A 7.1 magnitude earthquake had Dodger Stadium shaking in the fourth inning, and while fans may have hoped to replicate the experience in a more jubilant manner, there was no such luck as the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres, 3-2, in what was a sloppy affair all around.
Catcher’s interference allowed the Padres to have the leadoff man reach in the third inning, and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s base hit put two on with one out. Eric Hosmer drove an RBI double just out of Cody Bellinger’s reach in the right-center field gap.
Justin Turner helped Kershaw minimize the damage by making a diving stop, trading a run for a second out, and making a charging play on a slow roller to third base.
That was all Kershaw allowed, with only one of the two runs earned. He matched a season high with nine strikeouts and got through seven innings, exiting with the game tied.
That changed in the eighth inning as Yimi Garcia surrendered a go-ahead home run to Hunter Renfroe. Beyond frustration from allowing the Padres to take a lead was that Renfroe’s two-out homer also came with two strikes.
It of course wasn’t Renfroe’s first time hitting a back-breaking home run against the Dodgers. Back in May he clubbed a walk-off grand slam off Kenley Jansen, also with two outs.
The Padres twice attempted recording a force out at second base on a Kershaw sacrifice bunt, and were unsuccessful in both instances. It left two two on with nobody out in the bottom of the third, and was followed by Chris Taylor lining an RBI single into center field.
However, Taylor was unable to make San Diego pay a second time, as he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fourth. Sloppy defense did cost the Padres in the sixth, as Hosmer fielded a tapper up the first-base line and inexplicably threw to home plate.
It went wide, allowing Alex Verdugo to score the game-tying run. Hosmer appeared to have a potential chance at a 3-6-3 inning-ending double play. While his questionable attempt hurt the Padres at the time, Renfroe’s home run helped erase the sting.
