These pesky San Diego Padres continue to show off their resilience Tuesday as they come back to beat their archrival the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 in 10 innings at Petco Park.
In front of a Petco Park all-time attendance record of 47,559 loud, passionate fans, the Padres put on quite the show overcoming a five-run deficit.
However, things were not looking so good for the Padres in the first inning after the Dodgers (63-45) were quick to get on the scoreboard with a 5-0 lead. Regardless, this wasn’t the Padres (58-51) first rodeo when being down by multiple runs early on.
The comeback wouldn’t have occurred if it wasn’t for the marvelous performance by former Dodger Manny Machado. Not only was his offense consequential, but his defense was highlighted a couple of times, including a ridiculous catch in foul territory while leaning over the Dodgers’ bench.
Machado kicked it off for the Padres in the second inning by hitting his first of two solo home runs.
The bats stayed hot for San Diego in the third inning when All-Star Jurickson Profar connected with an RBI single to score Luis Arraez, who had doubled previously. Following suit, Jake Cronenworth belted an RBI double to right field, which cut the Dodgers lead to two runs at 5-3.
Five scoreless innings later, Machado started the Padres' ninth inning rally with a first pitch solo shot to left center off Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen. Following a Xander Bogaerts strikeout, rookie outfielder Jackson Merrill tied things up for San Diego with a blast to right field to force extra innings.
In the tenth inning, the Padres replaced Cronenworth with Donovan Solano to pinch-hit with the bases loaded and one out. Even with only 55 games played this season, Solano stepped in and delivered with his fourth career walk-off.
“I tried to help the team in this situation. God blessed me for this situation,” Solano said moments after receiving a traditional Gatorade shower after a walk-off win.
Manager Mike Shildt has spoken about how important the pitching has been to the team's recent success. Tonight, they continued to display their abilities when the bullpen needed to keep the game close
After giving up five runs, Padres starting pitcher Matt Waldron (6-9, 3.89 ERA) allowed only one hit and struck out five batters until he was replaced by reliever Yuki Matsui in the fifth inning. The Padres rolled out a total of seven different pitchers in the contest.
Other than Waldron’s four innings pitched, each Padres reliever only threw for one inning and the bullpen did not allow any runs and only gave up two hits.
“I think we believe we can do it, especially late in games,” Solano said. “It’s a special year, special moment we got right now.”
Machado finished going two for four with two RBIs. Profar, Cronenworth, Solano and Merrill all finished with one hit and an RBI.
Dodgers All-Star starter pitcher Tyler Glasnow (8-6, 3.50 ERA) pitched seven innings allowing three runs on six hits. Glasnow now has a total of 155 strikeouts which is the third best in the major league.
This is the Padres seventh walk-off and their 25th comeback victory of the season. Additionally, this is the third time this season that the Padres have come back after being down by five or more runs.
“(I’m) grateful for it. You know, all the good things about heart, dedication and competition, regardless of circumstances,” Manager Shildt said when asked if anything surprises him with the team.”This is what fun teams and highly competitive teams with a lot of hunger do. Regardless, they just compete.”
The final game of the highly anticipated NL West showdown is Wednesday at 5:40 p.m. Coming off his no-hitter performance, Dylan Cease will take the mound. For the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw will make his second start and first on the road.