Dodgers, Padres To Play Thriller In First Assembly Of 2021; Six takeaways from the showdown in NL West

The atmosphere in San Diego on Friday was infinitely more October than April. The Dodgers were in town for the first of 19 World Series games that season against division rivals Padres. The 15,250 fans in Petco Park, divided into blue and brown camps, brought energy after the season.

Let’s hope these teams are still fighting for first place in NL West in Game 19 on September 30th, as the start of the season series, which the Dodgers won 11-6 in 12 innings, was electrifying.

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A six-pack of takeaways from the best game yet in 2021, a 4-hour, 57-minute thrill ride that ended at 3:08 a.m. ET:

Fernando Tatis Jr. announced his return on a grand scale

The shortstop in San Diego missed just 10 days after a serious shoulder injury. He got off the injured list on Friday and immediately made up for lost time by running into midfield against LA starter Walker Buehler.

The drive turned the intensity in Petco to 11.

Unfortunately for Tatis and the Padres, he struck with bases loaded to finish the bottom of the 10th.

Manny Machado played with courage in the end

Machado appeared to be injured when he hit LA’s Kenley Jansen at the end of ninth place. Machado stayed in and ended up taking two walks to keep the game going. Then he stole second and moved up to third in a wild field before hitting Eric Hosmer’s two-hit single with two balls.

He felt uncomfortable throughout the trip around the bases, but still managed to finish the game.

Both closers participated in a tie

Jansen came with two outs at the end of eighth place and the starting gun in goal position after the Padres had gathered to draw. Melancon started ninth in a 5-5 game. Both helpers eventually gave up runs, which sent the game to extras.

However, closer use showed how important the game was for the teams. Jansen was asked to get four outs and Melancon six. Jansen’s fastball also seemed to increase the intensity of the game. He touched it in the mid-90s.

Yes, the benches have been cleared

Don’t you bet this is the only cloud of dust this season? The teams came together at the end of tenth place after Dodgers reliever Dennis Santana hit Jorge Mateo in the thigh with a fastball. The two exchanged looks and words. They stood in front of each other but refused to do anything else. Her teammates didn’t have to work hard to hold them back.

There might have been more activity if the game hadn’t been on the line at this point.

The Dodgers showed their unprecedented depth

LA received large offensive contributions from rookies Luke Raley (home run in the fifth inning) and Zach McKinstry (RBI double in the eighth). They stood in line for outfielder AJ Pollock (groin) and second baseman Gavin Lux (wrist). The left-swinging McKinstry hit came from Padre’s left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who dominated San Diego last season.

McKinstry hit well enough to get biannual bats. He has an OPS of 0.999 on 46 record appearances.

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And while the San Diego bullpen was fighting late (more on that in the last paragraph), LA gave the 11th and 12th innings to David Price, the $ 32 million left-hander who is currently number 3 behind Jansen and Corey Knebel . Price took the win with two goalless frames and scored four goals a night after saving against the Rockies.

It got weird in the end

Padre manager Jayce Tingler put second baseman Jake Cronenworth up the hill to finish 12th after the Dodgers scored three times against Tim Hill, who stalled in his second inning of relief. Hill was the padres’ eighth aide that night. San Diego’s nine-headed bullpen was short with Craig Stammen working three innings for a safe Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

Cronenworth was a two-way player in the Rays organization so it made sense to position him in that situation. The weird part of the move was that San Diego starter Joe Musgrove had to come into the left field because the Padres weren’t positional either. Jurickson Profar moved to second place from the left instead of Cronenworth. And because the ball finds you, as the baseball saying goes, Musgrove caught a sacrificial fly that was hit by … Price.

Cronenworth knocked out Mookie Betts to end the inning.

And then Musgrove hit him at the end of the 12th. Price knocked him out.