Padres walk off with wet win in 10th over Dodgers

An unusual 35-minute rain delay in San Diego pushed the start time back of the series opener between the Dodgers and Padres on Friday evening.

Dustin May and Mike Clevinger were both out of the game by the sixth inning, and neither were involved in the decision. The NL rivals went back-and-forth and eventually locked into a 4-4 tie. A rare Mookie Betts fielding error in right field resulted in two runs for the Padres.

The Dodgers struck first in San Diego. Freddie Freeman crushed his 18th home run of the season, a 446-ft. to center field, to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first.

Trent Grisham took advantage of May’s lack of command in the bottom half of the third and smashed a three-run home run to give the Padres a 3-1 lead.

The Dodgers scored twice in the top of the third to tie the game up. Freeman drove in the Dodgers’ second run of the game with a sac fly to make it a one-run game. Mookie Betts scored on a Will Smith swinging bunt single to make it 3-3. Mookie Betts set up the inning when he got hit with a Clevinger four-seamer, a pivotal point in the frame.

Trayce Thompson swung the pendulum back to the Dodgers’ side with a majestic solo home run off Clevinger in the fourth. It was a sweet moment for Thompson who played with the Padres earlier this season.

May’s continued poor command and a pair of sloppy errors in the fifth allowed the Padres to tie the game 4-4. Manny Machado scorched a ball into the corner. Betts, an elite outfielder at cutting balls off in the outfield, made a rare two-run error. The ball ricocheted off his ankle and away from him, and that allowed Juan Soto to score all the way from first. A flustered May committed a second error in the frame when he failed to field a Josh Bell comebacker.

Caleb Ferguson took over for May and pitched a scoreless sixth. Chris Martin allowed a Machado single, his third hit of the night, but nothing else in the seventh. Dave Roberts let Martin go one more at-bat in the eighth, and he struck out Jake Cronenworth.

Phil Bickford was the next arm out of the Dodgers’ bullpen and allowed a two-out single to Wil Myers, but that was all.

Josh Hader got the ball in the top of the ninth for the Padres and struck out Thompson and Bellinger to send the Dodgers down 1-2-3. Bellinger went 0-for-4 and is now hitting .197 on the season.

Craig Kimbrel didn’t have Let It Go blaring through the speakers like he does at Dodger Stadium. Nevertheless, the pony-tailed reliever let it go with some great pitching in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the 4-4 tie and push the game to extra innings.

Roberts had Heath Hembree intentionally walk Machado in the bottom of the 10th. Hembree struck out Bell looking for a big first out. Cronenworth singled to right field to bring home Soto, the placed runner.

Friday particulars

WP — Adrian Morejon (4-0): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 16 pitches

LP — Heath Hembree (3-1): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 7 pitches

HR — Freddie Freeman (18), Trent Grisham (17), Trayce Thompson (9)

Stolen Base Count: 88

Up next

Saturday’s game features a southpaw showdown. Julio Urias (15-7, 2.29 ERA, 185 ERA+) battles Blake Snell (6-8, 3.73 ERA, 12.2K/9).

First pitch from Petco Park is at 6:40 p.m. PT on SportsNet LA (weather permitting).