Behind Clayton Kershaw turning in another strong start, the Los Angeles Dodgers appeared poised to clinch a series win against the San Diego Padres during Players’ Weekend. However, eight innings from the left-handed ace was not enough.
Kershaw was provided with a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to Manny Machado’s 30th home run of the season. However, after failing to retire the first three batters faced, Brett Kennedy largely shut down the Dodgers from there.
They certainly had their opportunities, but Yasiel Puig was stranded at third base in the second inning, Justin Turner’s leadoff single in the third was squandered, and the bases were left loaded in the fourth inning.
After the Dodgers had their lead cut to 3-2 in the top of the seventh, Max Muncy answered with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. The home run, Muncy’s 30th this season, came on his 28th birthday.
The insurance run proved key but a failure to cash in on runners at second and third base with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth came back to haunt the Dodgers. Kenley Jansen failed to convert the save opportunity as he surrendered a home run in his third straight appearance.
So the game went into extra innings, which included a second power outage at Dodger Stadium this season. After a 20-minute delay in the bottom of the 12th, Turner blooped the first pitch he saw into shallow right field for a walk-off single.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, the Padres essentially gave up on the play, not realizing that Matt Kemp didn’t break from second base until seeing the ball drop. Had the Travis Jankowski, Eric Hosmer or Cory Spangenberg been more alert, Kemp might have been thrown out at home plate.
