The Los Angeles Dodgers broke out from their recent skid and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 9-0 shutout of the San Diego Padres. The win sets up a rubber match at Petco Park on Wednesday.
The Dodgers’ nine runs surpassed their combined total (eight) from the previous four games, when they went just 1-3. The scoring on Tuesday night began with Joc Pederson lifting a solo home run to right field in the third inning.
The homer was Pederson’s 27th of the season, which surpasses his previous career high that was set in 2015. That added to the Dodgers’ reputation of being too dependent on the home run ball, but the rest of the night told a different story.
After Cody Bellinger doubled and was advanced on a groundout, Matt Beaty’s RBI single extended the Dodgers’ lead. Beaty promptly stole second base and scored on Kiké Hernandez’s two-out base hit.
The Dodgers then erupted in the fifth inning, with a pair of walks and a single loading the bases for Corey Seager, who delivered a two-run single. Beaty improved to 3-for-3 with a single that again left the bases full and knocked Cal Quantrill out of the game.
A pitching change did nothing to slow the Dodgers’ momentum as Will Smith greeted Michel Baez with an RBI single and Kiké Hernandez added a double to cap off the five-run inning.
Manuel Margot robbed Bellinger of a 43rd home run in the sixth, but the run support was more than enough for Walker Buehler. His Petco Park debut produced better results than have typically been seen from Buehler in road starts this season.
San Diego did have at least one baserunner reach in each of the first four innings but there was nothing to show for it. Some of that was self-inflicted as Buehler issued two walks and hit a batter along with allowing four hits over six scoreless innings.
He navigated through the traffic behind 11 strikeouts, giving Buehler 26 in 15 innings pitched across two starts against the Padres this season.
With the game well in hand, there nonetheless was tension in the bottom of the ninth inning as Russell Martin took the mound for his fourth relief appearance. Martin’s spotless ERA appeared to be in jeopardy after allowing a leadoff double but he retired the next three batters faced.
