The Padres avoided a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers with a 5-3 win on Thursday night. Xander Bogaerts was the star of the game, going 4-4 with a home run, a double and two singles. But the story of the game truly began in the top of the 9th inning, when Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit in the hand by a pitch from Jack Little, who was making his Major League debut.
It was the third time Tatis had been hit by a pitch in this series, and Mike Shildt came out of the dugout to check on Tatis, and let Dave Roberts know he wasn't going to stand for it. Roberts bolted out of the Dodgers' dugout, and bumped Shildt as both benches cleared and the two managers had to be separated. Both managers were ejected, and Tatis exited the game.
The bottom of the 9th had plenty of drama as well. Sean Reynolds entered to pitch, and walked Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy to begin the inning. After getting Andy Pages to fly out to left field, Robert Suarez entered the game to pitch to Tommy Edman, who hit an RBI-single to center field. Hyesong Kim followed with a run-scoring groundout to shortstop, making it a 5-2 game and bringing Shohei Ohtani to the plate. After falling behind 3-0, Suarez hit Ohtani with a fastball in the back, and was ejected from the game. Yuki Matsui then entered the game, and walked Miguel Rojas, which loaded the bases with the game-tying run at 1st base. Dalton Rushing came to the plate, and during his at-bat, a wild pitch from Matsui got trapped inside Martin Maldonado's chest protector, and the umpires ruled that each baserunner got to advance one base, making it a 5-3 game with runners on 2nd and 3rd. But Matsui would strike out Rushing to end the game and earn his first career save, as the Padres avoided being swept and now get to return home to face the Royals, after a series filled with tension and drama between these two NL West foes that featured eight batters being hit by a pitch.
You can watch the Jamul Casino Resort Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Mike Shildt's postgame press conference.
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