Padres erase drama, Dodgers with 6-5 win in Game 3 of NL Division Series

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Oct 8, 2024

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — This time was something else.

This time, the ball went off Jurickson Profar’s glove.

This time, the Dodgers came back.

This time, however, had the same result.

The Padres beat the Dodgers, 6-5, on Tuesday night and are one victory away from advancing to the National League Championship Series.

They held on and are following the same script as their 2022 NL Division Series win over the Dodgers.

They did so because of an early offensive outburst and then a late stand by the bullpen that was bolstered at the trade deadline, with the workhorse closer they have had all along finishing the game.

A six-run second inning, capped by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run homer, had the Padres up 6-1 before Teoscar Hernández made the score 6-5 with a grand slam in the third.

Neither team scored again.

Jeremiah Estrada worked a perfect sixth, and Jason Adam followed suit in the seventh.

Left-hander Tanner Scott began the eighth inning by striking out Shohei Ohtani for the fourth time in their five meetings over the past two weeks. Mookie Betts followed with a fly-ball out to center field before Freddie Freeman singled up the middle.

That brought Padres manager Mike Shildt out and Robert Suarez in to face Hernandez, who popped out to first baseman Luis Arraez.

Suarez struck out Max Muncy, got Will Smith on a groundout and struck out Gavin Lux to secure the Padres’ second consecutive victory after a loss in the opener of the best-of-five series.

The first 2 1/2 innings were so wild, the game so fraught with meaning and tension that the drama of the previous three days seemed a distant memory.

During pregame introductions, most of the 47,774 crammed inside Petco Park booed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts as loudly as a person has ever been jeered in the building, a product of his having accused Manny Machado of throwing a baseball at him during Game 2.

And there was at that time still the memory from Sunday’s game, in which some in the crowd at Dodger Stadium had thrown objects on the field close to Padres players, causing a delay in the seventh inning. There was enough concern by the Padres that CEO Erik Greupner sent an email to ticket holders on Monday imploring them to act appropriately.

A frenetic start jolted everyone into the present.

The craziness began with an almost-impossible repeat of a play from Game 2, just with the opposite result.

After Padres starter Michael King began the game by striking out Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts sent a full-count sweeper to left field. Profar ran back and leaped over the short wall in the corner and reached out, only to have the ball carom off the tip of his glove and fall for a home run.

In the first inning Sunday, Betts was past second base and exulting on a nearly identical drive to left field in the first inning in Game 2 before learning Profar had made a catch with his glove extended practically into the second row.

Betts thought the same thing had happened again Tuesday, and he actually veered off the dirt and onto the grass, headed back toward the dugout. Umpires finally signaled that it was a home run and Betts resumed his jog around the bases.

Walker Buehler retired the Padres in order in the first inning before King worked a seven-pitch top of the second.

Machado began the bottom half of the inning with a single, and the Dodgers suddenly seemed to implode.

Jackson Merrill sent a ground ball to first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose throw hit Machado on the shoulder and rolled into left field. Machado ran to third base, giving the Padres runners at the corners.

Xander Bogaerts followed with a grounder to shortstop Miguel Rojas, who hesitated as he looked to throw to second baseman Max Muncy, who clearly assumed Rojas would take a couple steps and touch the bag himself. By the time Rojas did so, Merrill had slid in safely, and Bogaerts beat the ensuing throw to first. Meanwhile, Machado had scored.

David Peralta then grounded a double just inside first base and into the right-field corner, scoring both runners. Jake Cronenworth hit a ball to Rojas in the hole and reached on an infield single that moved Peralta to third base. Perlata scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Higashioka that made it 4-1 before Luis Arraez made the second out.

Tatis made it 6-0 by sending an 0-2 fastball off the ribbon board in left field.

The roar from the biggest crowd ever assembled at Petco Park might have been heard in the far reaches of downtown when Tatis’ fourth home run of the postseason hit off the ribbon scoreboard beyond left field.

Any thought that the Dodgers had wilted under the weight of their past postseason failures was quickly wiped away.

Miguel Rojas, the No.9 hitter, Shohei Ohtani and Betts began the eighth inning with singles to load the bases with no outs.

A line drive to left field prevented pinch-runner Andy Pages, who had replaced Rojas, who has been dealing with a groin injury.

But after getting up 0-2 on Hernández, as he had against Betts, King sent a sweeper to a similar spot he had sent the fateful pitch to Betts. And Hernández hit a grand slam just beyond the wall in center field to pull the Dodgers to within one.