The start of the Padres and Dodgers series at Petco Park was delayed by about 45 minutes due to rain on Friday night. That's a rare occurrence for a baseball game in San Diego. So is the Friars outplaying the boys in blue, but here we are.
Jake Cronenworth lined a walk-off RBI single to right field in the 10th inning to give the Padres a 5-4, come from behind win to open a 3-game set against LA. Couple that with the Brewers losing to the Reds 8-2 and the Padres have opened a 4.0 game lead on Milwaukee for the final National League Wild Card spot.
Mike Clevinger started and wasn't overly sharp. The right-hander gave up four runs in 5.0 innings, two of them on solo homers by Freddie Freeman and Trayce Thompson. But, the Padres offense was not going to get pushed around again by the Dodgers.
Trent Grisham hit a 3-run homer off LA starter Dustin May and the Padres got a gift on a rare mistake by Mookie Betts. In the 5th inning Manny Machado lined a single to right field. Betts misplayed it and the ball kicked far enough away to allow Juan Soto to score from 1st base to tie the game 1-1.
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After that it was a battle of the bullpens. Steven Wilson, Luis Garcia, Robert Suarez, and most encouragingly Josh Hader tossed 4.0 innings, allowing one hit and ringing up seven strikeouts. Adrian Morejon did a fantastic job in the 10th inning. Cody Bellinger started on 2nd base and Morejon got through Betts, Trea Turner, and Freeman to keep the run from scoring and setting up Cronenworth's fantastic Jorge Alfaro impersonation.
Blake Snell gets the start on Saturday night against fellow lefty Julio Urias with a chance to give the Padres another rare occurrence: a series win against the Dodgers.
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