We will say this with confidence: Dodgers-Padres didn’t disappoint.
It was probably the most extensively anticipated matchup in baseball this season, constructed up a lot over these previous six months that there was no method these video games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres might probably stay as much as the hype.
After which the primary matchup far exceeded expectations.
Friday night time’s matchup, the primary of 19 regular-season video games between two groups separated by 120 miles, felt like a postseason sport in April, when each pitch issues and each transfer is intently examined. The Padres acquired approval to permit extra followers into Petco Park heading into this weekend sequence, and a crowd of 15,250 offered a soundtrack of racketing thunder sticks and “Beat LA!” chants that created a palpable depth in the course of a heated, back-and-forth matchup that spilled into additional innings and lasted practically 5 hours.
There have been jaw-dropping house runs and head-scratching errors. Shocking contributions and mystifying choices. A fan working onto the sector, a close to brawl and 17 totally different pitchers. Most of all, there have been dramatic swings, significantly within the eighth and ninth, which noticed the Padres tie the sport, the Dodgers retake the lead and the Padres tie it once more whereas all the way down to their final out.
The Dodgers lastly pulled away with a five-run 12th inning that gave them an 11-6 victory and 7 consecutive wins. Their first runs in that half-inning got here on a leadoff house run by Corey Seager. Their final? A fly ball by David Price, a starter turned reliever, that was caught by Joe Musgrove — who threw a no-hitter seven days earlier — and got here towards Jake Cronenworth, the second baseman who was utilized in emergency aid.
“It was like a playoff sport,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts stated. “It actually was.”
Yep, Sport 1 was all the things we wished it to be.
This is what else we realized:
Not simply any sequence: Gamers rarely make an excessive amount of of a regular-season sequence, regardless of the opponent, as a result of the season is simply too lengthy to place an excessive amount of into anybody sport. It isn’t wholesome. And so Seager’s bland response when requested about dealing with the Padres — “I believe it is simply one other division sequence. All division sequence are necessary.” — was predictable.
Then it was the fourth inning, and Padres supervisor Jayce Tingler was calling on his No. 7 hitter to bunt two runners over and pinch-hitting within the No. 9 spot. Then it was the seventh inning, and each groups had mixed for 5 errors. Then it was the eighth inning of a tied sport, and Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts was asking Jansen for 4 outs. Then it was the 10th, and Dodgers reliever Dennis Santana was going completely ballistic after getting out of a jam.
Machado via clenched tooth: Manny Machado, whose signing two years in the past signaled a brand new period in San Diego, did all the things for the Padres. He notched two singles, stole two bases, made a wonderful play on a tough grounder and got here up huge within the ninth. Machado labored a six-pitch stroll with two outs and no one on towards Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen, whose stuff regarded electrical as soon as once more, and who appeared to be nursing some again soreness as he jogged to first base. He then stole second, superior to 3rd on a wild pitch that did not stray too far and got here round to attain on Eric Hosmer’s game-tying single.
Padres supervisor Jayce Tingler stated Machado had tightness in his decrease again throughout the at-bat, then some shoulder discomfort after his stolen base. However he was decided to play via it. “He was not gonna let me take him out,” Tingler stated.
The Dodgers’ absurd depth: On an evening when the Dodgers have been with out three on a regular basis gamers — together with Cody Bellinger, who was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his left fibula — it was Luke Raley and Zach McKinstry who stepped up. Raley crushed his first profession house run within the fifth, a 434-foot shot that tied the sport at 1. McKinstry, who entered with a .974 OPS, drove in runs within the eighth and the 12th.
The 2016 draft is proving to be an epic one for the Dodgers. Will Smith is already one of many sport’s finest catchers. Gavin Lux is a budding famous person. Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin have been two of the sport’s finest rookies final season. McKinstry has been a revelation. And Raley is likely to be on his method.
Tatis’ up-and-down return: A number of questions surrounded the well being of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s left shoulder heading into this sequence. He had suffered a subluxation solely 10 days earlier, his third problem with that shoulder in a span of 23 days. And there have been considerations about whether or not he might handle it for a full season and whether or not doing so would possibly have an effect on him as a participant, significantly along with his mechanics on the plate.
Zero:19
Fernando Tatis Jr. hits a solo house run within the backside of the fifth to place San Diego forward.
His return offered each concern and optimism. The optimism got here on a 410-foot house run to straightaway heart area off Walker Buehler, which noticed Tatis maintain each arms on the bat in his follow-through, an adjustment the Padres wish to see him make in an effort to protect his shoulder. The priority got here defensively, with two errors — an errant throw to second within the sixth and a botched double-play ball within the 12th — to present him seven in six video games.
Unhittable no extra: Dodgers reliever Corey Knebel and Padres pitcher Mark Melancon mixed for one hit, one stroll, 12 strikeouts and nil runs in 11 1/three innings heading into this sequence, then each obtained hit round within the late innings.
When Padres proper fielder Wil Myers got here to bat within the backside of the eighth, with one on and one out and the Padres trailing by two runs, opponents have been Zero-for-12 with six strikeouts in at-bats that completed with Knebel’s curveball. However Myers obtained one out over the plate and dropped a single into right-center, then Jurickson Profar obtained one on the outer half and poked a game-tying double down the left-field line.
When Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner got here to bat within the prime of the ninth, opponents have been 1-for-13 when dealing with two strikes towards Melancon. However Turner, who declared throughout spring coaching that Dodgers-Padres video games would really feel like “19 World Collection video games,” obtained a 2-2 cutter out over the plate and lined it to heart area, giving the Dodgers their second lead of the night time.
“That was an excellent sport,” stated Value, who pitched the final two innings and labored out of a troublesome jam within the 11th. “Neither staff wished to lose that sport.”