The Los Angeles Dodgers had the tables turned on them as a pair of catches took away potential home runs, but they were merely a footnote in a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres in 16 innings.
Blake Snell turned in the longest outing of his career by largely stymying the Dodgers over 7.2 innings. He had a perfect game until Justin Turner’s base hit with two outs in the fourth.
Snell’s effort was aided by Wil Myers doing his best AJ Pollock impersonation with a leaping catch on the warning track in left field to rob Corey Seager of at least an extra-base hit in the second inning.
Max Muncy then made solid contact in the fourth inning but his drive to straightaway center field was pulled down by Trent Grisham making his own leaping grab. Grisham’s catch kept the Padres’ 1-0 lead intact.
San Diego jumped ahead early by capitalizing on Trea Turner’s throwing error that put Jake Cronenworth on second base to start the bottom of the second. Walker Buehler nearly picked up his teammate by inducing two groundball outs.
Buehler got soft contact for a third time, but Myers’ swinging bunt up the third-base line stayed fair and left Turner without a play. Buehler blanked the Padres the rest of the way as he got through 6.2 innings. He was removed after issuing a walk, which Joe Kelly stranded in his return from the injured list.
Buehler’s effort was rewarded in some sense when Will Smith hit a game-tying home run off Snell with one out in the eighth inning.
The Dodgers went through a 1-for-12 skid after Smith’s homer as the game rolled through extra innings. Intentional walks of Manny Machado and Cronenworth loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th.
However, the Padres could only pinch-hit starter Joe Musgrove for reliever Tim Hill because of being out of position players. The strategy worked in Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ favor as Bickford struck out Musgrove.
Muncy reached third base with nobody out but a baserunning mistake eliminated a potentially big inning in the 12th. L.A. still managed to load the bases with two outs, and Smith got ahead 3-0 but couldn’t take advantage as he flied out on a hanging slider with a full count.
Cody Bellinger’s leadoff single in the 13th inning was the game’s first hit since Justin Turner’s in the ninth. After Matt Beaty lined out, Smith wound up getting caught in a rundown between third base and home plate when Nabil Crismatt fielded a comebacker, and Muncy chased out of the zone.
The Dodgers became the first team in MLB history to not score a run in four extra innings under the format implemented last year with a runner starting on second base. The matchup also was the first under current rules to reach a 14th inning.
L.A. finally managed to break through on a Billy McKinney pinch-hit go-ahead single, which was followed by an RBI base hit from Trea Turner.
The Padres were held without a hit from the fifth through 14th innings, and their drought came to an end in dramatic fashion as Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a game-tying, two-run home run off Corey Knebel in the 15th.
The Dodgers rebounded from that with Pollock putting them ahead for good with a two-run homer in the 16th inning. Shane Greene bounced back from a rough Dodgers debut to strike out two of three batters faced to earn the save.
Dodgers again match Giants
With their win, the Dodgers kept pace with the San Francisco Giants, who defeated the New York Mets hours before it went final at Petco Park. As a result L.A. avoided falling to 3.5 games out of first place.
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