Tempers flared in the 9th after Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit and benches cleared. Shohei Ohtani hit by a pitch in the bottom of the inning, the 7th HBP of the four-game series
Hit by pitches and ejections took over the spotlight in the final inning of a heated series, but what looked like a dud of a game got lively in the ninth. Down five runs with three outs to play, the Dodgers got the tying runs in scoring position, but fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Padres on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
The loss prevented a four-game sweep but the Dodgers still finished their National League West gauntlet against the Padres and Giants, their two closest pursuers, at 7-3.
Jack Little, who was called up from Triple-A earlier Thursday, made his major league debut in the eighth inning, but five of his first six batters reached base, leading to two runs, putting the Dodgers down 5-0.
The ninth inning was more eventful, as Little hit Fernando Tatis Jr. on the hand to set off a powder keg. It was the sixth hit batter of the series, and the third time Tatis was hit by a Dodgers pitch in the last week and a half.
Both benches emptied and a lot of yelling happened, but not much else, besides Mike Shildt and Dave Roberts trying to get at each other before both were ejected, the second time in the series Roberts was tossed.
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers scored twice and Robert Suárez fell behind 3-0 on Shohei Ohtani then hit him up near the shoulder, the second time he was hit during the series. Ohtani was seemingly the calmest person person in the building.
Suarez hits Ohtani and gets tossed, Shohei tells the dugout to stay put
After three walks, a single, and hit by pitch in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers got their third run of the frame when catcher Martín Maldonado used his mask to field a baseball, giving every runner an extra base.
Dalton Rushing struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.
Miguel Rojas, Rushing, and Kiké Hernández pinch-hit for Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman in consecutive plate appearances in the bottom of the eighth in a 5-0 game. I wonder if that was motivated not only by the lopsided score (and buying rest whenever possible) but also wanting to avoid setting up star hitters to get thrown at in retaliation in a lopsided game at the end of a heated series.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto entered Friday with the fifth-highest groundball rate in the majors (56.3 percent) but gave up several balls in the air in the first two innings. One of them landed over the wall, a solo home run by Xander Bogaerts in the second inning.
Bogaerts also had the first of two Padres singles in the fifth inning, and the first of two San Diego doubles in the seventh, and scored each time.
Yamamoto pitched into the seventh inning for the fourth time in his last six starts, who struck out four in his 6⅓ innings. He also walked none, a welcome sight after his major league career-high five walks last Friday against San Francisco.
The Dodgers could not get much going against Ryan Bergert, with only three hits and a walk in 4⅔ innings. They were bunched together at least, so there were some scoring chances. But Mookie Betts grounded out to end the third inning and Ohtani, facing left-hander Adrián Morejón in the fifth after Bergert was pulled, tapped back to the box for the final out of the frame.
In Yamamoto’s 15 starts this season, the Dodgers have scored 22 total runs with him in the game. Thursday’s goose egg was the 10th time in those starts the Dodgers supported Yamamoto with zero or one run.
Thursday particulars
Home run: Xander Bogaerts (4)
WP — Adrián Morejón (4-3): 1⅓ IP, zeroes
LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-6): 6⅓ IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 5 strikeouts
Sv — Yuki Matsui (1): ⅓ IP, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up next
After winning the first two series of the homestand, the Dodgers welcome a non-divisional opponent to Dodger Stadium for the weekend. The reeling Nationals come to Los Angeles beginning Friday night (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), with southpaws Clayton Kershaw and MacKenzie Gore on the mound in the series opener.