After a playing a nine-inning affair that ended five minutes before 11 p.m. PT, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were back on the field for a late-afternoon start in the third of their four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
Whereas Brandon McCarthy threw five scoreless innings in his 2016 debut, he gave up a two-run homer to Yangervis Solarte in the first inning. After Chase Utley reached on a Luis Perdomo throwing error, Corey Seager’s base hit put runners on first and second with none out.
Justin Turner grounded into a double play, but Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI double got the Dodgers on the board. Yasiel Puig kept the inning alive by reaching on an infield single, only for him and Gonzalez to be stranded by Yasmani Grandal.
McCarthy retired the Padres in order in the second and third innings, needing just 10 pitches to get through the third. Perdomo matched his effort to keep the Padres’ slim 2-1 lead intact. McCarthy issued a pair of walks in the fourth before ending the inning with his fifth strikeout of the game.
Gonzalez led off the bottom of the fourth with a base hit to center, which Perdomo followed by walking Puig on four pitches. Grandal’s single to left loaded the bases with none out and prompted a visit to the mound.
Perdomo’s first pitch to Howie Kendrick was pulled down the third base line for a two-run double that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Andrew Toles hit softly back to the box, which forced both runners to hold.
McCarthy dropped a bunt down, with the runners again holding, resulting in the second out. Ryan Schimpf then made a nice backhanded stop and throw on an Utley grounder up the middle to end the inning. Alexei Ramirez led off the fifth with a double down the left field line and later scored on Travis Jankowski’s RBI flare single to center.
Seager and Turner combined for back-to-back singles with no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Gonzalez grounded to second base but Turner’s slide led to an errant throw to first base by Ramirez, allowing Seager to score.
The Padres challenged the play at second base under the ‘Utley Rule,’ but Turner’s slide wasn’t ruled illegal. Casey Fien took over in the sixth and retired the Padres in order to protect the Dodgers’ 4-3 lead.
Toles singled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and moved into scoring position, where he was stranded as pinch-hitter Trayce Thompson grounded out. Thompson remained in the game in center field and Chris Hatcher took over on the mound.
He started the seventh with a strikeout, then got help from Puig, who made a diving catch on a sinking liner to right field. Adam Liberatore replaced Hatcher and struck out Brett Wallace to end the inning.
Brad Hand retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the seventh, striking out Seager and Turner in the process. Liberatore struck out Jankowski in the eighth before giving way to Joe Blanton. With 0.2 shutout innings, Liberatore set a Dodgers franchise record with 24 consecutive scoreless appearances.
Joe Blanton struck out Wil Myers and got Matt Kemp to fly out to end the eighth. Grandal walked with two outs in the bottom of the eighth but it didn’t amount to anything. Kenley Jansen entered in the ninth inning and shut the door on the Padres to earn his 26th save of the season in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory.
