Freddie Freeman homered twice and Dalton Rushing jacked a three-run shot that gave the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers the lead for good Sunday in an 8-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
Hitting .181 going into his at-bat, Rushing pulled a 3-2 slider from Jeremiah Estrada (4-5) over the wall in right for his third homer of the year. It scored Andy Pages and Michael Conforto, who singled and walked to open the inning.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8) got the win after allowing four hits and two runs over six solid innings, walking two and fanning six. Four relievers combined to allow just one hit over the final three innings.
The outcome allowed Los Angeles to tie the Padres for first place in the National League West with 31 games left in the season. The Dodgers won the season series 9-4, giving them a tiebreaker advantage if the teams are tied at season’s end.
San Diego starter Nick Pivetta was no-decisioned after six good innings. He permitted just two hits and two runs, walking three and striking out seven.
Pivetta worked out of big-time trouble in the first. Teoscar Hernandez hit with the bases loaded and no outs after two walks and a single, and he clocked a 3-1 fastball to right-center. Center fielder Ramon Laureano stuck his glove above the wall and brought back a grand slam, although Hernandez got an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Pivetta then stranded the other two runners with consecutive strikeouts and got the lead in the third when Elias Diaz hit a two-run shot to left-center, his sixth of the year.
Yamamoto worked out of a two-on, one-out spot in the fifth and was drawn even in the sixth via Freeman’s solo shot to right-center.
In his next at-bat, Freeman broke the game open with his second homer, a two-run blast to right off Wandy Peralta that completed a five-run seventh.
Shohei Ohtani capped the scoring in the ninth with a solo blast, his 45th of the year.
–Field Level Media
