Dodgers Snap Skid with Thrilling Win Over Padres, Reclaim Top Spot in a Nail-Biting Showdown
Well, isn’t this a refreshing change for Dodgers fans? After a shaky stretch marred by bullpen meltdowns and blown leads in crunch time, the Los Angeles Dodgers have clawed their way back into first place in the NL West — all thanks to a bullpen that finally held the line when it counted. Their 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday snapped a frustrating four-game skid where late-inning collapses seemed all too familiar. And honestly, watching Clayton Kershaw deliver a solid six innings to keep the offense afloat gave me a glimmer of hope that the Dodgers might just find their groove again. But let me tell you, the drama wasn’t over yet; with the bases loaded and hearts pounding, the bullpen faced its most critical test of the season. Manager Dave Roberts had to juggle arms carefully, turning to some unlikely heroes from the depths of their relief corps, including the beleaguered Alexis Diaz, who surprised us all with clutch strikeouts. It’s a tense August scenario — every arm counts, every pitch matters — and the Dodgers are proving they’ve got the grit to grind out these tight contests despite injuries stacking up. Their timely runs, sparked by a third-inning rally and capped by a seventh-inning homer from Teoscar Hernández, put them right back in the thick of the division race. Now, with the standings knotted up and the tiebreaker subtly in their favor due to their dominant season record against the Padres, the upcoming pitching matchups over the weekend are going to be must-watch affairs. If you think the Dodgers’ bullpen rollercoaster has been wild, buckle up — this divisional showdown is far from over.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in first place, and all it took was their bullpen avoiding yet another collapse.
The Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 3-2 in their series opener on Friday to tie their opponent atop the NL West. The win broke a four-game losing streak for Los Angeles, with three of those losses featuring leads blown in the eighth or ninth inning.
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The Dodgers appeared in danger of that again in this game. They entered the late innings with a 3-1 lead thanks to a strong start from Clayton Kershaw (six innings, two hits, one run, three strikeouts), but got into trouble again when reliever Alex Vesia hit two batters and walked another to load the bases with one out.
The Padres cut the deficit to one run on a Luis Arraez sacrifice fly, at which point Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Vesia for Blake Treinen, who got Manny Machado out on a pop fly with his first pitch.
The Dodgers have been scraping the bottom of the bullpen for weeks and that took the form of former Cincinnati Reds closer Alexis Diaz taking over in the ninth. He entered the game with a 7.71 ERA this season, but looked surprisingly good with two strikeouts while working around a single from Jackson Merrill, who had a great at-bat.
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Roberts once again pulled his reliever to get the final out of the inning, summoning Jack Dreyer to finish the game on a fly ball from Ryan O’Hearn.
That’s what it takes for the Dodgers to win close games these days: an all-hands-on-deck approach in the middle of August, because of their plethora of top relievers on the injured list. On another team, Vesia might have received a lower-pressure assignment after allowing runs in three straight appearances, but Roberts brought him right back into a key spot.
The Dodgers got their runs on a third-inning rally and a seventh-inning homer from the struggling Teoscar Hernández.
With the division once again tied, the Dodgers will send out former Padre Blake Snell against Dylan Cease on Saturday, then Tyler Glasnow against former Dodger Yu Darvish on Sunday. Notably, they can secure the tiebreaker against the Padres with just one more win thanks to their 5-2 record against the team this season.
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