SAN DIEGO -- Andy Pages hardly moved a muscle as Mason Miller uncorked a 1-2 slider in the dirt, and manager Dave Roberts felt a shift in the critical matchup between the Dodgers' rising star and the Padres' closer who had gone unbeaten for a full year.
It was a tie game, with one out in the top of the ninth. Alex Call was on third, having avoided being picked off thanks to a wild throw from Miller. And Pages was battling.
Pages fell behind 0-2 to start, fouling off a slider and a triple-digit heater. He took a high fastball, then fouled off another. Then he took a low slider.
Pages fouled off three more pitches before getting a swing off on a 101.5 mph fastball above the zone. He drove it to right field, just deep enough for the Dodgers to test Fernando Tatis Jr.'s arm. They sent Call, whose safe call at the plate was upheld after a Padres challenge. And that was how L.A. narrowly beat San Diego, 5-4, in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night to even the three-game set at Petco Park.
"It was one of the greatest at-bats I've ever seen in person, and I've been playing a long time," said Freddie Freeman, who hit two homers earlier in the game. "To hit 95 [mph] is hard, to hit 100 is even harder, to hit 102 is even probably the hardest thing to do, and to foul off 102s back to back, sliders at 87, 88 -- one of the best at-bats I've ever seen."
Facing a pitcher who had gone scoreless in 20 of his 21 appearances this season, Pages never wavered. He was confident in his approach.
"In my mind, I never thought he was gonna strike me out or dominate me," Pages said in Spanish. "I was 100% certain I was gonna move the ball forward."
Pages' nine-pitch at-bat, followed by Will Klein slamming the door in the bottom of the ninth for his first career save, landed Miller in the loss column for the first time since May 17, 2025.
"A lot of good pitches, and a lot of foul balls," Miller said. "Good approach from him, staying on the slider enough to foul it off, and getting to the heater above the zone, too. Hats off, outstanding job by him."
For the second night in a row, the Dodgers had Miller right where they wanted him, but this time they were able to finish him off. On Monday, the flamethrowing right-hander couldn't find the strike zone, walking back-to-back batters to open the ninth and missing with nine of his first 10 pitches.
Miller nearly started 2-0 on his third batter, until his catcher successfully overturned the called ball to make it 1-1. That shifted the momentum: Miller got back in the strike zone, and he set down his final three batters in order. On Tuesday, it was L.A. that turned the tables with a timely ABS challenge.
With one out, Max Muncy was initially out on a full-count called third strike. Muncy tapped his helmet, and the call was overturned to a walk. Call entered to pinch-run and took a calculated risk to move up 90 feet, gaining additional ground on Miller's wild throw.
Pages had been the final Dodger at the plate in Monday's loss, but he didn't feel that seeing Miller on back-to-back nights necessarily helped him on Tuesday. Once he was timed up with Miller's triple-digit heater and high-80s slider, he knew he would be able to make something happen.
"I had seen him previously, too," Pages said. "To me, he’s simply a pitcher who throws hard. He’s a good pitcher, but to me, he’s simply a pitcher who throws hard, and if you’re able to get on time against him, you can do damage against him."
He did indeed.
While the Dodgers don't deny that seeing their rivals to the south infuses them with energy, they have remained grounded in the fact that it is still May, and there's a long way to go to decide the National League West. But the at-bat that Pages took with the game on the line was one that would not have seemed out of place in October, with the stakes far higher.
"You get all your guys to feel that that at-bat is the important thing in your life at that moment, that’s what happens," Roberts said. "And that was his only focus, that at-bat. He willed himself in that at-bat.”