SAN DIEGO — Behind a 6-5 victory, the San Diego Padres are a win away from ending the Los Angeles Dodgers’ season again, and they’ll get a chance on Wednesday to do it at home, which just might be the most raucous ballpark of the postseason. Mookie Betts broke out of his slump, hitting a hanging narrative into the left-field stands for a first-inning home run, which put the Padres in an early 1-0 hole. They stormed back with the help of some unfortunate Dodgers defense in the bottom of the second, including two would-be double plays that weren’t.
Advertisement It started with Manny Machado veering out of the baseline to take Freddie Freeman ’s throw on the helmet, sending the ball into left field, and it continued when Miguel Rojas tried to start a double play on his own, only to be late on both ends. David Peralta roped a two-run double down the line to give the Padres the lead, and Fernando Tatis Jr. hit one of the more regrettable 0-2 fastballs you’ll ever see for a long, long home run.
(Machado’s play was legal, by the way. Rule 5.09(b)(4) references intentionally interfering with a thrown ball, but that requires that the runner knows where the ball actually is.
) What should have been a calm, easy win got wacky when the Dodgers came within a run in the very next inning. Three singles and a Teoscar Hernández grand slam made the score 6-5 and brought his team back from the shadow realm. All they needed was just one run.
Starter Michael King settled down, and.
