Padres hold off Dodgers 6-5 in wild high scoring affair

                                      Los Angeles Dodgers #21 Walker Beuhler (RHP). Photo by Rashad Griffin/TGSportstv1.

SAN DIEGO, CA – After giving up ten runs in their last outing, the Los Angeles Dodgers (1-2) turned to Walker Buehler to quiet the San Diego Padres (2-1) bats today but those bats were thundering as the Padres won 6-5 at Petco Park.

Michael King (2-0) pitched five innings, allowing five runs on five hits while striking out three for the Padres. Buehler (0-1) lasted five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits while with no strikeouts for the Dodgers.

“You can’t give up six runs in an inning in the playoffs and expect to win,” said Buehler of his dismal performance.

Mookie Betts got the Dodgers on the scoreboard first, breaking out of his 0-for-22 playoff batting slump by belting a solo homer in the first inning taking an early 1-0 lead. The homer grazed Padre outfielder Jurickson Profar's glove as it landed in the stands. Betts stopped mid-homerun trot thinking it was caught before realizing it had escaped the Profar’s grasp. It was eerily similar to a near-homerun Betts hit in Game Two that Profar robbed him of in the stands.

In the second inning, Jackson Merril hit a sharp double-play ball to first base that Freddie Freeman scooped up and rifled toward second. Manny Machado wisely turned inside the ball's path to break up the double play. The ball hit the former Dodger bouncing away as the tying run scored with the Padres avoiding an obstruction call.

Two batters later, David Peralta, another ex-Dodger, brought in two more runs off a base hit for the 3-1 Padres lead.

After a sacrifice fly by Kyle Higashioka scored Peralta for their fourth run of the inning, the Padres best hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped to the plate. The All-Star shortstop launched a

towering two-run blast into the left field stands to cap off a six-run inning for a 6-1 lead.

A frustrated Buehler was seen throwing things around the dugout after the inning in frustration after giving San Diego the lead.

“I think right now you have to think about not waving the white flag,” said manager Dave Roberts about Buehler during a mid-game interview immediately after the second inning. “He’s going to go back out there, we’re not about to wave the white flag yet.”

After the Dodgers opened up the third inning loading the bases with three straight base hits, King was able to get the next two batters out. Down to their final out, final strike of the inning, Teoscar Hernandez took a two-strike fastball 414 feet for the grand slam. The massive blast cut the Padre lead to 6-5 injecting new life into the Dodger dugout.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, that was the last score of the game. After 11 runs in the first three innings, neither team scored over the final six innings as the Padres held on to win 6-5. The win positions the Padres one game away from eliminating the Dodgers for the second time in the past three seasons.

“We have to win tomorrow night to then pick up the pieces for Game Five,” said Roberts. “Certainly, these guys came out with energy, we responded with the big Teo homer.”

Despite the Dodgers' high-powered offense, their season will ultimately come down to pitching. With Dylan Cease (1-0) heading to the mound for San Diego, the Dodgers are planning on piecing together a bullpen game in hopes of keeping their season alive.

Despite the dire straits the Dodgers found themselves in, there was hope in their locker room post-game with some positives to take away from the heartbreaking loss.

“I like that we fought, we came back after that six-run inning,” said Freddie Freeman. “I know Dodger fans don’t want to hear about fighting and stuff but we’ll take the positives and come out tomorrow.

The Dodgers face the Padres in Game Four at 6:08 pm at Petco Field tomorrow as they try to keep their season alive.