MLB: Fans throw balls and trash on field as Padres beat Dodgers 10-2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fans threw baseballs in the direction of San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar and then threw trash, causing a long delay before the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Sunday. Los Angeles to even their National League Division Series at one game apiece.

Yu Darvish He limited the Dodgers’ powerful offense to one run and three hits in seven innings and Fernando Tatis Jr.. He went deep twice as the Padres tied the postseason record of six home runs.

David Peralta and Jackson Merrill each hit two-run homers, and a limping Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Higashioka had solo shots. At age 21, Merrill became the youngest Padres player to hit a home run in the postseason.

“Six of them is a special gift for us,” Merrill said.

He delay in the middle of the seventh inning generated a 12-minute gap between shots and occurred when two balls were thrown from the stands in the direction of Profar. He chased one of them, but a security officer arrived first. There was trash strewn on the warning track to the right near the Padres bullpen.

“I feel like when they crossed the line, when they started throwing things on the field,” Tatis said. “I felt like that shouldn’t happen in a major league game.”

There was continued booing from the 54,119 spectators who filled the stadium, the largest at Dodger Stadium this season.

“The bear has been pinched for a while. It has been attacked in previous years, decades,” Merrill said. “We finally got the firepower, we finally got the team to take it. They are a good team. I love the way they play. They give us a battle every time. “They don’t stop.”

Security rushed onto the field as Padres manager Mike Shildt and his team huddled in the shallow area on the left side. They were joined by the referee team. Security appeared to be trying to identify possible perpetrators in the crowd.

“We were looking for an increased security presence in the left field corner to make sure that behavior didn’t continue,” crew chief Dan Bellino told a pool reporter, “and to make sure that if anyone threw something onto the field they would be immediately identified and removed from the stadium.”

The Dodgers did not immediately respond when asked if there had been any arrests.

Manny Machado He gathered his teammates on the bench to cheer them on before the game resumed.

The Dodgers have lost four straight games 2 and seven of their last eight playoff games.

The best-of-five series moves to San Diego on Tuesday.

Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch in the sixth inning, and Profar exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

“There’s too much of a series to just throw it at guys,” Tatis said. “When it hit me, it just gave me more energy. “My boys gave me more energy.”

The Dodgers thought they had tied it in the bottom of the first. Mookie Betts hit a deep fly ball to the corner and left field umpire Adrian Johnson put his arm around his arm signaling a home run.

But Profar fought the outstretched arms of the fans, winding the ball into the straps of their glove. He barely reacted to her spectacular grab, jumping back as he looked at the amazed fans.

“That was really funny,” Merrill said of Profar trolling fans. “He’s having fun. “I played like a little kid and I love that.”

Afterwards, there were verbal exchanges between fans and Profar.

The Dodgers lost first baseman Freddie Freeman, who exited after five innings with discomfort in his sprained right ankle. He struck out and flied out in two at-bats. Freeman was injured on September 26 and has struggled to be healthy enough to make the playoffs.

Just like in Game 1, the Padres took a quick 3-0 lead. Tatis went deep in the first off Flaherty and former Dodger Peralta added a two-run shot with two outs in the second.

Darvish struck out three and walked two against his former team. He stopped fellow Japanese Shohei Ohtani, who struck out and grounded out twice against his friend.

“I was trying to see how he reacted to some of the pitches I threw,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “On top of that, I was trying to keep him off balance by holding on a little longer. “I think it worked out pretty well.”

Ohtani finished 0 for 4 with another strikeout. Mookie Betts was hitless for the sixth straight playoff game.

Pitching not far from where he grew up in Burbank, Flaherty allowed four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, becoming the first Dodgers starter to reach the sixth inning of a postseason game since Max Scherzer in 2021.

Max Muncy homered for the Dodgers in the ninth.

UP NEXT

RHP Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers in Game 3 and RHP Michael King will go for the Padres. King was dominant against Atlanta in the NL Wild Card Series, striking out 12 in seven scoreless innings. King faced the Dodgers four times this season, pitching 12 shutout innings in two of the outings and taking heavy hits in the other two.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB