After taking the first two games of the series to retake the lead in the NL West, the Dodgers got out to a great start today against the Padres. However, the offense was shut down completely for a long while and the Padres slowly chipped away and eventually tied it up late. Thankfully, Mookie Betts came to the rescue with a late homer, and the Dodgers clung on for a 5-4 victory and a sweep!
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For a change of pace, the offense continued to stake starters to a lead early. Shohei Ohtani started things in the 1st with a single, Mookie Betts drew a walk to put a pair on, and Freddie Freeman hit his 15th homer of the year on an 0-2 pitch to make it 3-0.
FREDDIE FOR THREE! pic.twitter.com/ob4M4En3JU
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
Later in the same inning, another 0-2 mistake was hit by Andy Pages for his 20th dinger of the year, making it 4-0.
Homer No. 20 for Andy! pic.twitter.com/i4DVkBdTYs
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
While they also got a lead-off walk in the 2nd and a two-out steal, Darvish then retired nine in a row to end his outing after four frames.
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On the mound for the Dodgers was Tyler Glasnow, who has looked mostly great since coming off the IL, but today he benefitted from a rare time the umpires favored the Dodgers.
In the 1st, a one-out double was balked to third with two down, but he worked around that with three strikeouts.
Three Ks in the first for Tyler! pic.twitter.com/kwvkcdHgf4
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
After he followed with a clean 2nd, the 3rd proved to be pivotal to his outing. A lead-off walk was followed by a ball hit off the wall by Freddy Fermin, and Andy Pages made an amazing play and throw to nail him at second.
Padres continue to make outs on the bases as Pages makes a great play off the wall and throws a seed to nail Fermin at second. pic.twitter.com/V5tacQc4Ap
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a double of his own, which plated the first run for the Padres, but it probably should’ve been two. A pair of groundouts then got Glasnow out of that jam with minimal damage.
After a clean 4th, the 5th began with a Ramon Laureano homer to cut the lead to 4-2.
Ramón rakes. pic.twitter.com/Lp57rHRVpB
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 17, 2025
A one-out single and a two-out bloop double put the tying run in scoring position all of a sudden, but Alex Freeland caught a soft liner that one-hopped him to get out of the mess.
Alex Freeland … thank you. pic.twitter.com/y1nGHEmwa8
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
Glasnow’s stuff was on, but he did get a lot of help from the ump (for once) to limit the damage: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 91 Pitches.
Tyler was cruising. ? pic.twitter.com/64oaFbT4bo
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
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The Padres pen took over in the 5th and retired the first five they faced to run the streak to 14 in row before a bloop single fell in with two down in the 6th and another dropped in to corner the runners. Alex Call has yet to have a moment as a Dodger and pinch-hitting here seemed like as good a time as any, but he struck out to end that threat. The bats continued to stay silent in the 7th as well, and they’d pay for not adding insurance.
For the Dodgers pen, it was Anthony Banda starting things in the 6th by giving up a double. He then got a strikeout, but a bloop double fell in to make it 4-3 and knocked him out of the game.
Ben Casparius took over, hitting the first batter he saw to put a pair on, but rebounding with a groundout and strikeout to maintain the one-run lead.
For whatever reason, Dave Roberts used a swingman for one out, and Blake Treinen entered for the 7th. He gave up a one-out bloop single and stolen base, got a gift of a call to not issue a walk in an at-bat that resulted in an out, gave up a steal of third, and finally got out of that trouble with the lead intact.
It was then Alexis Diaz in the 8th, and he started frustratingly by hitting the lead-off man on an 0-2 count. A strikeout was followed by a double, which put the go-ahead run on second. Dave Roberts then turned to Alex Vesia — who has been struggling mightily — to get out of the jam, and he basically managed to do that by inducing an RBI groundout and a comebacker, but the score was tied 4-4.
The only argument against it is they might’ve had to sellout for the win with the Padres/Dodgers pen matchup being the absolute worst on paper. https://t.co/QOQzmCDcC9
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
Things looked sorta bleak at that point given that a pen war is the last place they want to be, but the Padres closer Robert Suarez fell behind Mookie Betts 2-0 to start the 9th, then he turned on a 97 MPH fastball for his 13th homer to make it 5-4!
MOOOOOOOOOK! pic.twitter.com/xpaTB4JKDN
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
Tasked with continuing and saving the game, Vesia continued in the 9th, getting a pair of foul outs to first before punching out Machado to secure the sweep!
😂 pic.twitter.com/duEpA9ssya
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
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Buddy Kennedy made his Dodger debut.
“He looks like chubby Vesia.” – Dad https://t.co/z1EnB4UZ94
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
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The Dodgers will now travel to Colorado for a four-game series against the Rockies, the only park I actually fear. It’ll start at 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET and feature Yoshinobu Yamamoto looking to bounceback against Kyle Freeland.
