Down to last out, Dodgers battle back to take series from Padres
SAN DIEGO — It was all beginning to look quite a bit like final October for the Dodgers.
The protection was letting down a pitching employees that threw up plenty of zeroes in opposition to the most effective lineups in baseball. The Dodgers’ offense was leaving runners on base at an alarming clip. The Padres, then again, have been taking part in just like the extra assured group.
But that every one modified with one swing from a famous person.
With Los Angeles right down to its final out, Mookie Betts rose to the event, smacking a game-tying homer off Padres All-Star nearer Josh Hader. In the tenth, rookies Michael Busch and James Outman delivered to assist the Dodgers safe the primary sequence between the 2 division rivals with a 5-2 win on Sunday at Petco Park.
“He’s the best player on the field,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned of Betts. “He’s always got to believe that, and the great thing about this game is the players win the game. Today, [Betts] had an opportunity and he clutched up for us.”
After a sizzling begin to May, Betts had a tricky weekend on the plate. But his capability to alter a sport with one swing of the bat is what makes him the most effective gamers in baseball. And when his group wanted him most, Betts was capable of activate a 3-1 Hader fastball and ship it into the seats.
It served as a intestine punch to the sold-out Petco Park crowd, and it set the stage for the Dodgers’ younger gamers to get to work within the tenth. That’s when Busch, who hadn’t taken an at-bat since Tuesday, delivered a go-ahead two-out RBI single off Brent Honeywell. Outman adopted with a homer to increase the result in three runs.
“There’s nothing like it,” Busch mentioned of getting a clutch hit within the Majors. “It’s very sweet to help this team get a win, especially in a place like this. It’s a tough place to win and getting two out of three here, I think that’s pretty big for the team.”
While it was the offense that got here by means of late, that rally was made doable due to the stellar pitching performances from Julio Urías and the Dodgers’ bullpen. In the primary inning, Urías wasn’t helped by his protection, as Betts and Outman each made misplays within the outfield. But that didn’t cease the Mexican left-hander from settling into the sport and preserving the Dodgers inside putting distance.
Urías labored by means of some visitors, finally permitting simply two first-inning runs and putting out three over 5 2/3 frames.
“They know me, I know them. It’s a game that’s won by whichever side has the best game plan,” Urías mentioned in Spanish. “That rivalry between us has been important. They have a great team, we have a great team.”
Heading into the weekend sequence, the Dodgers maintained their stance that this was simply one other matchup in opposition to a division opponent. They weren’t aiming to avenge final October’s postseason loss or show one thing after the Padres’ busy offseason.
The Dodgers mentioned a lot of the identical after Sunday’s win. But one factor they realized over the course of the weekend was that the state of affairs was turning into extra heated on this newfound Southern California rivalry. The Petco Park scoreboard operator poked enjoyable at Clayton Kershaw with a meme of him crying after Friday’s sport, and a fan held up an indication throughout Saturday’s sport aimed toward Betts, which the appropriate fielder promptly introduced up throughout a postgame interview.
“100 percent,” Betts mentioned, when requested if this sequence had extra noticeable off-the-field moments than previously. “Those are just tactics to try and get under our skins, make us act out of character. … We’re the ones that determine the games.”
Instead, these “antics,” as Betts known as them, might need helped the Dodgers match the extent of depth the Padres have been taking part in with in opposition to Los Angeles since final yr’s NLDS. When Kershaw was requested concerning the meme, the longer term Hall of Famer took the excessive street and argued these issues wouldn’t occur if the Dodgers win.
They received’t say it publicly, however a few of their actions counsel that possibly a visit again to Petco Park, the place their season ended six months in the past, was simply what they wanted.
As Urías put it: “Whoever laughs last, laughs best.”
