Mookie Betts sparked a three-run inning and Miguel Vargas capped it off to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 comeback win against the San Diego Padres in the rubber match at Petco Park. The Dodgers added onto their franchise wins record and avoided losing a series to the Padres all season.
The Dodgers’ magic number for home-field advantage through the World Series is down to one.
But their decision to utilize Brusdar Graterol as an opener and bring Andrew Heaney out of the bullpen initially backfired, with sloppy defense again to blame. Graterol allowed back-to-back singles to start the first inning before retiring the next two batters.
He then induced a routine ground ball but Trea Turner was unable to come up with, resulting in the Padres taking a 2-0 lead and both runs somewhat inexplicably being earned.
The Dodgers cut into their deficit in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Vargas that was set up by Will Smith’s leadoff single and Max Muncy getting hit by a pitch.
Heaney allowed three hits, none of which were home runs, and collected six strikeouts over four scoreless innings as the bulk option.
His effort was largely matched by Sean Manaea in his four innings of work. Manaea entered the night having allowed 23 runs (22 earned) in 13.2 innings pitched against the Dodgers this season but held them to just the one on Vargas’ sac fly.
A second pitching change for the Padres wound up proving beneficial for the Dodgers, beginning with Betts’ leadoff double in the sixth inning.
After Trea Turner’s infield single, Freddie Freeman lifted a flare into left field for a game-tying RBI base hit. Varags then put the Dodgers ahead on a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs. The three RBI set a career high for the Dodgers prospect.
Smith provided insurance in the eighth inning with the first home run hit by either team in the series.
Dodgers preparing pitching for postseason
In addition to Heaney being shifted to a role out of the bullpen, the Dodgers seemingly used Thursday’s game as a postseason test run for Craig Kimbrel, Chris Martin and Alex Vesia.
Kimbrel allowed a leadoff single but faced the minimum in a scoreless sixth, and Martin pitched in multiple innings. He stranded two inherited runners in the seventh but exited with a pair on in the eighth inning. Vesia uncorked a wild pitch before escaping the jam.
David Price took over in the ninth to convert his second save of the season. The appearance was Price’s first since coming off the 15-day injured list on Tuesday.
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