LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers came into Tuesday needing one win to clinch a first-round bye, sitting a game back of the Brewers for the top seed in the National League. For six innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave them a real shot at it. It slipped away in the fifth. San Diego turned a fielding mistake into a two-run swing and tacked on more in the ninth, evening the series with a 5-1 win at Dodger Stadium.
A Costly Mistake in the Fifth
Yamamoto’s final line reads four runs allowed, but only two were earned, and that tells the real story of the inning that decided the game.
Ethan Salas and Fernando Tatis Jr. opened with back to back singles, and then Dustin Harris reached on a fielder’s choice when Yamamoto’s throw pulled Freddie Freeman off the bag, an error that let Salas score.
Manny Machado followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Tatis, and just like that a game the Dodgers were still very much in became a two-run deficit built on a play Yamamoto should have made himself. He still finished with six innings, five hits and four strikeouts, the kind of outing that deserved a better result.
Ten Hits, One Run
The frustrating part for Los Angeles wasn’t the pitching, it was everything after contact. The Dodgers finished with ten hits and stranded runner after runner, including a bases loaded jam in the fourth that produced only a sac fly, with Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages both left standing on second and third when Shohei Ohtani struck out to end the threat.
Ohtani reached in the first, Will Smith drew a walk in the third, Teoscar Hernández and Tucker both had multi-hit nights, and none of it turned into more than a single run.
Mookie Betts, meanwhile, went hitless in four trips at the top of the order. San Diego’s pitching staff walked five Dodgers and still escaped nearly every jam, which is as much about missed opportunities as it is about good defense.
Machado Delivers the Blow
The Padres didn’t need much offense of their own, and Manny Machado made sure of that early. His 29th home run of the season came in the top of the fourth on a fly ball to center, scoring Dustin Harris after Harris was hit by a pitch on a call that got overturned on replay following a Padres challenge.
It was 2-0 before the Dodgers had a real chance to settle in, and even though Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom half, the Padres never trailed the rest of the way.
San Diego Piles On Late
With the Dodgers already searching for answers, San Diego made sure there was no path back. Samad Taylor drew a walk in the ninth and stole both second and third before Freddy Fermin, a backup catcher filling in down the lineup, singled him home. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a double to put the game fully out of reach at 5-1, capping a three-hit night that made him the most consistent bat on either side all evening.
Los Angeles had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth, with Will Smith reaching on a walk and eventually advancing to third, but Freddie Freeman lined out sharply to end it.
Up Next
The Dodgers get another shot at clinching the bye on Wednesday, with Tyler Glasnow taking the mound against Nick Pivetta in the series finale at Dodger Stadium. Glasnow has scuffled over his last three starts with a 5.63 ERA, while Pivetta has been sharp at 1.93 over that same stretch.
The Brewers’ results will factor in too, but a Dodgers win Wednesday would settle the bye question on its own. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. PST.
