Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres entered Friday’s series opener reeling a bit, with the Dodgers mired in a four-game losing streak, and the Padres losers in five straight.
Jon Jay opened the game with a single to left field, but he was then erased at second base on a force out. With Wil Myers on first base, Matt Kemp grounded into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play.
However, the Padres successfully challenged the out call at first base. Melvin Upton Jr. struck out swinging to end the inning. Justin Turner was hit by a pitch with two outs and Adrian Gonzalez drew a walk immediately after in the bottom of the first.
Both runners were stranded as Yasiel Puig grounded into a force out. Wodd set the Padres down in order in the second, ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Joc Pederson drew a walk in the bottom half of the second to give the Dodgers another man on base with two outs.
Wood extended the inning by slapping Cesar Vargas’ first pitch into right field for a single. The rookie-hander worked his way out of the inning unscathed by striking out Chase Utley swinging.
Wood opened the third with a strikeout of Jemlie Weeks. Vargas grounded out to second base, and Jay tapped back to the mound to end another scoreless inning. Corey Seager led off the bottom of the third with a double, only to be stranded.
Vargas struck out Turner looking and got Gonzalez swinging. Puig popped-up to second base, sending the game locked in a scoreless tie to the fourth inning.
CONTINUE READING: Chris Hatcher encounters bad luck, allows big home run
Myers was called out on strikes to start the fourth, giving Wood five strikeouts to that point. Kemp doubled off the center field wall and came around to score on Upton Jr.’s RBI single to center.
Wood struck out Derek Norris and retired Adam Rosales after Alexei Ramirez hit a flare single into left-center field. Yasmani Grandal hit a rocket over Kemp’s head, however Grandal was easily thrown out attempting to leg out a double.
Pederson, on a single, and Wood, with a walk, again kept an inning alive for the Dodgers. But once again, with that duo on base, Utley struck out. Wood worked around a two-out walk to throw a scoreless inning in the fifth.
Not that it made much of a difference, with Vargas retiring Seager, Turner and Gonzalez in the bottom half of the inning. Wood caught Kemp looking, and got Upton Jr. swinging to run his strikeout total to nine, a new season high, through six innings.
Vargas got Puig to foul out to start the bottom of the sixth, then gave way to Brad Hand. Only five pitches later, the left-hander gave up a game-tying solo home run to Grandal. Ramirez led off the seventh inning with a base hit to right field.
Turner then robbed Rosales of an extra-base hit and potential RBI with a quick reaction to snag a line drive that was headed down the third base line. Jemile Weeks followed by grounding into an inning-ending double play.
Kevin Quackenbush took over for the Padres in the bottom of the seventh and retired pinch-hitter Kiké Hernandez. That was it for Quackenbush, as he was then replaced by Ryan Butcher. The left-hander proceeded to strikeout Utley, and got Seager to line out.
Chris Hatcher issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, then was riddled with some bad luck as a grounder hit off his leg and found its way to left field, leaving runners on the corners with no outs. Despite getting ahead in the count, 0-2, Hatcher allowed a three-run home run to Kemp.
It ran Kemp’s RBI total on the night to three, and gave the Padres a 4-1 lead. Brandon Maurer walked Gonzalez with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but otherwise struck out the side, consisting of Turner, Puig and Grandal.
Kenley Jansen entered in the ninth for his first action since April 24 and promptly gave up a leadoff double. After a sacrifice bunt advanced Rosales to third, he scored on a squeeze play that went for a bunt single, extending the Padres lead to 5-1.
Carlos Villanueva allowed a two-out single to pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick, but nothing else, to extend the Dodgers’ losing streak to five games.