SAN DIEGO — As normal, Dodgers-Padres delivered. It all the time does, doesn’t it?
Within the first assembly of the season between the 2 fierce Nationwide League West rivals — and the primary since their tense five-game Division Collection final 12 months — the Dodgers held on for a wild 8-7 victory in 10 innings at Petco Park on Monday evening.
“That sport was sick,” stated Padres heart fielder Jackson Merrill. “We didn’t win. It sucks. However that’s an unbelievable baseball sport, in my view — back-and-forth all sport.”
Twelve extra to go — and maybe a couple of further come October. We’d name it an on the spot basic, however with these two groups, it’s kind of par for the course. Right here’s a breakdown of Monday’s thriller.:
Rivalry renewed
Either side spent the pregame downplaying the significance of this week’s sequence. And, positive, within the huge image, it’s solely three video games in early June.
Then the 2 groups took the sector, and it turned fairly clear fairly shortly that the vitality was … completely different.
“The followers, definitely, they’re all the time into it,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated. “You’ve bought two good ballclubs. I feel the best way you noticed Mike [Shildt] handle with some urgency and sort of the strikes — I wouldn’t say playoff sport, but it surely was intense. It was enjoyable on the market.”
Because the rivalry has blossomed into among the best in baseball over the previous half decade, video games between these two have nearly all the time delivered drama. They’ve met thrice up to now 5 postseasons — together with the Dodgers’ NLDS victory final October. Plus, their regular-season conferences usually convey postseason vibes anyway.
“I all the time really feel just like the depth goes up after we play in opposition to these guys,” stated Tyler Wade, whose three-run triple gave the Padres a 6-5 lead within the third.
Machado vs. Scott
Tanner Scott’s Tenth-inning showdown with Manny Machado may need been the sport’s decisive second. Becoming maybe. As soon as upon a time, Machado was despatched to the Dodgers on the Commerce Deadline, earlier than signing with the Padres. Scott did the other over the previous 12 months.
With Machado main off the underside of the Tenth because the tying run, he labored the depend full, then laid off a backdoor slider which will or could not have caught the skin nook. Plate ump Mike Estabrook known as it strike three. Machado took exception and promptly turned to argue with Estabrook — who was carrying a digicam on his masks for the event.
Machado didn’t fairly push the envelope far sufficient for an ejection — to the credit score of each Machado and maybe Estabrook. However viewers at dwelling have been handled to an in-your-face model of an irked Machado.
After the sport, Shildt made it clear he wouldn’t use the decision as an excuse for the Padres’ loss. However he additionally made it clear he disagreed.
“The ball 4 name?” Shildt stated when requested if he’d seen it. “It was off the plate. Mike does an excellent job, has a extremely good crew. Hear, we had lots of different alternatives to do issues in that sport. Clearly Manny’s locked in, and that’s a giant at-bat.”
Dodgers hold on in extras
Neither staff had scored for the reason that fifth inning, when Hyeseong Kim knotted the competition at 6 with an RBI double off Yuki Matsui. However the Dodgers moved shortly within the Tenth.
Andy Pages noticed two pitches from Padres reliever Wandy Peralta, then lined a ball that left fielder Brandon Lockridge appeared to misinterpret off the bat. It dropped for an RBI double, plating the go-ahead run. The subsequent batter, Tommy Edman, knocked a base hit that deflected off the second-base bag and scored Pages, tacking on some needed insurance coverage.
Then entered Scott, the Dodgers’ de facto nearer. He despatched Machado down on strikes — controversy and all — earlier than permitting the automated runner to attain on Merrill’s one-out double.
There was drama till the tip, though Scott nonetheless managed to protect the lead. He understands what video games like these imply as somebody who’s been on each side.
“It is our rival,” Scott stated. “Any staff that performs a rival, there’s all the time a bit added depth.”
A frenzied begin
Each groups entered Monday’s sport struggling offensively. Didn’t appear to be it.
Evidently, all it took was a style of rivalry baseball to wake these bats up. The Dodgers scored two within the first. The Padres answered with two of their very own. The Padres took a 3-2 lead within the second. The Dodgers scored three within the third, together with Will Smith’s two-run dwelling run. Within the backside of the body, Wade answered together with his two-out, two-strike triple — the primary three-RBI sport of his profession, approaching one swing.
“It was forwards and backwards,” stated Shildt. “They punch, we punch — it’s a typical sport we play in opposition to them. And plenty of extra to come back.”
The sport principally settled down after these first three innings. Nonetheless, it featured its share of weird moments. Machado and Wade misplaced a Freddie Freeman popup within the haze. Padres reliever Adrian Morejon made issues tough on himself with a throwing error on a routine floor ball — then punched out Freeman to finish the eighth.
In the end the distinction within the sport would possibly’ve been this: The Dodgers chased Padres starter Nick Pivetta after 4 innings, then San Diego wanted three relievers to cowl the following three frames. Los Angeles, in the meantime, bought seven innings from two arms — 5 from a shaky however resilient Dustin Might, then two from Anthony Banda.
When it bought to the Tenth, the Padres have been out of high-leverage arms. The Dodgers had Scott.
An early NL West assertion?
After not seeing one another since final October, the Dodgers and Padres are dealing with off seven occasions within the span of 11 days. The 2 golf equipment are a mere two video games aside within the NL West standings, with L.A. sitting in first place and San Diego in third.
In between this sequence at Petco Park and subsequent week’s set at Dodger Stadium, each groups play different aggressive NL West opponents: The Dodgers host the Giants (1 1/2 video games again), and the Padres go to the D-backs (7 1/2 video games again).
With loads of season left to play, not one of the groups are going to run away with the division at this juncture. But it surely could possibly be a possibility for the extra viable contenders to start separating themselves from the pack.
