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 Four innings after tying the game with a two-out, eighth-inning
double, the Los Angeles first baseman hit a two-run, two-out,
bases-loaded single in the top of the 12th inning Sunday to give the
Dodgers a 4-2 victory over the Padres in the rubber match of a
three-game weekend series at Petco Park.
Up until the eighth inning, Gonzalez was 1-for-10 in the series and
had grounded into four double plays.
However, he was 15-for-33 (.455) in the first three series against
the Padres this season with three doubles, six homers and 11 RBIs.
"I think the better team won two of the three games," Gonzalez said
after the Dodgers improved to 8-4 against the Padres this season --
taking all four series between the teams by identical 2-1 counts.
We knew they would be close. They are always close."
The Dodgers scored twice in the 12th as their bullpen was throwing 7
1/3 scoreless innings and center fielder Joc Pederson sent the game
into extra innings with an extraordinary, over-the-head catch of a
Justin Upton drive at the center field fence with two outs in the
ninth and the winning run at second.
Pederson raced back at full speed and caught the ball as he ran into
the fence.
"I think the situation made it bigger than it was," Pederson said of
the catch. Other Dodgers saw it differently.
"Just incredible," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of the catch.
"We've seen that in him ... and those two or three plays he made in
the gap today. He's one of the few guys you see who turns and runs
to an area. That allows him to cover more ground."
"I never thought it was going out, but I thought it was going to be
over his head," said Upton, who screamed "No!" as he saw Pederson
make the catch while rounding first base."
After the Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game with
single runs in the seventh (on left fielder Andre Ethier's solo
homer) and eighth (Yasiel Puig scoring from first on Gonzalez's
double after drawing a two-out walk), their bullpen worked out of
jams in the seventh, ninth and 10th before pushing across two in the
12th.
Third baseman Alberto Callaspo started the game-winning rally with a
one-out double off right-handed reliever Dale Thayer, the sixth of
seven pitchers used by the Padres. Thayer then issued consecutive
walks to Kike Hernandez and Pederson -- loading the bases with one
out.
Pinch-hitter Alex Guerrero lined out to Matt Kemp with the right
fielder's perfect throw to the plate forcing Callaspo to hold at
third.
Gonzales then lined a single to center off Thayer (2-2).
"It was a fastball that was elevated a little," said Gonzalez of the
pitch for his game-winning hit. "I tried to stay on top of it
because he's a fly ball pitcher. I didn't want to get under it and I
tried to hit it on a line and it ended up in the right spot."
Right-hander Josh Ravin (2-0), the sixth of seven Dodgers pitchers,
got the win. Right-handed closer Kenley Jansen got his ninth save.
Earlier, Upton had given the Padres a 2-0 lead in the fifth with a
two-out, two-run, bases-loaded single in the fifth off Dodgers
starter Mike Bolsinger.
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Padres right-handed starter James Shields allowed one run on five
hits and three walks with six strikeouts over seven innings to
depart with a 2-1 lead. The only run allowed by Shields was the
Ethier homer -- the Dodger outfielder's ninth and the 16th allowed
by Shields in 14 starts.
Shields was not happy about coming out of the game after seven
innings and 86 pitches.
"We talked in the dugout (after the seventh) and I thought it was
time for him to come out," said Padres manager Bud Black. "His
secondary pitches were good but I felt he was losing a little bit of
velocity off his fastball. So he and I worked through that
decision."
The Dodgers immediately tied the game in the bottom of the eighth
against right-handed set-up reliever Joaquin Benoit, who retired the
first two hitters he faced before walking Puig and giving up the
double to Gonzalez.
Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger, who blanked the Padres on one hit
over eight innings the first time he faced San Diego this season,
seemed to be cruising when the wheels fell off in the bottom of
fifth.
He had retired nine straight Padres, including five by strikeouts,
when Shields started the Padres decisive rally with a two-out single
to right. Center fielder Will Venable followed with a single to
right and third baseman Yangervis Solarte drew a walk to load the
bases.
That brought up left fielder Upton with the bases loaded and two
out.
A night earlier, Upton homered off Dodgers right-handed ace Zack
Greinke with two out in the eighth to snap a 1-1 tie and give the
Padres a 2-1 win.
This time he lined a two-run single to center, scoring Shields and
Venable. After Matt Kemp walked, Bolsinger departed in favor of
left-handed reliever J.P. Howell, who retired first baseman Yonder
Alonso on a grounder to first.
Bolsinger allowed two runs on six hits and three walks with seven
strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
NOTES: SS Trea Turner, the Padres' first-round pick in the 2014
draft, officially was transferred to the Washington Nationals Sunday
as the player to be named later in the three-team trade last Dec. 18
that brought CF/1B Wil Myers to the Padres. Turner was hitting .322
with Double-A San Antonio. SS Jose Rondon, 21, is being transferred
from high Class A Lake Elsinore to take Turner's spot with the
Missions . . . Padres LHP Cory Luebke will make his second
one-inning rehab outing with Lake Elsinore Tuesday. He worked a
perfect inning Saturday night for the Storm in his first game action
since April 2012 . . .Dodgers OF Scott Van Slyke will play outfield
Sunday and first base Monday with Class A Rancho Cucamonga before
being activated by the Dodgers from the disabled list on Tuesday.
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