Dodgers Recap: LA Takes a Thriller in San Diego!

SAN DIEGO — Are we having fun yet? After waiting over a third of the season for it to arrive, the Dodgers and the Padres wasted little time re-igniting their smoldering rivalry on Monday night. They exchanged body blows like a couple of UFC fighters in the first half of the game, and then simmered through four scoreless innings before settling matters in the tenth with a couple key knocks from Andy Pages and Tommy Edman. Then, they held on to win a supremely entertaining (and stress-inducing) game by a score of 8-7.

The Dodgers and Padres came out swinging at Petco Park, combining for 11 runs and 17 hits in a wild first five innings that saw momentum shift multiple times. Both teams took advantage of defensive miscues and timely hitting, as the game turned into a high-octane chess match between two heated rivals.

Los Angeles wasted no time striking first. Shohei Ohtani roped a double to right in the top of the first, setting the tone early against Padres starter Nick Pivetta. Freddie Freeman shook off the doldrums of St. Louis with a sharp double of his own to right, plating Ohtani for a 1–0 lead. After Teoscar Hernández reached on a throwing error by Manny Machado, Will Smith made it 2–0 with a sac fly to right, allowing Freeman to trot home. Max Muncy then drew a walk, but the Dodgers stranded two.

But San Diego came right back. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez opened the bottom half with back-to-back singles off Dustin May. Machado, who had already made the defensive miscue, delivered with the bat, driving in Tatis Jr. with a double to right. Jackson Merrill followed with a sac fly to center, knotting the game at 2–2. May settled down after that, getting two quick outs to escape further damage.

After a scoreless second inning for the Dodgers, the Padres retook the lead, aided by a throwing error from Will Smith on a stolen base attempt by Fernando Tatis Jr. The miscue allowed Jake Cronenworth, who had been camped at third, to scamper home with the go-ahead run.

The Dodgers flipped the score again in the top of the third with another flurry of offense. Betts and Freeman reached with singles, and a passed ball by Padres catcher Elias Díaz moved Freeman to second and Betts to third. Teoscar Hernández tied the game at 3–3 with a sac fly, and Will Smith followed with a loud two-run homer to left-center, giving L.A. a 5–3 edge. Smith’s sixth homer of the year helped erase the momentum San Diego had briefly seized.

But the Padres answered with their biggest blow in the bottom of the third. After loading the bases with a single and two walks, Tyler Wade cleared them all with a triple to center, aided by a misplay in the outfield that saw the ball deflect off a diving Teoscar Hernández. Suddenly, it was 6–5 Padres, and Petco Park erupted.

The fourth inning passed quietly—remarkably so after such a chaotic start. May got through a clean frame, inducing weak contact from the top of San Diego’s order. The Dodgers couldn’t cash in on a leadoff walk to Ohtani and a soft single from Freeman in their half.

In the fifth, the Dodgers threatened again. Muncy led off with a single, and after a flyout, a wild pitch from new Padres reliever Yuki Matsui moved Muncy into scoring position. Tommy Edman then struck out swinging to preserve San Diego’s 6–5 lead momentarily. But Hyeseong Kim came through with two outs, ripping a double to right to score Muncy and knot the score at six apiece. Kim would be stranded at second, but the game was only half done, and it was already full of more drama than a telenovela.

Then, just as suddenly as it had erupted, the offense came to screeching halt for both teams. After May settled down and pitched five innings, Anthony Banda threw up two zeroes, followed by a scoreless frame from from the San Diego kid Alex Vesia, and finally Kirby Yates navigated around a two-out walk to Tatis to get the Dodgers into extra innings. On the other side, the bullpen of Reynolds, Estrada, Morejon, and Suarez did the same. And here we went into the tenth…

Max Muncy was the Manfred Man on second base to open the inning, but he didn’t stay there long. On the third pitch of the inning from reliever Wandy Peralta, Andy Pages was soooo clutch, smashing a double over the outfielders’ heads into left center. Muncy scored easily, and the Dodgers were in good shape with Pages cruising into second. Another San Diego kid, Tommy Edman, came to the plate, and he got a little good fortune from the Baseball Gods. On a 1-1 pitch, Edman ripped a sinker up the middle. The ball caromed off the second base bag and flew high into the air for an RBI single, and it was 8-6 Dodgers and things were looking very good indeed. The Dodgers failed to score any more, so the game went into the bottom of the tenth, for…. TANNER SCOTT (play scary music here)!

But rest easy, Dodger fans. Scott was up to the task in this one. He got the call on a borderline strike to put Manny Machado out to lead off the inning. But then, Jackson Merrill ripped a double to inch the Friars to within one. Fear not! Scott got a weak infield pop out from Gavin Sheets for the second out, and then ended the game with a flyout to a waiting Andy Pages in center. When the ball landed harmlessly in Pages’ glove for the final out, Dodger fans far and wide breathed a collective sigh of relief. Whew!! What a game. You got the heart for six more of these in the next two weeks? Here we go!

With Game One in the rearview, the rest of the series doesn’t get any easier. Tuesday and Wednesday will both feature second tier starters for the Dodgers (probably a bullpen game on Tuesday and Justin Wrobleski on Wednesday), so the hitters had better be ready to slug their way to victory. They’ll be matched up against a surprisingly struggling Dylan Cease (1-5, 4.72 ERA, 85 SO) in Game Two and righty Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.69 ERA, 37 SO) in the finale. Tuesday’s game has a 6:40 PDT first pitch and Wednesday will be a getaway day matinee at 1:10 PDT. Then, back to the Ravine for more National League West fun! But let’s TCOB down in San Diego first!

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