Dodgers rally late to take opener over Padres

The Dodgers rallied against not Yu Darvish with five runs in the eighth inning and three more in the ninth to take the opener over the Padres, 10-5 on Friday night at Petco Park in San Diego.

Darvish mostly stymied Los Angeles for seven innings, with one notable exception, but we’ll get to him in a minute. In the eighth inning, Robert Suarez was tasked with protecting San Diego’s 3-2 advantage. Kiké Hernández and Mookie Betts both reached to open the frame, putting the Dodgers in prime position, but Suarez got both Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, looking very much like he might escape.

Enter David Peralta, who started at designated hitter on Friday with J.D. Martinez still out of the lineup. Peralta doubled and scored in the seventh, then doubled again off Suarez in the eighth to tie the game.

The Dodgers made Suarez throw 33 pitches in the eighth inning. Only two of them were to Jason Heyward, both outside the strike zone, after which Padres manager Bob Melvin opted to intentionally walk Heyward with first base open.

Chris Taylor worked a seven-pitch walk against Suarez, giving the Dodgers the lead and ending his night.

In came left-hander Tom Cosgrove, which brought Martinez to the plate for just his second pinch-hitting appearance of the season, and his first trip to the plate since last Saturday as he dealt with tightness in his groin and hamstring. Martinez also worked a walk for an insurance run, then Amed Rosario doubled into right field to bring home two more runs.

Rosario, who is now 4-for-13 (.308) with three extra-base hits and four RBI against left-handers since joining the Dodgers, also made an absurd diving play at second base and desperation throw to get an out in the eighth, in just his fifth-ever game at the position.

Offense and defense was also on display earlier in the game.

James Outman took Darvish deep on an 0-2 high fastball in the second inning for an early 1-0 lead. But the Dodgers managed only one hit after that through the sixth, before Peralta doubled to open the seventh. Two outs later, an Outman dunker just out of the reach of a shifted Manny Machado at third base made for an RBI single that pulled the Dodgers to within a run.

Outman also stole a base, his second game of the year with a home run and a steal, and the ninth by the Dodgers this season.

But it was Outman’s defense that may have stood out the most, at the very least delaying the Padres from scoring in the series opener. He robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a two-run home run in the first inning with a leaping catch over the wall in center field.

Outman’s catch Friday was reminiscent of Cody Bellinger in Game 2 of the 2020 NLDS, also against Tatis.

Outman adds this to his growing collection of highlight catches. Since the All-Star break alone, he robbed Brandon Nimmo of a double right at the wall on July 16 in New York, then last Sunday took a home run away from Joey Votto at Dodger Stadium.

He also robbed Paul Goldschmidt of a home run on May 19 in St. Louis.

For starters

Bobby Miller got some strikes with his 100-mph fastball, and struck out Juan Soto looking on a gorgeous curve. But he also had the shortest outing of his young major league career.

He navigated traffic all night, allowing a leadoff hit in each of the first four innings. Outman’s catch saved him from damage in the first inning, and Miller worked his way out of runners on second and third with no outs in the second to keep the Padres from scoring.

He allowed six hits and a walk his first two times through the order, with eight of his 18 batters faced hitting with someone in scoring position. Miller only allowed one hit in those situations, a one-out single by catcher Luis Campusano in the fourth to bring home San Diego’s first run.

But with a 2-for-2 Ha-Seong Kim and the top of the lineup due up, and Miller already at 82 pitches, Dave Roberts didn’t let Miller see a third time through the Padres order, pulling him with two outs in the fourth inning, with runners at the corners.

Joe Kelly got the final out of the frame, but not before a passed ball by Will Smith allowed the go-ahead run to score.

San Diego scored single runs off Alex Vesia in the sixth and Caleb Ferguson in the eighth. Ferguson left with two outs and two on in the eighth, but Evan Phillips to get tying-run Fernando Tatis Jr. to fly out to deep right field to escape further damage.

With a larger cushion in the ninth, Phillips allowed a home run to Juan Soto but otherwise got through the frame without incident, earning his 14th save of the season. It was his third save longer than an inning this season, and second in a row, having also finished out last Saturday’s win over the Reds.

Friday particulars

Home run: James Outman (13); Juan Soto (24)

WP — Ryan Brasier (3-0): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

LP — Robert Suarez (1-1): ⅔ IP, 2 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout

Sv — Evan Phillips (14): 1⅓ IP, 1 hit, 1 run

Up next

Ryan Yarbrough will pitch in some extended capacity for the Dodgers on Saturday (5:40 p.m; SportsNet LA, FS1), when he will be the 36th different pitcher on the team this season. Blake Snell, currently on a two-month heater, starts for the Padres.