Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — On Friday night, with the game on the line in the top of the 10th inning, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman came up empty and the Dodgers lost to San Diego in a walk-off. The two players made darn sure that didn’t happen again on Saturday. Between the two of them, they put the hurt on Blake Snell and the Padres’ pitchers, going a combined 6-for-9 with four extra base hits and seven RBI. Put that explosion together with another solid start from Julio Urias and it was a big 8-4 victory over the Friars. With the win, the Dodgers reassert their dominance over the Padres and inch ever so closer to clinching the division.
Freddie drives in Trea, but Manny answers
Neither pitcher seemed to have their “A” stuff in the early going. Both Julio Urias and Blake Snell had traffic in the early going, but managed to escape the first two innings unscathed. That changed for both hurlers in the 3rd inning, and coincidentally, both with two outs.
In the case of the Dodgers, Trea Turner got things started with a two-out drive that split outfielders Juan Soto and Jose Azocar and rolled to the wall. By the time the ball was back in on the infield, Turner was on third with a stand-up triple. It didn’t take long after that for Freddie Freeman to drive his teammate in with a solid single to the pull side to stake the Dodgers to an early 1-0 lead.
However, in the bottom of third, one Manny Machado had something to say about that Dodger lead. After Urías retired the first two Padres on just a handful of pitches, Manny Machado blasted a solo home run to left field. Urías had tried to sneak a curveball past Machado, and Manny would have none of it, banging it off the basket of the Western Metal Supply building. Machado does seem to get up for these contests with his former employer, doesn’t he?
Trea, Freddie strike again in the 5th
You know, those analytics guys know a thing or two. If you look at Blake Snell this year, all the data says, the third time through the order, his average against and ERA both go way up. Well, case in point was the Dodgers’ fifth inning. The inning began with Trayce Thompson working a walk off Snell after being down 0-2. And then, Snell’s best buddy Austin Barnes came up. And just like Barnes’s big single was the beginning of Snell’s downfall in the 2020, World Series, Barnes got Snell in a huge hole here in 2022. The Dodgers’ backstop ripped a double into the the left field corner, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. After Mookie Betts drew a quick walk a bunch of non-competitive pitches, Snell was in a huge jam: bases loaded, nobody, out and staring down the barrel of Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman coming up.
And while the both of them couldn’t drive in a run in the 10th on Friday, they were more than up to the task in this one. Turner got ahead of Snell and then just drilled another gapper, this time to the pull side. Once again, it split the defense and the ball bounced to the wall. Thompson scored. Barnes scored. Mookie scored. It was a bases-clearing double for Turner, and the tie was broken in a very big way. Freddie Freeman followed it up with a double of his own to score Turner to put the Dodgers up 5-1 and chase Snell from the game. Such a shame. Hate to see it.
Reliever Nabil Crismatt was able to get the Padres off the field with no further damage, thanks in large part to a bang-bang play at home in which Freeman was declared out after appeal. Still, the Dodgers had had a very productive inning, and headed into the 6th with Julio on the mound and a 5-1 lead. Things were looking very good indeed.
Trea and Freddie, Take 3
You think the Padres would learn, but for some reason they just kept getting burned the same way again and again all night long. In the top of the seventh, Trea Turner got a one-out walk off Crismatt, who was still out there for San Diego. And up came good ol’ Freddie Freeman, who already had a double and a couple of singles on the night. Well, this time Freeman decided to drive in not only Turner, but himself as well. On a 1-1 pitch, he drilled a Crismatt changeup deep to centerfield. It easily cleared the fence for a two-run homer, giving the Dodgers a 7-2 lead.
They added on with a Will Smith triple and an RBI single from Chris Taylor to officially blow the game wide open.
After rocky first, Urías goes seven strong innings
If you had told me after the first inning that Julio Urías would still be around in the bottom of the 7th, I wouldn’t have believed you. After all, Urías had labored through a 24-pitch inning before escaping by the skin of his teeth. However, after that first inning, he really settled into the ballgame. He gave up that homer to Manny in the 3rd, and then another to Machado in the 6th, but against anyone not named Machado, he was brilliant. And once again, he got oodles of run support from his Dodger teammates so that he could just attack the zone and cruise to his 16th victory on the year. His line for another very good start: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. His ERA on the year went up just a tick to 2.30, still good for first in the NL.
Phil Bickford pitched a solid 8th, but soon-to-be-ex-Dodger Heath Hembree got lit up in the 9th and gave up two runs to make the 8-4 final score a lot closer than it actually was.
Series wraps up on Sunday afternoon
Now knotted at a game apiece, the Dodgers and Padres play the series rubber match on Sunday afternoon. Andrew Heaney looks to keep the ball in the yard this time around as he matches up against San Diego native Joe Musgrove, who was amazing and almost Cy-Young worthy in the first half, but struggling of late. In his last seven starts, the Padres’ righty is 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA. So we’ll see what this one has in store. Game time: 1:10 PDT. Let’s finish this off!
Cans of Corn…
- Freddie Freeman said that he let his son Charlie sleep with him and his wife last night because they forgot to request a rollaway. Said he didn’t get much sleep, so was just going to use his “B” swing in this one. He went 4-for-5 and drove in four.
- Freeman now leads the NL with a .330 batting average.
- Justin Turner hit two very deep fly balls in this one, but only had two outs to show for his trouble.
- The last of the Big Three, Mookie Betts, had a quiet night in this one, walking twice but no hits.
- After just two appearances, Blake Treinen is back on the IL. Ugh.
- Andre Jackson called up to replace Treinen on the roster.
- Padres starter Sean Manaea, whom the Dodgers shelled in LA, has been reduced to pitching mop-up duty. He threw the 9th. Pretty humiliating.
- Dodgers’ Magic Number is now 4.
