Nine innings wasn’t enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres following a 40-minute rain delay as the two teams went to extra innings with the Padres emerging victorious, 5-4, in walk-off fashion.
The Dodgers jumped out to an early lead when Freddie Freeman hit his 18th home run of the season off Padres’ starter Mike Clevinger to put them up 1-0 in the top of the first inning coming out of the delay.
However, the Padres answered back in the second inning when Trent Grisham hit a three-run home run off Dustin May following a single from Jake Cronenworth and a walk from Wil Myers.
That lead was also short-lived as the Dodgers battled back in the third inning started by a single from Chris Taylor. Mookie Betts was then hit by a pitch and Trea Turner singled to load the bases before Freeman hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Padres’ lead to one.
Will Smith then followed with a single to tie the game at three runs each.
With the Dodgers evaluating four outfielders for two starting spots next to Mookie Betts in the postseason, Trayce Thompson continued to make his case for one of the jobs by hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning to put L.A. up 4-3.
In the fifth inning, Juan Soto drew a one-out walk before Manny Machado singled. However, a rare error from Betts, perhaps with some help from the wet grass, allowed Soto to score to tie the game. May then made an error on a comebacker that let Josh Bell reach base, but he was able to pitch out of the jam to keep the game tied.
From there, both bullpens held the opposing lineups scoreless to get the game to extra innings tied 4-4.
The Dodgers had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the top of the 10th with Betts, Trea Turner and Freeman due up with Cody Bellinger on second and no outs, but they weren’t able to capitalize against Adrian Morejon.
Heath Hembree pitched the 10th inning for the Dodgers and following an intentional walk to Manny Machado, he gave up a game-winning single to Jake Cronenworth.
Justin Turner saw his hitting streak end at 16 games following an 0-for-4 night with two strikeouts. The Dodgers’ magic number remains at six and the earliest they can clinch the National League West title is Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Dustin May rebounds from previous start
On Sept. 2, Dustin May allowed six earned runs on two homers with five walks against the Padres in five innings, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believed it would act as a learning experience for the 25-year-old right-hander.
This time around, May was much more effective, going five innings and limiting the damage to three earned runs (four total) with just the one home run allowed and three walks. While the walks number is still higher than they would like to see, May was battling the rain for a big part of his start.
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