Having suffered back-to-back walk-off losses, the Los Angeles Dodgers needed a win Sunday afternoon to avoid being swept by the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. With the Dodgers mired in a four-game losing streak, they handed the ball to Kenta Maeda, who looked to right his woes.
After Colin Rea retired the Dodgers in order in the first inning, Maeda followed suit and ended the bottom of the first with a strikeout of Matt Kemp. In the first at-bat of his seventh consecutive start, Trayce Thompson reached on an infield single with one out in the second inning.
He was stranded, however, as Joc Pederson lined out and Yasiel Puig flied out. Maeda retired the first two batters faced in the bottom of the second, then grazed Brett Wallace’s jersey with an inside fastball, putting him on first base.
Nothing came of it, with Maeda striking out Christian Bethancourt to conclude the frame. Whereas Maeda allowed his first run of the game in the third inning of his previous two starts, Sunday was a different story.
He induced a first-pitch groundout, then struck out Rea and Jon Jay to give him four punchouts through three innings. Corey Seager drew leadoff walk in the fourth, but the Dodgers again couldn’t get any offense going and the game remained a scoreless tie.
CONTINUE READING: Clayton Kershaw makes pinch-hit appearance
Maeda continued to use the fastball with more frequency that he had in previous outings. He opened the bottom of the fourth with a strikeout, then retired the next two batters faced. The game came to halt when Pederson’s bunt attempt went foul and struck home plate umpire David Rackley in the proverbial midsection.
Rackley remained down on his back and was checked on by trainers before ultimately rising to his feet and walking off the field. Play resumed after a 15-minute delay with second base umpire Alfonso Marquez taking over behind the plate.
After Rea struck out Pederson, he hit Puig with a pitch. Puig was then caught stealing, and A.J. Ellis flied out to end the inning. Melvin Upton Jr. broke up Maeda’s no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth.
Upton Jr. then stole second base and advanced to third on a groundout up the middle. With the Dodgers playing a drawn-in infield, Bethancourt shot an RBI single by a diving Seager to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
Following an Alexi Amarista force out, Rea singled to center and Jay drew a walk to load the bases. Wil Myers hit a shallow fly ball into right field that Puig was unable to make a diving catch on, resulting in a triple that extended the Padres’ lead to 4-0.
Kiké Hernandez pinch-hit for Maeda and drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. Utley followed with a base hit to left, and Seager’s RBI single got the Dodgers on the board. Kevin Quackenbush replaced Rea, inheriting runners on the corners with no outs.
Quackenbush’s second offering to Howie Kendrick was a wild pitch that allowed Utley to score, cutting the Padres’ lead to 4-2. Adrian Gonzalez tacked on an RBI single of his own before Quackenbush managed to get out of the inning.
Pedro Baez, working at an improved pace than he had in previous relief appearances, retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth. Justin Turner tied the game in the seventh inning with a pinch-hit solo home run that reached the second deck in left field.
Chris Hatcher issued a one-out walk to Amarista, who then stole second base with two outs. He was stranded as Hatcher got Jay to ground out on a 3-0 pitch. Brandon Maurer took over for the Padres in the eighth inning and saw his first pitch hit for a go-ahead home run by Kendrick.
The home run was the first of the season for Kendrick. Louis Coleman issued a leadoff walk to Myers in the bottom half of the inning. Myers reached second base with two outs on a grounder, which prompted Dodgers manager to call on Kenley Jansen as part of a double switch that also brought Carl Crawford in for Thompson.
Upton Jr. got the better of the matchup once again, as Pederson came up just short on a diving catch attempt in right-center field, resulting in an RBI triple that tied the game at 5-5. Puig led off the ninth inning with a base hit and alertly stole second base on Fernando Rodney’s wild pitch that hardly got away from Bethancourt.
However, Puig’s mental mistake of not advancing to third base on Ellis’ sacrifice bunt cost the Dodgers as Crawford and Utley both flied out. Jansen retired the Padres in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the Dodgers and Padres to extra innings a second consecutive game.
After walking Yangervis Solarte in the 11th, Adam Liberatore deflected a comebacker toward Kendrick, who threw it away at first base. Solarte reached third, but Upton Jr. was caught in a rundown for the first out. Solarte was then stranded by Bethancourt and Amarista.
Pederson and Puig combined for back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners with no outs in the 14th. Ellis drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, but Crawford promptly grounded into a 4-2-3 double play. Luis Perdomo then got Utley to strikeout on a pitch in the dirt to end the inning.
Following a Kendrick a one-out double in the 15th, Gonzalez was intentionally walked. Clayton Kershaw pinch-hit for Howell, who turned in three scoreless innings. Kershaw grounded into a force out and Pederson popped out to end the inning.
Kendrick was robbed of a potential triple, which would have meant hitting for the cycle, as his shot to center field hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double to open the 17th inning. After Gonzalez was intentionally walked, Ross Stripling advanced both runners with a slash grounder to the right side.
Perdomo intentionally walked Pederson to load the bases with one out. Puig atoned for missed opportunities and his baserunning mistake by driving a two-run single to center, giving the Dodgers a 7-5 lead.
Pederson scored on a wild pitch, with Puig going first to third base on the sequence. Ellis drew a walk, and another run came across on a Crawford RBI groundout. Stripling completed a third inning of work to wrap up the Dodgers’ 9-5 win and earn his second career victory.