Los Angeles Dodgers players gathered around the mound to celebrate Vin Scully in a pregame ceremony on Friday night, and then made it a long night for Sean Manaea in an 8-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers extended their winning streak to six games and now are 13.5 up on the Padres for first place in the National League West. The teams have 11 more meetings over the rest of the regular season.
Mookie Betts ignited the offense with a leadoff double in the first inning, and Trea Turner’s base hit put runners at the corners. Manaea then hit Freddie Freeman with a pitch to load the bases, and was hurt by Brandon Drury throwing the ball away on Will Smith’s infield single.
That gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead, though Smith was only credited with one RBI. He went on to finish with a game-high three hits.
Drury had more trouble when Hanser Alberto’s hard-hit grounder got by him for a two-run double with two outs in the inning. Manaea and Drury faced more trouble in the third.
Singles by Freeman and Smith set the table for Chris Taylor’s two-run double that got by Drury as well. Cody Bellinger later drove two in on his extra-base hit before Manaea could get through the inning.
Dodgers pitching recap
L.A. didn’t score outside of their two four-run innings, but the lead was more than enough for Tony Gonsolin and the bullpen.
Gonsolin needed 30 pitches to get through the first inning, which prevented him from going deep into the game. However, he did hold the Padres scoreless and collected six strikeouts over five innings.
David Price followed that with 1.2 hitless innings, Reyes Moronta recorded four outs, and Phil Bickford allowed a run before wrapping up the win.
The ballyhooed trio of Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Josh Bell went a combined 3-for-9 with one walk and three strikeouts.
Tyler Anderson may not have made it to the mound, but he did get an opportunity to pinch-hit for Freeman in the bottom of the eighth. Anderson struck out against infielder Matthew Batten, who had pinch-hit for Manny Machado in the top half of the inning.
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