SAN DIEGO – Chris Taylor and pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez drew consecutive bases-loaded walks during a Padres bullpen meltdown in the five-run eighth inning that lifted the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-5 win Friday night, their sixth straight victory against San Diego.
The Dodgers won their fourth straight game overall and kept the Padres from reaching .500 for the first time since May 11. Since losing 5-2 to the Padres on May 5, the Dodgers have outscored the Padres 29-12 in the six straight wins.
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Rookie center fielder James Outman had a big game for the Dodgers, robbing star Fernando Tatis Jr. of a homer with a spectacular leaping catch and then connecting for his 13th homer.
Ryan Brasier (3-0) got the win and Evan Phillips earned his 14th save.
Robert Suarez (1-1) allowed five runs on two hits and three walks while getting just two outs on a career-high 33 pitches in the eighth. Kiké Hernàndez hit a leadoff single and Mookie Betts walked before Suarez retired Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, but that's when the trouble started.
David Peralta singled to tie the game at 3 and Jason Heyward was intentionally walked to load the bases. Taylor drew a walk to bring in Betts with the go-ahead run and chase Suarez. Tom Cosgrove came on and walked Martinez and Amed Rosario followed with a two-run single to right to make it 7-3.
“I think it's a byproduct of experience,” manager Dave Roberts said about the Dodgers getting four walks in the eighth. “When you're tired and experienced, you can kind of not panic, and you can see that in the later innings, where those guys have got to throw the baseball over the plate and if they don't, we'll take our 90 feet.
“It's a resilient club,” Roberts added. “We hung in there and we got to Suarez, which was big, and got to the lefty, Cosgrove. ... The first six innings we were sort of lifeless, a credit to Yu (Darvish) and then after that we picked up.”
The Dodgers scored three more runs in the ninth off newcomer Scott Barlow, with Taylor hitting an RBI single, Peralta a sacrifice fly and Will Smith an RBI double.
There was a tense moment in the fifth when Tatis hit the deck on a high-and-tight pitch from Joe Kelly that hit the knob of the bat and sent it flying. Tatis swatted his helmet away in anger and then struck out looking on a 100 mph pitch down the middle. Kelly then muttered an expletive.
Outman made a spectacular leaping catch to rob Tatis of a home run in the first and Tatis then watched as Outman's 13th homer of the season sailed deep into the right field seats for a 1-0 lead in the second. Tatis made an impressive running catch of Betts' fly ball in the third.
“He's amazing out there,” rookie starter Bobby Miller said of Outman. “Everyone on our team is always making great plays out there but James, he's always doing something crazy out there whenever I'm pitching.”
The Padres wasted a strong effort by Yu Darvish, who held the Dodgers to two runs and fifth hits in seven innings while striking out four and walking one.
Miller didn’t make it out of the fourth, when the Padres went ahead on Luis Campusano’s single and Will Smith’s passed ball that allowed Choi to score for a 2-1 lead. Choi was obtained from Pittsburgh on Tuesday along with left-hander Rich Hill.
In the second, Miller allowed Xander Bogaerts' leadoff single and Jake Cronenworth's double before striking out Choi and retiring Luis Campusano and Trent Grisham.
Miller allowed two runs, one earned, and six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Grisham's RBI single off Alex Vesia in the sixth gave the Padres a 3-1 lead. Outman hit an RBI single in the seventh to pull the Dodgers within a run.
San Diego's Juan Soto homered in the ninth, his 24th.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: Placed RHP Joe Musgrove on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, with right shoulder capsule inflammation. Reinstated INF Eguy Rosario from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A El Paso. Added LHP Rich Hill to the active roster.
UP NEXT
Dodgers RHP Michael Grove (2-3, 6.75 ERA) and Padres LHP Blake Snell (8-8, 2.50), MLB's ERA leader, are scheduled to start Saturday night.
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