Will Smith hit a game-ending pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-3 victory over the visiting San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
Emmet Sheehan went four strong innings in his return from Tommy John surgery and Justin Wrobleski (2-2) followed with five innings as the Dodgers moved one win away from a four-game sweep.
Sheehan gave up one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his first appearance since the 2023 playoffs, while Wrobleski (2-2) gave up two ninth-inning runs before Smith won it on a home run to right field against Robert Suarez (1-3).
Los Angeles improved to 5-1 in a run of seven games in 11 days against the National League West rival Padres.
Xander Bogaerts had a game-tying RBI double in the ninth for San Diego. Right-hander Stephen Kolek gave up three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings as the Padres fell to 4-10 since June 4.
Elias Diaz gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out RBI single.
Kolek gave up just two hits over four scoreless innings at the outset. Los Angeles got to him in the fifth when Max Muncy led off with a triple and Andy Pages brought him home with a fly ball. Tommy Edman singled and Hyeseong Kim doubled before Dalton Rushing delivered a two-run single to right.
Pages was hit by a Kolek pitch in the seventh inning without incident in what has become a tense series. Pages also was hit by a pitch Monday, with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani hit Tuesday.
Los Angeles had a chance to expand its lead in the seventh inning by loading the bases, but Ohtani struck out against Wandy Peralta to end the threat.
The Padres rallied to tie it in the ninth by loading the bases on singles from Luis Arraez and Gavin Sheets, along with a throwing error for Muncy. Jake Cronenworth made it 3-2 on a sacrifice fly before Bogaerts tied it.
–Field Level Media
