Padres fans get their wish in the 10th inning as the home team indeed ‘Beat L.A.’
SAN DIEGO — The first time the chant rained down at Petco Park on Saturday night, the Dodgers quieted the crowd.
“Beat LA! Beat LA!” screamed San Diego Padres fans in the eighth inning, their team protecting a two-run lead with runners on the corners, their closer on the mound attempting to secure a five-out save.
Then Trea Turner came to the plate and laced a tying double to left field, the ball just getting over the head of Jurickson Profar before bouncing off the wall.
When the chant returned in the bottom of the ninth, the screams of “Beat LA! Beat LA!” showering C.J. Abrams with a runner on first and two outs, the Padres came up empty again, Abrams whiffing on a 2-and-2 slider from reliever Daniel Hudson to send the game to extras.
But then in the bottom of the 10th, the brown and yellow sections of a largely split crowd of 44,444 began the chant again, spurred on by a video board graphic and accompanying drum beat over the stadium speakers.
This time, the Padres delivered. Pinch-hitter Trent Grisham bunted Abrams — who started the inning at second base as the automatic runner — to third. Austin Nola brought him home with a walk-off sacrifice fly to left.
The Padres beat the Dodgers 3-2. And more “Beat LA! Beat LA!” chants carried on into a crisp San Diego night.
The Dodgers had ample opportunities to change the outcome.
Early on, they had Yu Darvish on the ropes. After stranding a walk in the first, the Dodgers loaded the bases in the second. Mookie Betts came to the plate with the chance to produce a big inning. But on what was already Darvish’s 51st pitch of the night, Betts struck out to retire the side.
After that, the Dodgers’ bats went quiet, failing to produce a baserunner for the next five innings. Darvish got his pitch count under control, too, completing six scoreless innings in which he gave up only one hit.
The Dodgers’ starter, Tyler Anderson, pitched decently in his first start of the season, taking the place of the injured Andrew Heaney in the Dodgers rotation.
In 4⅔ innings, the left-hander gave up two runs, four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Wil Myers hit a sacrifice fly against him in the second. Then Jake Cronenworth sent a solo home run to right in the third.
Still, Anderson and a parade of relievers kept the game close. And in the eighth, the Dodgers’ offense finally came through. After Chris Taylor reached on an infield single — snapping a streak of 16 batters retired in a row — Gavin Lux lined a base hit to center. Betts and Freddie Freeman struck out in the next two at-bats, giving the Padres’ faithful hope their lead would remain intact. But then Turner got ahold of a 1-and-1 slider from San Diego closer Taylor Rogers, tying the score at 2-2 before being stranded at second by Max Muncy’s strikeout.
The Dodgers’ bullpen kept the score knotted, with Brusdar Graterol tossing a clean eighth inning and Hudson fanning Abrams in the ninth. In the top of the 10th, however, the Dodgers made a mistake on the bases. Taylor, who began the inning at second after hitting into an inning-ending double play in the ninth, tried to tag up and go to third on a fly ball to left field from Lux.
Profar made a perfect throw to third baseman Manny Machado, who applied the tag for a double play. Betts struck out to end the inning.
Justin Bruihl took the mound in the 10th but couldn’t extend the game. Grisham’s bunt was placed perfectly in front of the mound, enabling Abrams to reach third with ease. Then Nola sent a 2-and-0 cutter plenty deep to Taylor in left, allowing Abrams to come sliding across home plate without a play.
It snapped the Padres’ 10-game losing streak to the Dodgers, which stretched back to last season, and gave their fans one more chance to chant on their way out of the ballpark.
“Beat LA! Beat LA!”
Padres utilize a bunt to win 3-2 on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning
A bunt was the difference.
A sacrifice bunt, no less.
Rare, indeed, but that’s what keyed the Padres’ 3-2 win in 10 innings over the Dodgers.
Trent Grisham bunted C.J. Abrams from second to third base, then Austin Nola flied out to left field deep enough for Abrams to easily score the winning run.
The Dodgers fell to 10-4 and Padres improved to 10-6, one game back in the National League West.
Daniel Hudson mows down the Padres, sending the game to extra innings
The Dodgers’ bullpen has been flawless, the ball being passed like a baton from starter Tyler Anderson to Phil Bickford, Alex Vesia, Mitch White, Brusdar Graterol and Daniel Hudson.
The result? The Dodgers’ first extra-inning game of 2022.
Hudson mowed down the Padres in the ninth, putting the ball in the hands of San Diego rookie right-hander Patrick Suarez.
The Dodgers started the 10th inning with Chris Taylor on second base.
