The first two games this season between the teams with the two best records in the National League West have been close, hard-fought battles going down to the wire. After not scoring in the series opener, the Dodgers found just enough offense on Tuesday and capitalized on an absolute gift from the most dominant closer in baseball to beat the San Diego Padres 5-4 at Petco Park.
Mason Miller was wild on Monday, walking his first two batters in the ninth inning before getting the final three outs to close out the 1-0 San Diego win. Max Muncy worked a one-out walk against Miller in the ninth inning on Tuesday, then was replaced by pinch-runner Alex Call.
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Call took off for second base on Miller’s first movement, but it coincided with Miller delivering a pickoff throw to first base. Ordinarily, Call would have been dead to rites, except that Miller’s cannon of a throw got by, just off the glove of Ty France and down the right field line, allowing Call to get to third base.
Andy Pages fell behind 0-2, then fouled off four more pitches, working the count even before driving a fastball just deep enough to right field to score Call with the winning run on a very close play at the plate. That’s pretty much been the margin for things through two games of the series.
Freddie Freeman has been battling an illness the last few days, manager Dave Roberts told reporters in San Diego before the game. But the first baseman went from under the weather to over the left field wall against Griffin Canning in the first inning for a two-run home run to not only get the Dodgers on the board but also snap a personal string of 16 hitless at-bats (with five walks) dating back to last Wednesday.
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Freeman homered again in the sixth inning, this time to right field off reliever Jeremiah Estrada to tie the game at four apiece. It’s the first multi-homer game this season for Freeman, and his third game in 2026 with two extra-base hits.
Shohei Ohtani doubled and scored in the first inning, then doubled again to lead off the eighth, setting up a golden opportunity.
With Ohtani on third base and one out, Freeman chased a 3-1 fastball outside the strike zone, then struck out swinging against Padres left-hander Adrián Morejón, who then got ahead of lefty Kyle Tucker 0-2 before inducing a tapper back to the box to end the Dodgers’ wasted threat.
Ohtani has reached base multiple times in each of his last six games, during which he’s 12 for 23 with six extra-base hits and six walks, good for a .522/.621/.913 batting line.
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Trouble with the fastball
Emmet Sheehan got the first two batters in the bottom of the first and was ahead in the count 1-2 on Gavin Sheets before walking him. Then Manny Machado clobbered a middle-middle fastball on a full count for a two-run home run of his own. The Padres third baseman was in his own slump, with just three hits in 29 at-bats between home runs.
Miguel Andujar took advantage of another Sheehan meatball in the third inning, cashing in an infield single by Fernando Tatis Jr. for another two-run home run, the second homer of the series for Andujar.
Sheehan nearly allowed another two-run home run on a fastball to Ty France in the fourth inning, but it was hit to one of the deepest parts of the park in right center field, and needed a bounce to get over the fence. What would have easily scored Jackson Merrill from first base instead was a ground-rule double, forcing Merrill back to third base. Sheehan was able to escape the damage with an inning-ending groundout.
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The Padres swung at 19 of Sheehan’s 28 fastballs and didn’t miss once, and his day was done after four runs in four innings at just 67 pitches, not allowed to see the top of San Diego’s lineup a third time.
Sheehan’s early exit led to some earlier appearances for the Dodgers’ most trusted relievers, such that Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, and Tanner Scott were used in tight spots in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
That left the ninth inning for Will Klein, who struck out France and retired all three batters he faced to preserve the win and earn his first career save. Edgardo Henriquez and those four Dodgers relievers combined to get the final 15 outs in scoreless fashion, allowing one hit and three walks, with four strikeouts.
Tuesday particulars
Home runs: Freddie Freeman 2 (6); Manny Machado (7), Miguel Andujar (5)
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WP — Tanner Scott (1-1): 1 1/3 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
LP — Mason Miller (1-1): 2/3 IP, 1 unearned run, 1 walk
Sv — Will Klein (1): 1 IP, 1 strikeout
Up next
Shohei Ohtani takes the mound in the final game of the series, the road trip, and this stretch of 13 game days in a row on Wednesday evening (5:40 p.m., SportsNet LA), with right-hander Randy Vásquez starting for San Diego.
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