PADRES FALTER IN 12TH VS. DODGERS
Wild one has a bit of everything, including the benches clearing
If this is what the new Padres Dodgers is going to be like for 18 more games between now and September, then OK. Buckle up.
What unfolded Friday night at Petco Park, in front of a crowd limited to 15,250 by COVID restrictions but boundless in its enthusiasm, was a five-hour series of ups and downs and twists and turns that only at the end stopped being a ball of stress wrapped in a bigger ball of tension.
The game finally concluded in the 12th inning when the Padres could
11
not answer a five-run burst by the Dodgers. Corey Seager’s
Padres
6 lead-off two-run homer and three singles
12 innings off Tim Hill
and another single and a sacrifice fly off Jake Cronenworth gave the visitors an 11-6 victory in the opener of a three-game series.
On the way to that result, the Padres took two leads and lost them, the Dodgers took two leads and lost them, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a monster home run in his first day off the injured list and, in the 10th inning, the bullpens and benches emptied after Jorge Mateo was hit by a pitch and Dodgers pitcher Dennis Santana rushed at Mateo along the first base line.
And while the players milled around, a fan ran onto the field and was tackled by security guards.
Cronenworth made his pitching debut while pitcher Joe Musgrove made his debut in left field in the 12th.
Hill threw a perfect top of the 11th before the Padres failed to score in the bottom half of the inning.
Mark Melancon, who allowed the Dodgers a goahead run in the ninth, threw
a scoreless 10th.
The Padres ended both of the first two extra innings with a runner at third.
The Padres fell behind in a strange sixth inning and then tied the game in the eighth, went down a run in the top of the ninth and then tied it in the bottom of the inning thanks in large part to a gutsy run around the bases by Manny Machado.
Machado hurt himself on a swing during his two-out walk and held his side as he made his way to first base, as manager Jayce Tingler and an athletic trainer ran out to check on him.
Machado then promptly stole second base. He rose from the bag slowly and winced, clearly in pain. He went to third on a wild pitch and doubled over when he got there.
As he jogged home with the tying run on Hosmer’s single, Machado was stiff and held his left arm still at his side.
He was the last player from the dugout to start the top of the 10th inning.
The Dodgers began the 10th with Will Smith on second base. He ended up at third after Max Muncy grounded out, Chris Taylor lined out and Zach McKinstry struck out at the hands of Melancon.
It was Melancon who allowed the Dodgers to take a 6-5 lead in the ninth on singles by Mookie Betts and
Justin Turner.
Tatis, who spent the previous 10 days on the IL after dislocating his left shoulder, played a central role in much of the scoring, as he often does.
His 410-foot solo home run in the fifth inning broke a 1-1 tie. His throwing error in the sixth gave the Dodgers their first lead.
In that inning, reliever Keone Kela followed a oneout single by Justin Turner with a walk to Smith. Turner went to third while Smith
was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice by Max Muncy. Chris Taylor then hit a hard grounder to the hole at shortstop that Tatis dived to stop and, instead of holding the ball, made an ill-advised and errant throw to second base that skipped past Cronenworth and all the way to the wall in right field, allowing Muncy to score from first base and Taylor to reach third.
Kela struck out the next batter, Zach McKinstry, on a curveball, but the third
strike bounced in front of the plate and away from catcher Luis Campusano, as Taylor jogged home and McKinstry ran to first. Kela ended the inning by getting Luke Raley to ground out.
Tatis put a ball in play that ended up resulting in a run in the seventh inning as well.
With Ha-seong Kim on second and Trent Grisham on first with one out, Tatis hit a grounder to third that Turner threw to McKinstry at second for the force out on
Grisham before McKinstry, certainly aware of Tatis’ speed, rushed a throw that bounced past Muncy at first base and allowed Kim to run home, making 4-3.
The Dodgers added a run off Austin Adams and Drew Pomeranz in the eighth before Machado and Myers singled in the bottom of the inning and scored on Jurickson Profar’s game-tying double the other way that rolled all the way to the corner in left field.
Betts led off the ninth with a single, went to second on Corey Seager’s grounder in front of the plate and scored on a single Turner.
Kenley Jansen retired Tatis, Cronenworth and Machado in order in the bottom of the ninth.
The Padres took the game’s first lead in the second after Machado led off with a single, stole second, went to third on Myers’ fly ball to right field and scored on Campusano’s single to right.
Raley tied the game in the top of the fifth by blasting a slider from Dan Altavilla over the wall in right-center for his first major league homer.
In his first big-league start, Padres rookie Ryan Weathers allowed one hit in 32⁄3 scoreless innings before leaving to a standing ovation.
The crowd, for as limited as it was by COVID restrictions, had a playoff kind of buzz.
For good reason.