Though the Los Angeles Dodgers have proven time after time again this season that they are one of the toughest teams to defeat at home, the club ultimately fell short in their comeback efforts against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
With the score all evened up at two apiece in the top of the eighth inning, Hunter Renfroe provided the dagger with a two-out, go-ahead home run off Yimi Garcia to give the Padres a 3-2 lead.
Following a one-out single by Cody Bellinger in the latter half of the inning, Padres manager Andy Green summoned All-Star closer Kirby Yates out of the bullpen to record the final five outs. He successfully got through the frame unscathed, leaving the Dodgers with one final opportunity to pull off a comeback.
After Joc Pederson and Matt Beaty went down in order, Russell Martin was tasked with extending the inning. He did so, but it came at the painful expense of being hit by a 93 mph fastball on the helmet.
Martin immediately motioned to the Dodgers dugout that he was fine, prompting Dave Roberts to leave him in the game. He remained on first base representing the tying run, but Yates ultimately got Chris Taylor to chase a pitch out of the strike zone to successfully close out the win.
“When it gets pretty close to your face, I guess the adrenaline kicks in a little bit and everything slows down,” Martin said of being hit. “Last second, I kind of just turned my head.
“It didn’t really hit me too square, it kind of glanced off and felt like a foul tip. I’m totally fine. Feel good.”
Martin argued that he didn’t necessarily need it, but he nonetheless credited the extra protection on his helmet for softening the blow. “I don’t think I needed that,” Martin opined.
“It hit me kind of in the earflap area, but it definitely helped to have that little extra protection.”
While it’s encouraging that Martin appears to have avoided a potentially serious injury, the Dodgers may ultimately play it safe and decide to keep him out of the lineup for Saturday’s contest against the Padres.
