Max Scherzer failed to protect two separate four-run leads but the Los Angeles Dodgers staged a late comeback to defeat the San Diego Padres, remain undefeated in his 11 starts with the team and make MLB history in the process.
San Diego opened a 9-5 lead in the seventh inning, though L.A. trimmed into that when Mookie Betts led off the bottom half of the frame with a home run. The power surge continued in the eighth inning when Max Muncy and AJ Pollock combined for back-to-back home runs.
After Chris Taylor was retired, Cody Bellinger tied the game with a line-drive homer to right field. Justin Turner followed with a pinch-hit double, and Corey Seager punctuated the 11-9 comeback with a game-winning two-run home run.
According to STATS LLC, the Dodgers became the first team in MLB history to hit back-to-back home runs, and later game-tying and game-winning blasts all in the same inning.
“That was a crazy inning,” Bellinger said after the dramatic win. “Maybe the craziest I’ve been a part of. … I don’t think anyone expects that, to be honest, but that’s the kind of talent that we have.
“The lineup is really deep and it was a crazy inning. Not many words can describe it. It’s good to be a part of it. That was a huge momentum shift.”
Seager added: “To hit that many homers, consecutive, hit a double, hit another homer, score five runs, go up by two. That’s a whirlwind in a really short time.”
Roberts compares Dodgers’ ‘4+1’ and ‘1+4’ games
On Sept. 18, 2006, the Dodgers stunned the Padres in similar fashion at Dodger Stadium behind what’s become affectionately known as the ‘4+1’ game.
That night they slugged four consecutive solo home runs to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and Nomar Garciaparra completed the improbable series of events with a walk-off two-run blast in the bottom of the 10th.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was a player for the Padres, and could see the parallels with his current club’s ‘1+4’ effort.
“It certainly reminded me of that night. It had feelings of that. To be in this dugout, much better feeling than to be in the visiting dugout,” he said. “Same two opponents and a lot of the same vibe. I remember being out there.”
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