regroup a little.

Joe Kelly to the rescue

In a rare move, manager Dave Roberts pulled Treinen before the inning was over. Treinen managed to get the first out with a ground ball that moved Tatis to third, but that was the end of his night. Joe Kelly came into the fray. And all Dodgers fans collectively held their breath. Because as we’ve come to learn over these last few seasons, a Joe Kelly outing is always an adventure.

But on this night, Kelly was brilliant. With the infield drawn in and the tying run at third, Kelly got right to work. With Wil Myers at the plate, Kelly got a pitch of a generous call on the first pitch, but then got Myers to swing through a sinker and chase a knuckle curve that was out of the zone for the strikeout. With two outs now, Kelly focused on the next hitter, Tommy Pham. Pham didn’t stand a chance against Kelly’s nasty stuff, as he struck out on three straight pitches. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good night. And good job, Joe Kelly!

Jansen perfect in the ninth

Kenley Jansen came into the game in the ninth inning, and it was really a bit anti-climatic considering all of the high drama of the eighth inning. But a drama-free inning with Kenley is the best kind of inning. He got an easy ground ball to second, and an infield popup to record the first two outs on just three pitches. Then, with leadoff man Trent Grisham on the plate, Jansen could look into the Padres’ dugout and see that Machado and Tatis were coming up in the order very soon. He needed to end it right there.

And end it he did: after falling behind 2-0, Jansen threw three straight strikes, getting a chase from Grisham on the first, but putting the next two perfectly in the strike zone, and freezing Grisham at the plate on the final pitch of the game. Dodgers win by a score of 5-4. Whew!

Scherzer for the sweep on Sunday

In the end, there was too much Mookie in this one for the Padres, he was 2-for-3 with four RBI, and a couple of nifty plays in right. A hot Mookie Betts could carry this team into October. More of this, please. Max Sherzer gets the ball against Blake Snell on Sunday afternoon. It will be a great matchup for a couple of reasons. First, Scherzer will have an opportunity to get his 3,000th career strikeout in this one, a milestone only reached by just eighteen other pitchers in big league history.

Second, it will be a chance for the Dodgers’ hitters to get another look at Snell, who very well could get the ball in a potential Wild Card game between these two clubs. Snell has had the Dodgers’ number since the World Series, and even if they are unsuccessful on Sunday, giving the Dodgers’ hitters a few more opportunities to size up the Padres’ lefty will have value down the road.