The Los Angeles Dodgers won another thriller against the San Diego Padres, with Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner and Mookie Betts each playing a key part in the 2-0 victory.
Yu Darvish carried a perfect game into the fifth inning but lost it when he hit Zach McKinstry. The rookie may have been struck by the breaking ball anyway, but showed some veteran thinking by sticking out his foot to increase the likelihood.
That wound up starting a rally for the Dodgers as Luke Raley kept the inning alive with a two-out single, their first hit. Austin Barnes drew a walk and Kershaw then battled Darvish for eight pitches before the plate appearance ended on an RBI walk.
The Dodgers’ lead remained 1-0 until Turner clubbed a solo home run in the ninth inning. The homer was Turner’s fifth this season and added to what’s been a blistering start. He entered the year with just three career home runs during the months of March and April.
Turner’s blast alleviated some of the pressure on Blake Treinen, who started the ninth inning in his first time this year going one-plus, and Victor Gonzalez as he eventually took over. However, closing the game did not come without some drama.
Gonzalez inherited a runner and put another on when he walked the first batter faced. A soft groundout to Max Muncy then advanced both. Needing a base hit to potentially tie the game Tommy Pham hit a line drive into the right-center field gap.
Mookie Betts got a tremendous jump and made a game-winning diving catch with the ball landing in the palm of his glove. Betts immediately popped to his knees to celebrate the terrific play as the Padres were stunned and hoped a review would reverse their fate. The catch probability on the play was a mere 10%.
Kershaw, Profar exchange words
As for matters on the mound, Kershaw again did his part in a pitchers’ duel. He finished with eight strikeouts and held the Padres to just two hits over six scoreless innings.
The night included Kershaw and Jurickson Profar exchanging words after catcher’s interference was called in the fourth inning. Kershaw appeared to retire the side in order on a strikeout but Profar’s late swing attempt caught Austin Barnes’ glove.
The Padres successfully challenged, which drew the ire of Kershaw as he believed the swing attempt was half-hearted and only came once the ball was in Barnes’ glove. “Barnesy could’ve been seriously injured on that play,” Kershaw said after the win.
“He basically swung straight down and backwards. I’m not saying it was intentional, but that was not a big league swing. I asked the umpire if I could just hit the catcher’s glove every time.”
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