Alex Verdugo had a rare hitless night in the series opener against the San Diego Padres, then bounced back with a stellar performance to help the Los Angeles Dodgers earn a second consecutive win at Petco Park.
The Dodgers and Padres played to another entertaining affair Saturday night and one in which both teams squandered a lead. The Padres lost a 3-1 edge when the Dodgers pulled ahead behind a five-run sixth inning, but they immediately coughed that up.
So the game remained tied heading to the ninth. The Padres called on closer Kirby Yates for a second time in as many nights despite the none-save situation. The Dodgers’ run against Yates on Friday snapped his scoreless streak at 12 innings.
Justin Turner led off Saturday’s ninth inning with a single to left field. Yates followed that with strikeouts of Corey Seager and pinch-hitter Joc Pederson, then inexplicably lost control.
He walked Max Muncy after getting ahead 1-2, then hit Russell Martin with his first pitch. Yates fell behind 2-0 to Verdugo and ultimately wound up walking the rookie outfielder on five pitches to bring in the game-winning run.
The only pitch Verdugo offered at was a fastball over the plate. It was a healthy swing, and one you would expect from a young player looking to make his mark in a key moment. Verdugo fouled the pitch back and laid off the next two.
“For me, Yates has a really good splitter, likes to feed off the bottom of the zone and let it work down, kind of feed off the hitter’s aggressiveness,” Verdguo explained of his approach.
“Bases loaded, two outs, you can get riled up in that situation, but just had to take a couple deep breaths and stick with my normal approach, just see a ball up. I was able to get 2-0 right off the bat with two splitters that were down. I gave it my rip on the 2-0 and then after that toned it back down to, ‘Alright, we just need a single.’ I was able to recognize both pitches out of the hand going up and away for balls.”
Verdugo credited his ability to not offer at Yates’ first two pitches to not hunting a first-pitch fastball. “I was able to recognize the splitter down and take them,” he said.
Verdugo had steadily been earning his way to more playing time, and now is going to be part of the picture in center field while A.J. Pollock recovers from elbow surgery. His latest highlight garnered more praise from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“It’s impressive. As we see him more each day, you learn. Obviously he’s excitable, he’s talented, but he does have that ability to kind of temper those emotions and still stay in the strike zone,” Roberts said.
“That 2-0 swing, I thought he took a really good swing, a big swing, but then after that he got back into his swing and kept his composure. For him to take the walk right there, that go-ahead run was big.”
The Dodgers as a group have demonstrated a knack for succeeding against some of the game’s top relief pitchers, having previously gotten to Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader earlier this season.
“Never count us out. It’s just one of those things, from the first inning through the ninth inning, we’re very selective,” Verdugo said. “We kind of know what we want to do up there and against some of the best relievers we’re getting runs in and succeeding against them.”
