Padres use Manny Machado’s slam, Dodgers’ mistakes to win again

Just when Jayce Tingler could practically be heard saying his team can’t play like that and expect to beat the Dodgers, the Dodgers played like that.

Errors on back-to-back bunts helped the Padres on their way to five runs in the third inning and a 6-2 victory Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

It was the Padres’ third straight victory and their third in five games against the Dodgers this season.

And that it went like it did was an appropriate and visceral signal that the dynamic might be changing between the two clubs.

“It’s taken a perfect game to beat a team like that in the past,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “But the way we see it is we expect to go out and beat them every single game.”

Dodgers starting pitcher Ross Stripling has seen it.

“I’ve noticed they have intensity coming from their dugout,” he said after giving up all six Padres runs, though just two were earned. “I don’t know if it’s more than years prior or whatnot. I think they are confident in their team and that they took a good step forward this year. They made some good trades in the offseason. I think they feel confident and don’t necessarily feel they are a lesser team than us. I think they feel like they compete with us, and they’ve showed it. We’ve played them five times and it seems like every game has been a good one. They are a confident young team, really good lineup, good bullpen, starters are good.

“They feel like they can compete with anyone and that’s the energy they bring.”

The Padres downplayed the maliciousness of a collision at home plate in the second inning but not the play’s effect, as it immediately preceded their big inning.

“That was a big change for the game right there; that changed the momentum,” Manny Machado said of the play that ended with Hedges tagging out Chris Taylor to end the second inning. “If he would have dropped that ball, that would have changed the momentum of the game. But Hedgey was able to hold onto that ball. That was a good play by Hedgey and all-around defensive play. It was definitely a momentum changer. We took advantage of that.”

The Padres were clearly feeling a certain type of way after knocking off the team that has won seven straight National League West titles and came into 2020 having won nine straight season series against the Padres.

“They’re obviously a great team,” said Padres right-hander Garrett Richards, who got the win by allowing one run in six innings. “They’ve been a great team for years. Now we’re a great team. We’re here to win. … It’s been going on long enough, and we’re ready to end this little streak.”

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The big blast was Machado’s third-inning grand slam, but a run had already scored and the bases were loaded following Jake Cronenworth’s lead-off double, Stripling threw high to first base on an attempt to get Hedges on a sacrifice bunt and third baseman Justin Turner threw wide to first trying to get Jurickson Profar on a sacrifice bunt.

Cronenworth scored on Stripling’s error. Hedges moved to second on Turner’s error, and the bases were loaded when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 18 games.

After Trent Grisham’s grounder was fielded by Turner, who threw home to force out Hedges, Machado sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in center field to give the Padres a 5-1 lead.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “A couple of plays that could have been made. It’s baseball, and you have to give those guys credit. They came with energy and they got a big hit when they needed it.”

The Dodgers had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with help from Turner’s lead-off double that went off Profar’s glove.

Profar, playing in left field for the second straight night but also just the second time this season, had to run and leap for the drive from Turner but could have reasonably been expected to make the catch.

That — as well as a single on a moderately hard roller that went off Machado’s glove in the first inning — was the kind of play Tingler lamented as the Padres dropped the final two games of a series against the Dodgers last week at Petco Park. He has talked several times about a higher level of play being required if the Padres are to topple the seven-time defending National League West champions.

A sharp defensive effort, as well as crisp performance by the bullpen, in a 2-1 victory here Monday drew this praise from the Padres manager on Tuesday afternoon:

“I felt like we completed the game last night, for sure,” Tingler said. “We finished plays. We made pitches and just were able to complete the game without — maybe not the errors, just to be able to finish it clean. I thought we did a good job.”

The Padres did make some fine plays Tuesday.

An Eric Hosmer-to-Tatis-back-to-Hosmer double play ended the Dodgers’ first inning, and Cronenworth’s backhanded flip to Tatis started an inning-ended double play in the third. Both of those grounders were hit by reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who is 4-for-21 in five games against the Padres this season and is batting .166 overall.

And the biggest gem was the play that ended the second inning, as Profar fielded Kike Hernandez’s double to the base of the wall and threw to Tatis, who fired home to Hedges just in time to get Taylor trying to score from first base.

On the play, with Hedges to the inside of home plate, Taylor went knees-first and appeared to lean toward Hedges while making a final lunge for the plate. Hedges tagged Taylor, held onto the ball and had some words for Taylor, who returned some of his own thoughts as home plate umpire Jim Reynolds and Hosmer got between them.

“In a situation like that, I don’t know if you kind of black out, but I can’t even recollect what was said,” Hedges said. “I think I was just really excited to get that out.”

Tingler said he wasn’t sure whether Taylor dropped his shoulder or had any ill intent.

“At the end of the day it’s grown men playing baseball; it’s a competitive series,” Tingler said. “… Being able to get our focus back in on what we needed to do — we scored some runs, and then it came to collecting some outs. I thought our guys did a good job not losing their cool and getting back to business.”

The Dodgers thought Dinleson Lamet threw at Turner last week as retribution for inside pitches to Tatis. The Padres also ran over two Dodgers catchers in games last week on plays in which the catchers were standing in the base line.

“I just thought it was one of those where Chris was in no-man’s land,” Roberts said of Tuesday’s play. “Hedgey did a nice job of trying to make the tag, get the ball, receive it. Chris was just going in. He was kind of caught to slide around him, slide to home plate. Hedgey came up and got the throw. It’s just a baseball play. Obviously, there were some words exchanged last series. But there’s just a lot of respect from both clubs.”

Richards smiled when asked his interpretation of Taylor’s intent.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We have a rivalry with these guys. We’re going to try to handle it on the field. I think winning the game is kind of the icing on the (cake).”

The Padres poured on the five runs the next inning. The Padres added another in the fifth on Profar’s homer.

They could have added more that inning if Tatis had not been picked off second after he singled and stole his fifth base of the season. Tatis actually beat the throw from Stripling, but Hernandez, the second baseman, stepped on Tatis’ foot, preventing it from touching the bag in time.

Richards, who allowed the Dodgers four runs in five innings last Wednesday, spread out six hits in going six innings for the first time in four starts this season.

Pierce Johnson threw a scoreless seventh inning. Cronenworth bobbled a grounder by Mookie Betts, preventing Tim Hill from getting all three outs in the eighth. Instead, Javy Guerra came in with two outs and Betts on second and got Turner on a line drive to center field. Guerra allowed a run in the ninth before Tingler decided to have Drew Pomeranz lock down the victory by getting the final out in one pitch.

The Padres on Monday improved to 6-0 in the opening game of series this season. Tuesday was just the second time they won the second game of a series.

“It’s always nice to start with a win,” Tingler said Tuesday afternoon. “… We definitely need to be better on days two and three.”

They arguably were not in this one, save for capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes. But in improving to 3-2 against the Dodgers and 11-7 on the season, the Padres moved into a second-place tie with L.A., 1½ games behind the Rockies (12-5).

“We want to complete our games,” Tingler said. “We’ve got a lot of areas to grow in. The main thing is the guys are believing in one another. They’re playing to win.”

Staff writer Jeff Sanders contributed to this report.