Dodgers win one for Vin in rout of Padres
LOS ANGELES » A night that began with a moving tribute to Vin Scully felt certain to end with a hotly contested duel between the two best teams in the National League West.
Instead, the San Diego Padres pulled up a chair and watched the Dodgers cruise to an 8-1 victory before an announced crowd of 52,714 at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers’ final inning at the plate ended with a position player (Matthew Batten) pitching to a pitcher (Tyler Anderson).
Anderson struck out smiling.
The Dodgers scored four runs in the first inning and four in the third, leaving the most dramatic moments Friday for the onfield celebration of Scully, who died Tuesday at age 94. The game was delayed eight minutes by the ceremony.
Will Smith went 3 for 4, including a bases-loaded single to get the scoring started in the first inning. Mookie Betts and Trea Turner each contributed two hits to the Dodgers’ 12-hit attack.
Tony Gonsolin (13-1) threw five scoreless innings en route to his first win of the second half.
By the skin of his teeth, Gonsolin survived the first inning without allowing a run.
With one out in the first inning, Juan Soto was greeted with resounding boos prior to his first Dodger Stadium at-bat as a San Diego Padre. He then smoked an 0-and-1 fastball 108.5 mph to center field for a single.
Gonsolin went to a full count against the next batter, Manny Machado, then struck him out with a wellplaced fastball on the outside corner. Josh Bell shot a single down an unguarded third-base line, sending Soto to second. Jake Cronenworth hit Gonsolin’s 30th pitch of the inning sharply toward first base, where Freddie Freeman got his glove down in time to smother the ball and record the final out himself.
After Machado doubled in the third inning, the Padres did not record another hit until the eighth inning, when Ha-Seong Kim tapped a ball softly to the left of the mound for a single.