by Megan Garcia
There were intervals between the “Let’s go Dodgers” and “Beat LA” chants that echoed throughout Petco Park on Monday. The lingering, built-up tension between the Dodgers and Padres, which had been simmering since last October, was finally being released.
The divisional and postseason foes needed extra innings to finish an intense see-saw battle that started in the first inning. The Dodgers bookended it with Andy Pages’ go-ahead double and Tommy Edman’s RBI single in the 10th inning.
The Dodgers won the first meeting of the year between the two teams 8–7.
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“Resilience,” said manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers’ efforts. “It wasn’t a pretty game to be quite honest, but we found a way to win. We got some hits when we needed to, made some pitches when we needed to. (Being) here against this ball club, we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
It took until the 66th game of the season for the long-awaited rematch of last year’s National League Division Series. Monday also marked the first of seven games the postseason foes will face each other in the next 11 days.
Freddie Freeman started the scoring in the first with an RBI double in his three-hit night. It kept the line moving for Will Smith to drive him in on a sacrifice fly, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 2–0.
And that’s when the see-saw game began.
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The Padres scored six runs (five earned) against Dustin May in the first three innings. They matched the Dodgers’ two-run first in the same frame and took a 3–2 lead in the second.
In the third, Teoscar Hernández tied the score with a sacrifice fly followed by Smith’s two-run homer that positioned the Dodgers into a 5–3 lead. The Padres responded with Tyler Wade’s three-run triple against May to take a 6–5 lead.
Then the Padres were held scoreless by May and the Dodger bullpen.
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Hyeseong Kim evened the game at 6–6 in the fifth with a double to right. Relievers Anthony Banda (two innings), Alex Vesia (one inning) and Kirby Yates (one inning) put together scoreless outings for the extra-inning opportunity to come to fruition.
“It’s huge,” Smith said of the Dodger offense answering back against Padres pitching. “Going back and forth a little bit early, beating up on the starters — Dustin was struggling a little bit, but he was able to get through five innings — it’s just kind of a fun game, it’s kind of how it went and we went out on top.”
Rivalry renewed: Dodgers take the first of 2025 against Padres was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.