On a night the Dodgers had a stadium-wide giveaway promotion for the anime show “Demon Slayer,” the club slayed a few recently troublesome demons of its own.
By beating the San Diego Padres 3-2 at Dodger Stadium, the club moved back into a tie with the Padres for first place in the National League West.
They got six strong innings from Clayton Kershaw; plus, in a refreshing change of pace, plenty of crisp, clean defense behind him.
Read more: Dodgers’ Max Muncy to miss several weeks because of oblique strain
And though a lineup that lost Max Muncy to the injured list with an oblique strain before the game was largely contained by the Padres (who had to go with a bullpen game after scheduled starter Michael King was shelved with a shoulder injury), the bullpen finally managed to protect a late, narrow lead for what felt like the first time in several weeks.
“Just a really well-played ball game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We needed it.”
Indeed, the Dodgers came into this weekend’s rivalry series reeling in a way that once seemed impossible for this year’s $400-million team.
Going back to July 4, they were just 12-21. What was a nine-game division lead then had since been transformed into a one-game deficit by the Padres, who came to Los Angeles riding high thanks to a monster trade deadline and a recent 14-3 streak.
More dark clouds arrived a few hours before first pitch, as well, when Muncy, who missed Wednesday’s game with side soreness, was placed on the injured list with a Grade 1 oblique strain, sidelining him for at least the next several weeks.
It didn’t mean the Dodgers were panicking. Before the game, Roberts quipped that, no, actually, “tonight’s not Game 7 of the World Series.” His players had echoed that same message this week, preaching the need to remain level-headed and remember the calendar still had plenty of baseball ahead.
“It’s August,” Kershaw said. “It’s not the end of the world.”
Still, the season was starting to feel nonetheless on the brink, with the Dodgers searching for answers to their recently inconsistent offense, unsound fundamentals and untrustworthy bullpen (which had squandered five games in the last two weeks).
“I don’t like to be embarrassed. I don’t think our players do [either],” Roberts said before the game. “So this series, I’m expecting high intensity and high performance.”
The Dodgers delivered on both.
Kershaw set the tone, displaying a vintage demeanor even with his ever-diminished stuff. Before the game, he marched through the clubhouse and hunched over his locker, leafing through a scouting report while teammates carefully tip-toed around him. Between innings, he quietly paced in the dugout while avoiding almost any human contact. And when he was atop the mound, he pounded the strike zone and executed pitch after pitch, yielding his only run in the second inning when Ramón Laureano (one of several sizzling San Diego deadline acquisitions) clipped the outside of the left-field foul pole to open the scoring.
“There’s just no one more intense or focused than Clayton,” Roberts said of Kershaw, who has now given up just two runs in 18 innings this month, lowering his season ERA to 3.01. “He has a way of elevating people’s focus and play.”
Teoscar Hernández celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Padres in the seventh inning Friday. San Diego’s Manny Machado reacts after striking out in the first inning. Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts throws to first base to complete the double play after forcing out San Diego’s Freddy Fermin at second base. Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
It certainly appeared that way. Defensively, the Dodgers (69-53) helped Kershaw out by turning several tough plays around the infield — from Freddie Freeman picking a ball in the dirt in the second inning, to Alex Freeland and then Kershaw himself making tough plays in the third and fifth, respectively.
At the plate, the Dodgers also managed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the third, after singles from Michael Conforto and Freeland were followed by a popped-up Miguel Rojas bunt that Padres third baseman Manny Machado couldn’t catch with a dive.
“Manny’s a Gold Glover over there,” Roberts said. “We caught a break right there.”
The Dodgers didn’t get another hit in the inning, but Shohei Ohtani drove in one run by beating out a potential double-play ball. Mookie Betts then added a go-ahead sacrifice fly.
The lead became 3-1 in the seventh, when Teoscar Hernández belted an opposite-field homer for a massively important run.
“I’ve been in a little bit of a struggle,” Hernández said. “Trying not to think too much and trying to put a good swing on the pitch that I can get in the strike zone.”
From there, it was up to the bullpen, which was asked to navigate the kind of slim late-game margin that had often spelled disaster during the team’s recent season-altering skid.
“We have other guys [in the bullpen],” said Roberts, who pulled Kershaw after only 76 pitches, “that have to do their job too.”
On this night, they did — despite a couple late scares.
Dodgers relief pitcher Jack Dreyer celebrates after the final out of a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Ben Casparius pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but had to strand a two-out double from Jackson Merrill to do so.
Alex Vesia created a jam in the eighth by hitting two batters and loading the bases on a walk. But the Padres (69-53) only managed one run, with Vesia getting Luis Arraez to hit a sacrifice fly before Blake Treinen came on and retired Manny Machado on a first-pitch pop-up.
In the ninth inning, surprisingly, Roberts didn’t stick with Treinen — whom the team has been wary of using for multiple innings as he continues to work his way back from an early-season elbow injury.
“It wasn’t Game 7,” Roberts reiterated. “And we’re steadfast on not using him for an up-down.”
Yet, at long last, the result didn’t backfire.
In the ninth, Alexis Díaz and Jack Dreyer pitched around a single from Merrill to finish things. The Dodgers celebrated with a long-awaited high-five line, having finally made a late lead stand up. And after spending the last 48 hours in second place, the team climbed back to the top of the standings, exorcising the close-game demons that had so dauntingly haunted them over their recent midseason slump.
“I think that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Kershaw said. “Baseball is hard. When you play every day, things can spiral pretty quick. … So I don’t want to say that, you know, ‘Hey, we’re reset now.’ I think we were fine. I think we just played some bad games. And I think we’re fine moving forward.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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