SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Dalton Rushing hit a tie-breaking three-run blast in a five-run seventh inning and Freddie Freeman hit two homers as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 Sunday to avoid a series sweep and tie the Friars for first place in the National League West.
Padres starter Nick Pivetta loaded the bases with no outs to start the game but escaped the inning by giving up only one run thanks in large part to center fielder Ramon Laureano’s robbery of a potential Teoscar Hernandez grand slam.
San Diego took an early 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Jake Cronenworth walked and Elias Diaz hit his sixth home run of the year off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
With the score tied at 2 in the seventh, Rushing launched a three-run homer off reliever Jeremiah Estrada to give LA a lead they would not relinquish.
The Dodgers added three more runs to essentially put the game away, including a Shohei Ohtani solo shot in the ninth.
Yamamoto earned his 11th win of the season, going six innings and striking out six.
Pivetta pitched six innings and struck out seven, but he left the game after Freeman tied the game with his first of two home runs.
Estrada took the loss for San Diego, dropping his record to 4-5.
Despite winning the weekend series, Sunday’s loss put the Padres in a first-place tie with the Dodgers atop the NL West.
The Padres begin a six-game road trip Monday, starting with a three-game series in Seattle and then a trip to Minnesota for three games.
The Friars return home Sept. 1 for a three-game set against Baltimore.
