Padres rally in 8th to beat Dodgers

The Padres rallied for two runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a go-ahead home run by Yangervis Solarte in a 4-2 win over the Dodgers in the opener of a weekend series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The loss dropped the Dodgers back to two games ahead of San Francisco in the National League West.

Adam Liberatore was greeted by Solarte with a solo home run to start the eighth inning, over the outstretched glove of a leaping Joc Pederson in left center field, breaking a 2-2 tie. Liberatore walked Alex Dickerson, who would come around to score four batters and two relief pitchers later, on a single to left field by Brett Wallace against J.P. Howell.

Both runs in the eighth inning were charged to Liberatore, who has hit a rough patch of late. The left-hander, who did not allow a run in 45 of his first 48 appearances of 2016, has allowed runs in three of his last four games, eight runs in all while recording just six outs.

During that span Liberatore has allowed both of his home runs this season, including Solarte’s on Friday.

Both ends of the spectrum

Friday was the 35th game in which the Dodgers faced a left-handed starter in 2016, and the 28th start in those games for Kiké Hernandez, a career .284/.381/.505 hitter against southpaws.

It was just the sixth start against a lefty this year for Pederson, who entered Friday a career .173/.263/.321 hitter against lefties, including 4-for-47 in 2016.

In the fourth inning Hernandez, starting in left field on Friday, hit a double to left field with one out in a scoreless tie. That brought up Pederson, who struck out looking against Clayton Richard to end the second inning.

But Pederson this time was able to line a single into right field to score Hernandez for the game’s first run. It snapped an 0-for-24 skid for Pederson against lefties, with 12 strikeouts and four walks during that span. It was his first hit against a lefty since a single against Will Smith on June 16.

It was the only run the Dodgers scored against Richard, despite totaling nine hits in his five innings.

Then in the sixth inning, facing the right-handed Brandon Morrow, Pederson unloaded for a solo shot into the right field bullpen for his 19th home run of the season, tying the game at 2-2.

With the loss, the Dodgers fell to 16-19 in games against left-handed starting pitchers this season.

Quartet offensive

Howie Kendrick had three singles in three at-bats against Richard, then singled again in the sixth inning against reliever Brandon Morrow. It was the fifth four-hit game of the season for Kendrick, tied with Miguel Cabrera for the third-most in the majors this season.

The rest of the Dodgers have six total four-hit games — three by Corey Seager, and one each by Yasmani Grandal, Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley.

Rare plunks

After hitting none of his first 276 batters faced in his first 63 major league innings, Urias hit two batters in the first inning on Friday, grazing the jersey of Wil Myers and nicking the hand of Alex Dickerson. Both men also stole second base against Urias, building a mini rally of sorts, but Urias was able to escape without any damage.

Urias hit Dickerson again in the sixth inning, which led to his removal with two on and one out in inning, up 1-0. Both inherited runners scored. He is the first Dodgers pitcher with three hit batsmen in a game since Carlos Monasterios on Aug. 26, 2010.

Urias had a total of only two HBP since the start of 2015 in the minors, in 498 total batters faced.

The third hit by pitch ended what might have been another promising start for Urias, who held San Diego scoreless for the first five innings. He came within two outs of becoming the first Dodgers pitcher in over two months with three straight starts of six or more innings.

Urias was hit himself on the index and middle fingers of his throwing hand on a bunt attempt, manager Dave Roberts said after the game. X-rays were negative.

Up next

Rich Hill makes his second start for the Dodgers on Saturday night, a 6:10 p.m. PT start. The Padres will counter with rookie right-hander Luis Perdomo, a Rule 5 draft pick who has stuck with the Padres all season.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Joc Pederson (19); Yangervis Solarte (14)

WP - Brad Hand (4-3): 1⅔ IP, 1 hit, 4 strikeouts

LP - Adam Liberatore (2-2): ⅓ IP, 1 hit, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Sv - Brandon Maurer (7): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts