Joc Pederson powers Dodgers to 6-4 win

It was a bit of up and down on Wednesday night, but the Dodgers ended up victorious after some help from the long ball.

Leading the night on offense was Joc Pederson, who smashed a pair of homers on the night. His first one came on the fifth pitch of the night, marking his ninth leadoff homer of the year and setting a single-season franchise record.

His second was a go-ahead homer in the top of the fifth inning, bringing his season total up to 35. On the night, he went 3-for-3 with a walk, but his production didn’t stop with long shots. He provided LA with an insurance run in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to bring his RBI total up to three on the night.

Joc wasn’t the only player to see baseballs get out — Chris Taylor and Edwin Ríos each hit very meaningful and powerful home runs. Taylor’s dinger in the second inning removed the Dodgers one-run deficit, putting them at a 3-3 tie. Edwin Ríos’s homer was a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning and was the game-winning hit.

Ríos’s fourth homer of the year was an absolute monster, traveling 473 feet into the stands. It became the longest Dodgers home run in 2019 and the second longest home run in Petco Park history.

Despite all this exciting offense, it was ultimately a bullpen game, which almost always brings some good and some not-so-good.

Ross Stripling was the opening pitcher and he didn’t get off to a particularly great start. He came in with a two-run lead when he entered the first inning and allowed three runs to score before recording three outs. After the rocky first inning appearance, he came back for another two and only allowed one runner to get aboard. He ended the night with an impressive seven strikeouts and only allowed one walk.

Casey Sadler and Caleb Ferguson each came in to pitch a scoreless inning (Ferguson pitched 1 ¹⁄₃ innings) before Yimi Garica allowed a game-tying home run in the sixth. After allowing this run to score, Dylan Floro came in to get the last out of the inning.

After this blown lead moment, the Dodgers bullpen looked to be in great shape. Julio Urías, Dustin May and Kenley Jansen each threw a scoreless frame and Urías was the only pitcher to allow a runner to get on base with his walk in the seventh inning.

Kenley Jansen looked to be back in shape, recording a 1-2-3 inning in 11 pitches. With this save, Jansen became the 30th player in history to record 300 saves.

Game notes

Corey Seager, after hitting an RBI double to keep his host streak going, was pulled from the game after experiencing pain in his hamstring — the same injury that kept him out of the 2018 playoffs.

Wednesday particulars

WP: Dylan Floro (5-3), ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

LP: David Bednar (0-1), 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 HR

Sv: Kenley Jansen (32) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB,

Home runs: Joc Pederson 2 (35), Chris Taylor (12), Edwin Ríos (4)

Box score

Up next

The Dodgers look to sweep the Padres on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. PT.