Padres 10-2 Dodgers (Oct. 6, 2024) Game Recap

LOS ANGELES – Fans threw baseballs toward San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar and then threw trash, causing a long delay before the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Sunday night, keeping their NL Division Series at one Equalize the game per piece.

Yu Darvish limited the Dodgers' high-powered offense to one run and three hits over seven innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. went deep twice as the Padres tied the postseason record of six homers.

David Peralta and Jackson Merrill each hit two home runs, and the disabled Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Higashioka singled.

The delay in the middle of the seventh inning resulted in a 12-minute gap between pitches and occurred when two balls were thrown from the stands toward Profar. He chased one of them, but a security guard beat him to it. Trash was scattered on the warning track right near the Padres bullpen.

The sellout crowd of 54,119 — the largest at Dodger Stadium this season — was constantly booed.

Security guards rushed the field while Padres manager Mike Shildt and his team huddled flat to the left. They were joined by the referee team. The security service apparently tried to identify potential perpetrators in the crowd.

Manny Machado gathered his Padres teammates in the dugout to encourage them before play resumed.

The best-of-five series moves to San Diego on Tuesday.

Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch in the sixth inning, and Profar exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

The Dodgers thought they had tied the game at the end of the first. Mookie Betts hit a deep fly into the corner and left field umpire Adrian Johnson twisted his arm, signaling a home run.

But Profar defended himself against the outstretched arms of the fans and twirled the ball on the webbing of his glove. He barely reacted to his spectacular grab and hopped away backwards as he stared at the astonished fans. Later there were verbal arguments between fans and Profar.

The Dodgers lost first baseman Freddie Freeman, who exited after five innings with discomfort in his sprained right ankle. He struck out and flew out in two at-bats. Freeman was injured on September 26 and struggled to be healthy enough to make the playoffs.

Just like in Game 1, the Padres quickly took a 3-0 lead. Tatis went deep against Flaherty in the first and former Dodger Peralta added a two-out, two-run shot in the second.

Darvish threw three strikeouts and two walks against his former team. He defeated his Japanese compatriot Shohei Ohtani, who hit his friend twice and ended up on the ground.

Ohtani finished the game 0 for 4 with another strikeout. Mookie Betts went hitless for the sixth straight playoff game.

Flaherty, pitching not far from his birthplace in nearby Burbank, gave up four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, becoming the first Dodgers starter to pitch the sixth inning of a postseason game since Max Scherzer in 2021 reached.

Max Muncy hit a home run in the ninth for the Dodgers.

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The Dodgers have not yet announced a starter for Game 3 on Tuesday. RHP Michael King leaves for the Padres. He was dominant against Atlanta in the NL Wild Card Series, striking out 12 in seven scoreless innings. King faced the Dodgers four times this season, throwing 12 innings of shutout ball in two games while getting hit hard in the other two games.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB