Mookie Betts’ home run powers Dodgers to win over Padres

LOS ANGELES ― The Dodgers’ discourtesy inactive isn’t firing connected each cylinders.

Two was each they needed Saturday night.

Mookie Betts’ three-run location tally against Craig Stammen successful the 5th inning powered the Dodgers to a 5-4 triumph implicit the San Diego Padres earlier an announced assemblage of 46,969 astatine Dodger Stadium.

Betts and Gavin Lux went 4 for 5. The remainder of the Dodgers went 0 for 20. But they provided capable tally enactment for starter Walker Buehler, who allowed lone a location tally to Fernando Tatís Jr. earlier the Dodgers’ bullpen locked down the team’s 90th triumph of the season.

The Dodgers (90-53) stay 2 ½ games down the San Francisco Giants for archetypal spot successful the National League West. They tin implicit a three-game expanse of the Padres (74-67) with a triumph successful Sunday’s bid finale.

Betts’ 20th location tally of the play broke a 2-2 necktie and came connected the heels of a azygous by Lux and a locomotion by Buehler. That marked the extremity of the roadworthy for Padres starter Chris Paddack (7-7). Enter Stammen, who near a fastball down the mediate of the sheet connected his archetypal transportation to Betts, lone to spot it permission the parkland a infinitesimal later.

San Diego rallied for 2 runs successful the eighth inning against Blake Treinen, who faced 4 batters but lone recorded 1 out.

With a runner connected 3rd basal and 1 out, right-hander Joe Kelly relieved Treinen and struck retired Wil Myers and Tommy Pham to extremity the inning.

Pitching for the 3rd consecutive day, Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning to grounds his 32nd prevention of the season.

The Dodgers utilized the bottommost of their lineup to people a mates runs successful the 3rd inning, a missing constituent successful their violative onslaught for overmuch of the past month.

Cody Bellinger, mired successful a season-long slump, drew a walk. The adjacent batter was Gavin Lux, who was making his 2nd consecutive commencement successful near field. With the Padres shifted Lux lined a fastball implicit a vacant near broadside of the infield. Tommy Pham overran the shot successful near field, allowing Bellinger to people each the mode from archetypal base.

Lux went to 2nd connected Pham’s miscue, took 3rd connected a sacrifice bunt by Buehler, and scored connected a sacrifice alert by Betts. The Dodgers had a 2-0 lead.

Buehler pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs, getting immoderate assistance from his defence on the way.

After a azygous by Tatís, 2nd baseman Trea Turner kicked disconnected a 4-6-3 treble play successful the 2nd inning. Turner astir initiated different duplicate sidesplitting successful the 5th aft Chris Paddack walked.

In the sixth inning, Cody Bellinger astir threw retired Manny Machado trying to agelong a azygous into a double; the archetypal “out” telephone was overturned erstwhile the Padres challenged the call. On Buehler’s 96th and last transportation of the game, Betts snared a sinking enactment thrust adjacent the right-field enactment to extremity the seventh inning and strand a runner connected 2nd base.

Buehler allowed six hits and walked 2 batters. With 1 exception, helium made pitches erstwhile helium needed to.

In the 3rd inning, Buehler threw Machado a first-pitch slider implicit the plate; the erstwhile Dodger lined the shot done the near broadside of the infield for a single. Buehler started the adjacent batter, Tatís, with a slider implicit the sheet too. That shot came to remainder an estimated 400 feet from location sheet implicit the halfway tract fence. Tatís’ National League-leading 38th location tally of the play tied the crippled astatine 2.

Tatís got the commencement astatine shortstop for the archetypal clip since July 30, erstwhile helium suffered a partial dislocation of his near shoulder. He had been playing exclusively successful the outfield since returning from the injured list.