LOS ANGELES — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit two home runs as the San Diego Padres went deep six times and evened the National League Division Series with a 10-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 on Sunday.
Tatis hit home runs in the first and ninth innings, while former Dodger David Peralta hit one in the second. Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts hit back-to-back blasts in the eighth, while Kyle Higashioka also hit one in the ninth.
Right-hander Yu Darvish (1-0) gave up one run on three hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts over seven innings for the Padres, who head home for Game 3 on Tuesday.
“This has been our mindset coming out of the gate,” Tatis said. “We’ve had our foot on the pedal since the beginning and it’s one thing we have been doing this whole year. … That’s what we’re capable of doing and we’re going to keep that mentality.”
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts for the Dodgers, who had five hits and lost for the seventh time in eight playoff games over the past three seasons, a rut that includes an NLDS defeat to the Padres in 2022. The top three spots in Los Angeles’ order combined to go 0-for-12 on Sunday.
Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-1) gave up four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
“It was ugly,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s one of those that you just kind of want to wash away and get to the next day.”
Tatis gave San Diego a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a home run to left field. The Padres made it 3-0 in the second on Peralta’s first career playoff home run, a two-run shot.
Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar robbed Mookie Betts of a home run in the first inning, reaching into the crowd in the left field corner to make the catch. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the second inning with nobody out but scored just once on a sacrifice fly from Gavin Lux.
The San Diego defense was at it again in the fourth. Tatis made a leaping catch while on the run in right-center on a liner from Freddie Freeman, and Luis Arraez corralled Max Muncy’s hard-hit one-hopper for an inning-ending groundout.
Freeman departed after five innings with right ankle discomfort, and his status for Game 3 is uncertain, according to Roberts.
After tempers flared on both sides in the sixth inning when Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch, the Padres took a 4-1 lead on an RBI single from Merrill.
“Overall we just have to play better, but sometimes emotions run high in this game,” Flaherty said. “We have to go out and regroup.”
Multiple baseballs were thrown on the field before the bottom of the seventh, causing a delay and stoking the ire of Profar. Merrill and Bogaerts then sealed the win, hitting consecutive homers in the eighth for a 7-1 lead.
“We’re proud of our fans and always feel the support … but the game should be played on the field and the security of players is important,” Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “We don’t want any players out there feeling like they’re in any danger.”
Higashioka hit his third homer of the postseason in the ninth, and Tatis hit his second of the game two batters later.
“What I got out of it was a bunch of dudes that showed up in front of a big, hostile crowd with stuff being thrown at them and said, ‘We’re going to talk with our play. We’re not going to back down. We’re going to elevate our game. We’re going to be together and we’re going to take care of business,'” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Muncy hit a home run for the Dodgers in the ninth.
–By Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
