Dodgers take NLDS Game 1 against Padres after 4-run 6th at Globe Life Field
The Los Angeles Dodgers scored four runs in the sixth inning to break open a slogging, walk-filled game to take Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres 5-1 late Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Game 2 is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday. The series is being played in Arlington as part of MLB’s postseason playoff bubble amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Tuesday’s game, which started at 8:38 p.m., took almost four hours to finish as the teams combined to use 14 pitchers, tying a division series record. The official game time was 3:54.
The Dodgers did not have a hit until Mookie Betts’ RBI double to the left-field corner gave them a 2-1 lead. Los Angeles tied the game at 1-1 in the previous inning without getting a hit. A throwing error to first with two outs on a routine play by second baseman Jake Cronenworth allowed Justin Turner to score from second.
After Betts’ double, the Dodgers also scored on Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly, Turner’s RBI single, Cody Bellinger’s infield single up the middle, and Keller High School alumnus Max Muncy scored on Craig Stammen’s wild pitch. Stammen was San Diego’s eighth pitcher.
The Padres led 1-0 on Austin Nola’s RBI single against Dodgers starter Walker Buehler in the fourth inning.
The Dodgers tied it at 1-1 with a run in the fifth. They scored it without a hit, too. With runners on first and second and two outs, Cody Bellinger hit a routine bouncer to second base but Cronenworth’s throw to first was in the dirt and first baseman Eric Hosmer didn’t help him out with a dig.
The Dodgers had the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth after two walks and a hit batter before Austin Adams forced Betts to fly out to deep left field.
The Padres used nine pitchers, a NLDS record for a nine-inning game. Starter Mike Clevinger, who did not pitch in the Padres’ wild card series, left with an arm injury before throwing a pitch in the second inning. Padres pitchers walked 10 batters in the game. The Dodgers 10 walks tied the Atlanta Braves’ 1997 record for a nine-inning game.
The Dodgers used five pitchers, including Buehler, who allowed one earned run on two hits and four walks in four innings. Reliever Dustin May, who attended Northwest High School in Justin, struck out three in two innings for Los Angeles. Dodgers pitchers held the Padres to three hits.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 12:33 AM.