Cody Bellinger’s swing was sweet but the Dodgers go sour in ninth
Cody Bellinger had what might have been his best pure swing of the season, a line single to left-center field off hard-slinging Padres left-hander Travis Rogers.
The hit put Dodgers runners on first and second with one out in the top of the ninth, but Chris Taylor promptly bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning with the score tied 2-2.
Trea Turner ties the score with a two-run double for the Dodgers
The Dodgers woke up in the eighth when Trea Turner turned on a 81.5-mph slider from left-hander Taylor Rogers and smacked a two-run double off the left-field wall to tie the score 2-2.
Chris Taylor began the inning with a single to the backhand of rookie shortstop C.J. Abrams and Gavin Lux followed with a line drive single to left-center on a full-count 98-mph fastball, bringing up the top of the Dodgers’ batting order.
Taylor advanced to third on a wild pitch, but Mookie Betts swung through a low slider on a full count for the first out. Right-hander Luis Garcia was lifted in favor of Rogers, who struck out Freddie Freeman before giving up the double to Turner.
Yu Darvish can be either great or lousy, and tonight he was great
The Dodgers have experienced firsthand how enigmatic right-hander Yu Darvish can be dominant one start and a facsimile of batting practice the next.
On Saturday night, it was the dominant Darvish.
The Padres ace gave up only one hit and struck out seven in six scoreless innings before departing after throwing 90 pitches. Will Smith’s soft single in the second innings was the only blemish.
San Diego continues to lead 2-0 after right-hander Steven Wilson retired the Dodgers in order in the seventh.
Tyler Anderson pitches into the fifth but Phil Bickford gets out of the inning
Tyler Anderson was lifted after 4 2/3 innings and 80 pitches, departing with runners on first and second and the Dodgers behind, 2-0.
Anderson, a left-hander, gave up four hits and walked three while striking out four.
Right-hander Phil Bickford came on to face the dangerous Manny Machado. After getting ahead with sliders on the outside part of the plate, Bickford put him away with a 93.8 mph fastball a couple inches outside that Machado flailed at and missed.
Padres extend lead on home run by Jake Cronenworth
Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth came into the game in an 0-for-25 slump. He managed an infield single in the first inning, then connected with the barrel in the third inning, sending a pitch from Tyler Anderson into the right-field bleachers to put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole.
Anderson has thrown 56 pitches, 37 for strikes.
Meanwhile, Yu Darvish has worked around three walks and and a single by Will Smith to keep the Dodgers scoreless through three innings. Darvish has thrown 62 pitches, 36 for strikes.
Padres strike first with a run in the second inning
Wil Myers drove in Jurickson Profar with a sacrifice fly to center field to put the Padres ahead 1-0 in the second inning.
Profar doubled to lead off the inning, advanced to third on Eric Hosmer’s ground out to first base and scored when Myers drove a 90.8-mph sinker from Tyler Anderson into Cody Bellinger’s glove for the second out.
Anderson, making his first Dodgers start, walked Jorge Alfaro on a full count then went to a full count to rookie C.J. Abrams before getting him to ground out.
Tyler Anderson to make first Dodgers start against the Padres
After two successful relief appearances, Tyler Anderson will start tonight for the Dodgers against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Anderson, a left-hander, has been almost exclusively a starter during his six previous seasons, starting 113 of 119 major league appearances. He allowed one earned run in seven innings during two bulk relief appearances, earning a starting nod.
The batting order has no surprises facing the Padres’ Yu Darvish:
Mookie Betts, RF
Freddie Freeman, 1B
Trea Turner, SS
Max Muncy, DH
Justin Turner, 3B
Will Smith, C
Cody Bellinger, CF
Chris Taylor, LF
Gavin Lux, 2B
ICYMI: Mookie Betts and Max Muncy start heating up in Dodgers’ win over Padres
SAN DIEGO — They were two of the Dodgers’ coldest hitters over the season’s first two weeks.
On Friday night at Petco Park, however, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy sparked the Dodgers’ latest triumph, combining for four hits, three home runs, five RBIs and four walks in the team’s 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
The duo erased the Dodgers early one-run deficit with a pair of solo home runs in the fifth inning — Betts leading off with a second-deck blast to left field, his first home run of the year; and Muncy giving the Dodgers the lead on a high-arching drive that just cleared the wall in right with two outs.
They helped Dodgers pull away down the stretch too — Muncy driving home two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh, giving him a season-high three RBIs, and Betts hitting another solo home run in the ninth, giving him his 20th career multi-homer game.
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
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