Edman and Smith Home Runs Power Dodgers Past Padres 7-0
The short version
- Dodgers beat Padres 7-0 Tuesday, improving to 15-5 in September with a fifth straight win.
- Tommy Edman and Will Smith homered; Los Angeles scored five two-out runs off Michael King.
- One Dodgers win or an Atlanta loss clinches an NLDS first-round bye.
- Roki Sasaki returned from the injured list and hit 100 mph in one inning.
- Wednesday's matchup: Robbie Ray (13-8, 3.60) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-8, 2.51).
Los Angeles pushed across five runs with two outs to open its series against San Diego with a shutout win Tuesday at home.
Homers by Tommy Edman and Will Smith backed a five-run, two-out attack as the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the San Diego Padres 7-0 on Tuesday night, opening a series between the two clubs with the strongest records in baseball this month. Already crowned NL West champions, the Dodgers ran their September mark to 15-5 with a fifth consecutive win. San Diego, now 14-5 this month, saw its own five-game winning run come to an end.
The victory left Los Angeles (97-60) a game behind NL Central winner Milwaukee (98-59) in the race for baseball's best record and home field throughout the playoffs, though the Brewers hold the tiebreaker between the clubs. One more Dodgers win, or an Atlanta defeat, would lock up a first-round bye into the NL Division Series. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado managed just one hit in seven combined at-bats for the Padres while striking out five times.
San Diego starter Michael King (12-10) lasted four innings in his 32nd start of the year, a career high, allowing five runs on six hits with five strikeouts. His four-start winning run ended. The Dodgers struck for four in the second: after two quick outs, Teoscar Hernández and rookie Josue De Paula singled, Andy Pages was hit by a pitch, and walks to Edman and Mookie Betts brought in two runs before Freddie Freeman's two-run single made it 4-0. Betts doubled and scored on another Freeman single in the fourth for a 5-0 edge. Edman went deep with two gone in the sixth, and Smith's 396-foot blast in the seventh capped the scoring.
Los Angeles used eight pitchers in a bullpen game started by Brock Stewart, with Justin Wrobleski (12-5) recording the win — the franchise's fifth shutout when using at least that many arms. Edwin Díaz fanned two in his inning. Roki Sasaki, activated from the injured list Tuesday after roughly a month away with a blister on his right middle finger, hit 100 mph on his four-seamer in one frame of work.
On Wednesday, the Padres send left-hander Robbie Ray (13-8, 3.60 ERA) against Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-8, 2.51).