Extra-inning rally rescues Dodgers after Kenley Jansen blows another save

SAN DIEGO — Yasmani Grandal and Kyle Farmer each hit two-run doubles in the 12th inning, helping the Dodgers overcome yet another turbulent outing by Kenley Jansen, who lacked command and earned his second blown save of the season.

The four-run explosion in the 12th meant a 7-3 win over the Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park in San Diego, giving the Dodgers their first three-game win streak of the season.

Tuesday was the fourth extra-inning contest in 16 games for the Dodgers this season. They have now evened their record in those games.

The double for Grandal against Padres pitcher Tyler Webb gave him three extra base hits in the two-game series, and now a team-leading 12 RBI. Farmer followed with a two-run double of his own, continuing a unique trend. Farmer has five career runs batted in, all collected on three extra-inning doubles.

Bumpy ride again

Jansen, in his first game since Friday, was unable to secure a two-run lead in the ninth inning. He allowed a leadoff home run to Eric Hosmer in the ninth to cut the lead in half, and nearly allowed the tying home run to Christian Villaneuva, only to have Chris Taylor save the day by leaping at the center field wall for the second out of the inning.

A two-out walk to Franchy Cordero exposed the normal weakness for Jansen, who saw Cordero steal second and get balked to third base. Not holding runners is what we’re used to from Jansen, flaws usually swept under the rug by his excellent results on the mound.

But in 2018 the results have been far from excellent. Chase Headley ripped a two-out double off Jansen to tie the score in an inning Jansen was able to escape after 26 pitches. Jansen this season has two blown saves, three walks and three home runs allowed in just seven games, and an 8.10 ERA.

Last year he had one blown save all season, to go with seven walks and five home runs allowed in 65 games.

Ross Stripling loaded the bases on walks in the 10th inning, one intentional, but struck out Hunter Renfroe and Christian Villanueva to escape the jam.

Scott Alexander, who has had trouble with the strike zone to start his 2018, walked pitcher Tyson Ross — who was pinch hitting, with both teams out of position players — with one out in the 11th inning, but erased his mistake by inducing his team-high fourth ground ball double play to end the inning.

Alexander got the win, and Josh Fields closed out the game with a scoreless 12th. Dodgers pitchers struck out 20 batters on the night, setting a new season high.

Deja vu

Matt Kemp struck again versus his former team, this time in the first inning with one out after a Taylor leadoff single. Kemp hit a 423-foot shot over the right center field wall for his second home run in as many days.

A fly ball to right field in the fifth inning was plenty deep enough to score Taylor from third base, tacking on another run. Kemp is now tied with Grandal for the team lead in home runs (three), and his 10 RBI are only two behind Grandal team-leading mark.

Unlike the series opener, Kemp remained in Tuesday night’s game well past the fifth inning. This time the swap with Joc Pederson didn’t happen until the bottom of the seventh inning, and on Tuesday Kemp got to bat in the top of the inning before getting replaced on defense in left field.

Those three runs of support were a bounty for Alex Wood, who saw the Dodgers score all of one run total in his first three starts combined.

Wood on the night struck out seven and allowed an unearned run in his 5⅓ innings, and induced seven ground balls. He retired 11 in a row at one point.

Things got wonky in the sixth for Wood, who after a leadoff double walked pinch-hitter Matt Szczur. It was the first walk of the season for Wood in his 88th batter faced, and after 22 strikeouts.

A one-out comebacker set Wood up for a potential inning-ending double play, but his errant throw to second base allowed a run to score and put a runner on third with only one out. That ended the night after just 77 pitches for Wood, who used a bat in the tunnel behind the Dodgers dugout to express some frustration. It was the hardest contact induced by Wood all night.

Strong setup, at least

With a 3-1 lead manager Dave Roberts played the matchups in the sixth, using southpaw Tony Cingrani for the left-handed Hosmer, then turning to the right-handed J.T. Chargois for righty Hunter Renfroe.

Both struck out, to squash the threat.

Pedro Baez relieved Chargois with two outs in the seventh inning and struck out all four batters he faced, the third time in his career he has struck out at least four in a game (the other two were 2-inning appearances).

Cingrani, Chargois and Baez combined to record eight outs on Tuesday, including seven by strikeout, allowing just one walk.

It is still super early, but here are the strikeout rates for those three relievers this season:

Cingrani 48% (12 K, 25 batters faced)
Baez 36.4% (12 K, 33 BF)
Chargois 31.8% (7 K, 22 BF)

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Matt Kemp (3); Eric Hosmer (2)

WP - Scott Alexander (1-0): 1 IP, 1 walk

LP - Tyler Webb (0-1): ⅓ IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk