Jeff Birney
Dodgers Sweep Padres; Keep Pace with Arizona
The Dodgers won three distinctly different games against the Padres this past weekend for the sweep, gaining ground and keeping pace with the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.
In what has been a theme as of late, the boom or bust Dodger’s offense went for a big boom on Friday, routing the Padres 11-1. Rich Hill went six scoreless innings on a 2-hitter as the Dodgers got 13 hits to account for the 11 runs, flipping the switch on the RISP ailments that have plagued the team on and off all season.
Saturday night was a different game altogether. The Dodgers took an early lead off a Manny Machado bomb in the first, going up 3-0 in the bottom of the first. The Padres battled back though, scoring in the third, seventh and tying the game 4-4 in the ninth on an HR off the struggling Kenley Jansen.
In what became the weirdest game in recent memory, the lights in Dodgers Stadium went out in the 12th, and after a brief delay, Justin Turner blooped a one-out walk-off to short right to get Matt Kemp across the plate for the 5-4 win.
The Dodgers finished off the Padres a bit more traditionally on Sunday, one of the highlights being pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu kicking off a 2-out rally in the fifth with a sharp drive to center. Justin Turner doubled later in the inning and Manny Machado homered to put the Dodgers ahead. They went on to win 7-3.
The Dodgers currently sit in 3rd place in the NL West, 2.5 games out of 1st and 1.5 games behind 2nd-place Colorado. L.A. faces the Texas Rangers for two starting Tuesday. Game time is 5:05 pm, PST.
