After dropping the first two games of the series, the last thing they needed was another game where it looked like one mistake by the pitcher was too much to overcome for an offense that started with the bases loaded and nobody out, but Freddie Freeman and Dalton Rushing came to the rescue with homers, and the Dodgers cruised in to the NL West lead again with a 8-2 victory.
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Things started a lot differently for the Dodgers today against Nick Pivetta, as a lead-off walk to Shohei Ohtani was followed by a Mookie Betts single and a walk to Freddie Freeman to load them up. After Teoscar Hernandez got ahead 3-1, he put a charge into a ball to center, but Ramon Laureano jumped to bring a grand slam back. That did get a run home with a sac fly for a 1-0 lead, but a pair of strikeouts followed to end the rally there.
RAMÓN LAUREANO ROBS A GRAND SLAM 😱 pic.twitter.com/xmkC2E24rM
— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2025
Unfortunately and perhaps predictably, that missed chance proved pivotal, as Pivetta settled down and allowed just a walk over his next four innings to get him through five.
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That put a lot of pressure on Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the other end to remain perfect, and he faced the minimum through two thanks to a lead-off walk to start the game being erased by a double play. He then got the first out of the 3rd, but the bottom of the order got to him as Jake Cronenworth singled and Elias Diaz got a terrible mistake split on 2-2 and drilled it for a homer to give the Padres a 2-1 lead.
Elias Díaz just Hit the Buds!
Reply to this post with #HitTheBuds and #Sweepstakes to enter to win an autographed jersey. pic.twitter.com/O99I2P2iTf
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 24, 2025
Yamamoto rebounded by retiring the next five, though in the 5th he had to work around a lead-off double and a one-out walk to put up a zero. He managed that, but obviously the damage was frustratingly done.
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Back to Pivetta who looked like he was in cruise control to start the 6th, continuing his run of dominance with a lead-off out. Out of nowhere, Freddie ruined that run by hitting his 17th homer of the year to the deepest part of the park to tie the game at 2-2.
FREDDIE TIES IT! pic.twitter.com/utj7qW5LZ1
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025
He didn’t give up anything else, but that was honestly more than I expected at that point.
Meanwhile, his counterpart tried to similarly get through the 6th, but Yamamoto got through it with just a one-out single. Somewhat of a brutal line considering it looked like he had his stuff, but their worst hitter took advantage of a mistake, something the Dodgers haven’t been able to do: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 92 Pitches.
Cruise control from Yoshinobu. pic.twitter.com/eGYBJV5F18
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025
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So … it was a battle of the pens from the 7th, probably where the Dodgers probably didn’t want to be.
Fortunately, the Dodgers own Jeremiah Estrada, and that’s who the Padres started the 7th with. Andy Pages led off with a single and Michael Conforto then drew a walk on seven pitches to start a rally. Next up was Miguel Rojas, who squared to bunt, but the Padres were running a wheel play so he swung away and flew out. No matter, as Dalton Rushing finally had his moment as a Dodger, working the count full before crushing his third homer of the year on the seventh pitch for a three-run shot and a three-run lead at 5-2.
DALTON. RUSHING. pic.twitter.com/t8FAaKD5WM
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025
Better yet, a two-out single from Mookie Betts led to Wandy Peralta entering, and Freddie greeted him with his second homer of the day and 18th of the year to push the lead to 7-2.
Again?! Man, we love Freddie. pic.twitter.com/jJooQZhM9K
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025
After they stranded a two-out double against Peralta in the 8th, it was Yuki Matsui in the 9th, where Shohei Ohtani finally got one for his 45th of the year to make it 8-2.
SHOTIME. pic.twitter.com/AIYilF058d
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2025
Ohtani dapped up a heckler, lol. pic.twitter.com/Rjo30qAQjV
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 24, 2025
Of course, there was the other end of the pen wars, but it was the Dodgers who did their job. Jack Dreyer started in the 7th by giving up a lead-off double, but then got two outs without the runner moving. Blake Treinen then entered for the final out and got a strikeout to end that inning.
Tanner Scott then returned for the 8th and he cruised through a six-pitch inning, showing increased velocity and a harder slider.
To close things out was another rehabbing reliever in Kirby Yates, who got a clean 9th and put the Dodgers back in the lead.
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The Dodgers will now return home for a three-game series against the Reds on MLB Network at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. It’ll be a test, as Emmet Sheehan will face Hunter Greene.
