SAN DIEGO — One night after getting shut out 1-0, the Dodgers came back to Petco Park and refused to let the Padres put them down twice in a row. It was not pretty. It was not clean. But Los Angeles found a way, outlasting San Diego 5-4 to even the series at one game apiece.
Freddie Freeman hit two home runs and drove in three to keep the Dodgers from falling apart. The bullpen quietly threw five scoreless innings when the game needed it most. And Andy Pages delivered the at-bat of the night against the best closer in the ballpark.
A Game That Would Not Stop Swinging
The Dodgers jumped on Griffin Canning early. Ohtani led off with a line drive double to left, moved to third on a Betts groundout, and then Freeman put a two-run shot into the left field seats to make it 2-0 before San Diego had recorded a single out. It felt like a statement.
The Padres had other ideas. Manny Machado came right back in the bottom of the first and made them pay, launching a two-run homer to center that tied the game at 2-2. Just like that the lead was gone and Petco was alive again.
Emmet Sheehan steadied things in the second but ran into trouble in the third. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a grounder to second that was called out at first, but the Padres challenged and the call was overturned, giving Tatis a single. One batter later, Miguel Andujar made them pay. He hit a two-run shot to left that put San Diego up 4-2. Sheehan gave up all four Padres runs and did not make it out of the fourth. The Dodgers were chasing.
Freeman was not done. In the sixth, with the Padres going to Jeremiah Estrada out of the bullpen to protect the lead, Freeman worked a count and then absolutely unloaded on a ball to right center. Solo shot. 4-4. His second homer of the night, his third RBI, and a reminder that this game was not going to be decided easily.
Pages Delivers Against the Best Closer in the Ballpark
San Diego brought Mason Miller on in the ninth to protect the tie. Miller is their best weapon and everyone at Petco Park knew what that meant. He retired the first two batters and the game looked like it was headed to extras.
Then everything broke open at once. Max Muncy worked a walk after a challenged pitch call was overturned in his favor. Alex Call came in to run. Miller tried to pick him off first, threw it away, and Call never stopped running.. He went all the way from first to third on the error, 180 feet in one wild moment. The go-ahead run was ninety feet from home with two outs and Miller still on the mound.
Andy Pages stepped in. The crowd was loud. The moment was as big as anything the Dodgers had faced all series. Pages works the count and hits a sacrifice fly to right that sent Call sprinting home. It was not clean. Call hit the dirt and slid into the plate on a bang-bang play and the Padres challenged immediately. The review took a moment. The call was upheld. Alex Call was safe, and Los Angeles had the lead for the first time since the first inning.
Will Klein came on and closed out the ninth without drama. Three up, three down. Dodgers win.
Five Innings of Nothing from the Bullpen
Sheehan was not as sharp tonight and the Dodgers needed someone to stop the bleeding after the fourth. They got it. Edgardo Henriquez came on and threw 1.1 scoreless innings. Alex Vesia followed with two thirds of an inning.
Blake Treinen came on in the seventh and gave up a single to Tatis, then watched him steal second to put the tying run in scoring position. Treinen issued an intentional walk and gave way to Tanner Scott, who inherited the mess and got out of it without allowing a run. Scott picked up the win.
That stretch of baseball, five innings of scoreless relief from four different arms, is the reason the Dodgers offense had enough time to catch up and eventually take the lead. Without it this game looks very different.
Ohtani finished 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. The Dodgers struck out ten times on the night. None of it mattered in the end.
Up Next
The series wraps up Wednesday night at Petco Park with Shohei Ohtani taking the mound for Los Angeles. First pitch is set for 5:30 PM PST.
