Getting one walkoff win in a series is exciting. Getting two walkoff wins in a series is really awesome. Getting three walkoff wins in a series is almost unheard of.
The Padres had their chances but couldn’t finish a weekend sweep on Sunday. Instead the Dodgers outlasted the home team to win 9-5 in 17 innings. It’s the 5th time the Padres have had a chance to sweep a series and the 5th time they have fallen short. San Diego also drops to 0-9 on Sunday in 2016.
Los Angeles starter Kenta Maeda was unhittable for four innings. Then things got a little nutty. In the 5th inning Melvin Upton Jr. ended Maeda’s no-hit bid with a line drive single to center. Upton stole second and scored on a single by Christian Bethancourt. Another single and a walk to Jon Jay loaded the bases, bringing us to the Continuing Adventures of Yasiel Puig.
Wil Myers hit a flare to right field that probably should have ended the inning. But Puig got a bad read … then a bad jump … then made a bad decision, opting to dive at the ball. He missed, allowing all three runs to score on the triple and putting the Padres up 4-0.
San Diego starter Colin Rea was great for five innings, allowing just one hit. But as soon as the Padres bats woke up, so did those of the Dodgers. A walk and a hit set up Corey Seager to drive in a run with a single, cutting the lead to 4-1 and chasing Rea. In came Kevin Quackenbush and the lead quickly got smaller.
Quack uncorked a wild pitch to let Chase Utley score then gave up a RBI single to Adrian Gonzalez to trim the lead to 4-3. The San Diego bullpen had more issues in the 7th when Justin Turner hit a solo home run off Ryan Buchter to tie things 4-4. It was just the second run Buchter has allowed all season. In the 8th inning Brandon Maurer’s first pitch was hammered by Howie Kendrick for another solo blast and the Dodgers had their first lead of the day at 5-4.
Wil Myers led off the 8th with a walk and the Padres tied it up again thanks to the hottest hitter on the roster. With two outs Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to the bullpen to get Kenley Jansen to face Upton. Remember it was Upton who hit the 2-run, walkoff home run on Friday night off Jansen. This time the ball stayed in the park but it was effective anyway.
Upton ripped a triple to right-centerfield to score Myers, sending the game extra innings. Well, not before we got to enjoy another edition of the Continuing Adventures of Yasiel Puig. In the top of the 9th, Puig singled off Fernando Rodney and went to second on a wild pitch. A.J. Ellis tried to move Puig up and put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to third base but Puig just stood at second watching.
So when Carl Crawford flew out to left Puig was still at second instead of tagging and scoring the go-ahead run, which helped send the game to extra innings. Lots and lots of extra innings.
Rookie Luis Perdomo was tasked with prolonging the game as long as he could, and the youngster did an admirable job. He tossed four scoreless innings but ran out of luck in the top of the 17th when the Dodgers loaded the bases and … guess who?
Yasiel Puig lined a 2-run single up the middle. As brain-dead as the man can go on occasion he is still wildly talented. Puig’s single sparked a four-run outburst that sealed the win.
The Padres have to fly up to San Francisco to face the Giants on Monday night. Drew Pomeranz faces Johnny Cueto, who threw a complete game to beat the Padres on Wednesday.
