Home MLB San Diego Padres Avoids Being Swept By The Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres Avoids Being Swept By The Los Angeles Dodgers

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Photo Credit: Chris Harris

Los Angeles, CA —The last few weeks the LA Dodgers have been playing lights out baseball and still inching to catch up to the New York Yankees.

In the first inning, Mookie Betts and Trea Turner both crushed fastballs and sent them to the corner for Jurickson Profar to run down.

Down 1-0 quickly, Mackenzie Gore got Freddie Freeman to pop up to left field but had to get through seven batters and throw 29 pitches before leaving the bases loaded by striking out Trayce Thompson to end the first inning.

“We needed to keep them to that one right there,” Gore said. “It happened quick, but we were able to settle down and get through it.”

The Padres came back in the ninth inning Sunday for a 4-2 victory that stopped a losing streak at Dodger Stadium at nine games.

With the win, the Padres avoid a four-game sweep by their NL West rivals and puts them 3 1/2 games back at the halfway point. San Diego improved their record to 47-34.

After three days in which the Padres scored a total of four runs and were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position, it didn’t look good for San Diego early in the game.

Jake Cronenworth began the fourth inning with a one-out single off Kimbrel’s back. Luke Voit double off the top of the wall in left field tied the game. Hosmer’s line-drive single scored pinch-runner CJ Abrams and drove Kimbrel from the game. Two batters later, Ha-Seong Kim’s two-run homer off Yency Almonte would seal the game.

“This would have been a really tough game to lose. There’s some games in the middle of the season that are bigger than others. This was a huge swing for us,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said.

After retiring the sides in order in the fifth inning, Gore walked Thompson to start the sixth. He got two outs and looked to have possibly gotten a double-play grounder from Gavin Lux. But Kim took the throw from Cronenworth and after a 360-degree turn, his throw to first base arrive a split-second after Lux had crossed the bag.

Photo Credit: Chris Harris

With Gore at 100 pitches, reliever Nick Martinez was called on and ended the inning by getting a grounder from Justin Turner.

Martinez (3-3) allowed one hit in his 2 1/3 innings and got the win.

The victory was the Padres’ third in 10 games (since the start of a series against the Phillies at Petco Park) and their sixth in 16 games (since the start of a series in Colorado on June 17).

Eric Hosmer, who had two hits, singled home the go-ahead run to end Kimbrel night.

The Dodgers didn’t hit a homer for the first time in the series and this time were the ones with lots of baserunners stranded and not much to show for an stellar performance by their starting pitcher.

“It doesn’t feel like we lost three,” said Luke Voit, whose double in the ninth scored Jake Cronenworth to tie the game the Padres had trailed 1-0 since the first inning. “It’s just huge for us because we’ve had a tough stretch since Philly.”

It also snapped a nine-game losing streak at Dodger Stadium and marked only their second win in the last 16 games over the Dodgers.

Mookie Betts returned from the injured list with two doubles and scored both Dodger runs. Kershaw threw four-hit ball over seven innings.

“We felt like we were putting good pressure on and kept fighting to the end. This series didn’t go our win but to get this one against (Clayton) Kershaw and Kimbrel is big,” Hosmer said.

ROSTER MOVE:

The Padres called up RHP Tayler Scott from Triple-A El Paso to help out the bullpen. LHP Ray Kerr was optioned and RHP Kyle Tucker designated for assignment.

UP NEXT:

Padres: Return home for a two-game series against Seattle starting Monday. LHP Sean Manaea (3-3, 3.92 ERA) went 1-0 in five June starts.

Dodgers: LHP Julio Urias (5-2, 2.94 ERA) gets the start on Monday as Los Angeles opens a three-game set against Colorado.