Dodgers 10, Padres 5: Choo Choo Man leads 5-run rally in the 8th for a big comeback win

Chad Moriyama 08/04/2023 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

For most of this game, it looked like it would be the Padres night, as they outplayed the Dodgers for a good seven innings or so. Thankfully, the game goes nine innings, as the Dodgers outscored them 8-2 in the final two innings for a 10-5 victory to start the four-game series in San Diego.

The Dodgers have now won four in a row and look to really bury the Padres this series.

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Old friend Yu Darvish hasn’t had the best season so far, but the stuff is always there for him to have a great outing. That’s what he did tonight, unfortunately.

He worked around a single that advanced to second on an out in the 1st, and then got two quick outs in the 2nd, but then gave up a shock 0-2 tater to James Outman. That continues his resurgence and was his 13th of the year, making it 1-0 early.

He then rebounded after that by retiring 13 of the next 14 batters, giving up only a single, getting through six innings without giving up anything further.

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On the other side, Bobby Miller was having an adventure, almost as if he was determined to work on executing with runners on or something.

Things started quickly behind a single in the 1st and then Fernando Tatis Jr. tattooing a 2-0 fastball to center. However, Outman made his third homer robbery of the year to take away a couple runs. After a steal on a strikeout, he had a RISP, but a Jason Heyward play kept a run off Miller’s ledger.

The 2nd then began with a single and a double to put him in immediate trouble, but Miller battled and got a strikeout, foul out, and fly out to maintain the 1-0 lead somehow. The 3rd wasn’t as serious, as a lead-off single and a stolen base with one out led to another RISP, but a strikeout and fly out made sure his shutout was still intact.

That unfortunately didn’t last through the 4th, as there was an infield single that bounced off his glove to start, then a one-out walk put a pair on. Luis Campusano finally broke through for the Padres with a single against the shift to tie things up at 1-1.

Miller did get a grounder that wasn’t hard enough to turn a pair on, but left the runners cornered, but that was it for him.

He labored today: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 3 K, 82 Pitches.

Dave Roberts turned to Joe Kelly in relief, and a passed ball on a curve that was high deflected off Will Smith‘s glove for a 2-1 lead to the Padres. Kelly did get out of it to close the 4th after, but the damage was done there.

Kelly continued in the 5th, where he knocked down Tatis twice, struck him out, and then called him a bitch. After a walk and a single, he seemed to be in trouble, but then turned a double play himself to get through it.

Alex Vesia was next out of the pen in the 7th, but after an initial out, he then issued a walk and then hit a batter to put a pair on. Trent Grisham took advantage with a single to drive in a run and extend the Padres lead to 3-1, though Vesia did manage to not allow anything further.

As mentioned, Darvish was rolling, but the 7th started with a double from David Peralta. He did get two outs with only the runner advancing to third, but then James Outman’s jam-shot single plated him to cut the lead to 3-2. Even after a steal, Darvish didn’t give up anything more, completing his great start.

In the 7th, Ryan Brasier took over against the heart of the Padres order and was impressive, carving the up in an eight-pitch inning that felt effortless.

Taking over for Darvish in the 8th was Robert Suarez, who promptly gave up a single to Enrique Hernandez and walked Mookie Betts to put a pair on. However, he then got Freddie Freeman to hit a weak liner to short and got Smith to strikeout on ball four. Things looked bleak as Peralta got behind 1-2, but he then shot a double down the line the other way to tie the game up at 3-3!

The Padres then tempted fate by loading the bases intentionally on a Heyward free pass, which then immediately backfired as Chris Taylor drew a walk (with some help from Campusano not framing a 1-2 pitch) to make it 4-3.

That led to Tom Cosgrove being summoned from the pen for Outman, but Dave went to J.D. Martinez off the bench, who also drew a walk to make it 5-3.

That brought up the ideal matchup for Amed Rosario, who faced a lefty and promptly banged a single down the line in right for a 7-3 lead all of a sudden. For good measure, Rosario also stole second, but was left there to end the frame.

Looking to maintain that lead was Caleb Ferguson in the 8th, who hit a batter that advanced to second on an absolute stunner from Rosario at second base for an out.

After Ferguson got a fly out, he surrendered a single to Grisham that made it 7-4. He then issued a walk to Kim to put two on and bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Tatis. Less than ideal.

Dave turned to Evan Phillips in that situation, who rewarded him by getting Tatis to fly out to deep right.

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Thankfully, the rest wouldn’t be as tense, as the Dodgers put up another crooked number in the 9th. A Mookie single and stolen base set the table, Freddie got hit by a pitch, and Will doubled to drive a run in. A Peralta sacrifice fly plated another, and a Taylor single scored a third to make it 10-4 before the rally ended.

Phillips, now with a six-run lead, challenged the Padres hitters. That resulted in a Juan Soto solo shot to start and cut the lead to 10-5, but he then got a couple pop-ups and a groundout to end it.

Nice.

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NL WESTRECORD
Dodgers63-45
Giants61-49 (3 GB)
Diamondbacks57-54 (7.5 GB)

*Either still playing or will play later.

Damn man, the Diamondbacks are in danger of falling off this chart altogether. Life comes at you fast.

Anyway, same two teams but an hour earlier tomorrow on FS1 at 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET. It’ll probably be Ryan Yarbrough (4.24 ERA/4.81 xERA/5.80 DRA) as the bulk guy, regardless of whether he starts or not, against the resurgent Blake Snell (2.50/3.85/4.46).

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