Thursday night had all makings of a trap game for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they were back from a three-city road trip to start their longest homestand of the season, and the San Diego Padres had plenty of motivation to bounce back from a shellacking.
The first two innings played out as such, with the Padres capitalizing on facing Roki Sasaki in a second consecutive start. However, the game quickly turned on its head as the Dodgers scored 12 unanswered runs for their 26th comeback win of the season. San Diego snapped their scoring run on a two-out RBI single off Tanner Scott in the ninth inning.
Including the postseason, the Dodgers have now won 31 of their last 41 home games against the Padres.
Dodgers 12, Padres 7: key takeaways
Roki Sasaki struggles
Sasaki only managed to complete three innings as he allowed six runs on seven hits, including three home runs. The other four hits were doubles, and it all culminated with the Dodgers facing a 6-0 deficit.
Sasaki’s fastball velocity again was down and averaged just 97.8 mph. It marked a second consecutive start his heater fell below 98 mph. It otherwise was not an occurrence that had happened since May.
Offense erupts
The Dodgers’ comeback started with Dalton Rushing’s two-run homer that trimmed their deficit to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning.
Max Muncy’s RBI double and Tucker’s base hit put two more runs on the board for the Dodgers in the third inning and seemingly applied some pressure to Padres starter Randy Vásquez, who didn’t reach the fourth.
Andy Pages tied the game with a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Mookie Betts’ RBI two-bagger gave the Dodgers their first lead. It was an encouraging sign for Betts as he was scratched Wednesday night due to right wrist soreness. Muncy’s base hit made it a four-run inning.
Tommy Edman extended the Dodgers’ lead in the fifth with an RBI double. He promptly stole third base without a throw and then came home on a wild pitch.
Tucker’s leadoff double in the sixth set up the Dodgers’ fifth consecutive inning with a run as Dalton Rushing’s sacrifice fly drove him in. Rushing finished 4-for-4 with four RBI and a triple shy of the cycle. The four hits and four RBI both matched a career high.
Kyle Tucker’s streak
Maligned for much of the season, Tucker is in the midst of arguably his most encouraging stretch. Albeit only at two games.
He drew four walks on Wednesday and followed it with four consecutive hits against the Padres. The four hits tied a career high, which Tucker has now achieved 11 times. Tucker extended his on-base streak to nine consecutive plate appearances by drawing a walk in the bottom of the eighth.
NL West update
The Dodgers now are 13 games ahead of the Padres for first place in the National League West. It’s their largest divisional lead since ending the 2023 season 16 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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