Rich Hill gutted through two innings and Max Muncy delivered a grand slam that was the difference for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres. With that, the Dodgers guaranteed themselves the best record in the National League.
Roughly an hour before their game at Petco Park went final, the Dodgers secured home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series via an Atlanta Braves loss. Though at that point it remained possible for the Braves and Dodgers to finish with identical records — and L.A. earning the nod via head-to-head tiebreaker.
As for matters they could control, the Dodgers appeared to be facing another scenario in which Hill would not make it past the first inning for a second time in as many starts since coming off the 60-day injured list.
A knee brace meant to alleviate stress and pain caused by a strained left MCL was proving to be ineffective as Hill labored after beginning his night with a strikeout. He nonetheless managed to get through two innings and gained steam as the outing progressed.
After somewhat surprisingly batting for himself in the bottom of the first — and improbably hitting a double — Hill finished his night by striking out the side to reach 1,000 career strikeouts.
He threw an extra inning in the bullpen, jogging with a normal gait to and from the dugout.
Hill was backed by two perfect innings from Tony Gonsolin, and Dylan Floro picked up an out in the fifth inning on his first pitch but then lost the combined no-hitter and shutout. Adam Kolarek was summoned to face Eric Hosmer and he successfully got the Dodgers out of the jam.
Kenta Maeda, Julio Urias, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen then combined to finish the game out. Dodgers pitchers collected 12 strikeouts as a staff. Each of the Padres’ five hits and three runs came against Floro in the fifth inning.
A.J. Pollock’s swinging bunt for an RBI infield single with the bases loaded in the first inning gave the Dodgers a lead, and Muncy’s grand slam extended it to 5-0 in the fourth. It was the Dodgers’ seventh grand slam of the season and the first of Muncy’s career.
It was an encouraging sign for Muncy as he returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games because of tightness in his right quad. He was removed after going 1-for-3 with the four RBI and a walk. Joc Pederson provided some breathing room with a solo home run in the ninth.
With the win, the 2019 club remains in position to potentially break franchise’s all-time record of 105 wins by going undefeated on their road trip. The L.A. record is 104 wins, set by the 2017 team.
