All three Padres runs came off reliever Brian Wilson, who
entered the eighth with the Dodgers leading 1-0 behind seven
shutout innings by left-handed starter Ryu Hyun-jin.
Pinch hitter Seth Smith, traded to San Diego from Oakland in the
off-season, homered in his first at-bat with the Padres to greet
Wilson and tie the score at 1-1.
"That's why the Padres got him," Wilson told reporters of Smith.
"That's what he does."
After giving up the homer, Wilson walked pinch hitter Yasmani
Grandal. The right-hander then fumbled shortstop Everth
Cabrera's sacrifice bunt for an error.
Denorfia lined his decisive single to center after Grandal
reached third on a delayed steal and Cabrera took second a pitch
later without the Dodgers contesting the play.
"What just happened is more difficult to deal with because Ryu
pitched so well," Wilson said. "I wasn't able to get ahead in
the count, and they took advantage of it."
Right-hander Dale Thayer earned the win by retiring all three
batters he faced in the eighth. Closer Huston Street picked up
the save.
Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford's two-out, two-strike line
single over the head of Padres third baseman Chase Headley in
the fifth drove in second baseman Dee Gordon with the game's
first run.
The run snapped a string of 20 straight scoreless innings
pitched by Padres starter Andrew Cashner dating back to last
season.
The Dodgers (2-1) opened their season in Australia last week
with two wins over Arizona.
They were without Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw after he went
to the disabled list with a back injury.
Ryu retired 16 straight Padres after left fielder Tommy Medica
and center fielder Will Venable opened the second with
back-to-back singles.
Cashner allowed the Dodgers one run on four hits over six
innings. He had five strikeouts and two walks, both of which
were issued in the fifth.
"It is something to build off of," Cashner said. "It's
definitely nice to get a win. It's such a tough lineup those
guys have. You can't make a lot of mistakes."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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