Mason Miller walked Max Muncy on a borderline pitch that was initially called a strike, but was challenged by Muncy and overturned, resulting in ball four. Muncy was replaced by pinch runner Alex Call and that proved to be a game-winning decision by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Miller faced Andy Pages with one out and Call at first base. The pinch runner left the base early attempting to steal second and should have been thrown out. Instead, Miller threw the ball to first base, and it tipped
off the glove of San Diego Padres first baseman Ty France and rolled into foul territory up the right field line. By the time the ball got back to the infield Call was standing on third base. Pages won a nine-pitch at-bat against Miller and hit a fly ball into right field which allowed Call to tag up and score on the play to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. Miller was replaced by Ron Marinaccio and he struck out the following batter to end the inning.
San Diego needed a base runner and some of their late-inning magic if the Padres were going to avoid the loss. It was not to be as France struck out on a check swing and Freddy Fermin grounded out to shortstop for the first two outs of the ninth. Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped in looking to extend the game and the Friar Faithful were hoping he would launch his first home run of the season and tie the game, but Tatis grounded out to third base to end the game and the Padres suffered a 5-4 loss at Petco Park.
Griffin Canning started on the mound for San Diego and allowed a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to Freddy Freeman. The Padres were in a hole when they came to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and Manny Machado tied the game with his own two-run home run. The game remained tied until the bottom of the third inning when Miguel Andujar hit a two-run home run to make the score 4-2. The Dodgers were able to get a run in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth inning when Freeman hit his second home run of the game to make the score, 4-4. That set the stage for the top of the ninth.
San Diego will try to win the series against Los Angeles today at 5:40 p.m.
Padres News:
- Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fernando Tatis Jr. is not the first Padres slugger to struggle. He added that fans should not expect it to continue.
- Rodolfo Duran waited a long time to get his shot at the MLB level and he does not appear to be willing to give it up any time soon.
- The big three of Tatis Jr., Machado and Jackson Merrill are still looking for offensive consistency, but the rest of the lineup is picking them up and that has resulted in a winning record.
Baseball News:
- The New York Yankees were on the losing end of two challenges – at least that is how the umpires ruled it – and that was enough to send Yankees manager Aaron Boone over the top in their 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
- Ivan Herrera hit a 10th inning home run to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a walk-off win.
- Washington Nationals slugger James Wood hit his first career grand slam, and it never cleared the wall.
- Jacob Misiorowski dominated the Chicago Cubs and helped the Milwaukee Brewers take over as the leader in the NL Central.
- Yandy Diaz helped the Tampa Bay Rays get their 20th win in their last 24 games.
- Jackson Holliday returned to the Baltimore Orioles roster on Tuesday and may be making a position change.
- Martin Perez recorded 10 strikeouts and helped the Padres eat the Dodgers.
