Padres step on LA with walk-off walk in 11th

May 22nd, 2016

SAN DIEGO -- Dodgers reliever Chin-hui Tsao walked Yangervis Solarte with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning Saturday night as the Padres overcame 19 strikeouts with their second walk-off win over the Dodgers in as many games, 3-2.
"Obviously we didn't start offensively like we wanted to, but it's always nice to win a one-run game in extra innings,'' Padres manager Andy Green said. "So you kind of look past some of those things.''
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Brad Hand pitched the final two innings for the Padres to get the win. The Dodgers have lost their last four, six of the last seven and have fallen 4 1/2 games out of first and two games below .500 for the first time this year. Since San Diego was swept by the Dodgers in the season-opening three-game series, it is 19-22, while the Dodgers are 18-23.
"We're finding different ways to lose games and I haven't seen this one," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "It's a tough one and to try to defend it, having a hard time."
Matt Kemp's sacrifice fly in the sixth inning scored Jon Jay and broke a scoreless tie. Adrian Gonzalez, returning after missing four starts with back spasms, led off the seventh inning with his second shift-defeating single of the game and Trayce Thompson followed by clearing the right-center fence off rookie starter Cesar Vargas for his seventh home run of the season and sixth in the last 16 games.
Alex Wood, winless since April 13, struck out a career-high 13 and was removed after allowing a broken-bat double to Derek Norris and sinking line single to Brett Wallace to start the bottom of the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista tied the game with a sacrifice fly off reliever Adam Liberatore.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Wheels fell off: In the decisive rally, Tsao allowed a leadoff single to Wil Myers, retired Kemp on a fly to right and saw Melvin Upton Jr. miss a second walk-off homer by a few feet for a fly out to the warning track in left and the second out of the inning. Myers stole second and Tsao suddenly lost the strike zone, walking Norris, Wallace and Solarte in succession on 14 pitches. More >
"In that situation, when it gets to 2-0, I like to swing, I want to swing,'' Solarte said. "But he wasn't even close, he was all over the place. I was going to wait until two strikes before I swing.''

Fit to be tied: Pinch-hitter Amarista tied the game at 2 in the seventh, with his sacrifice fly to left. That scored Derek Norris, who doubled to start the inning and moved to third on Wallace's single.
"That was a great at-bat by Amarista,'' Green said.

Escape: Wood nearly fell behind in the second inning, when Upton was awarded first base on catcher's interference by Yasmani Grandal, stole second and took third on Grandal's passed ball when he appeared to be crossed up. But with two out, third baseman Justin Turner handled Alexei Ramirez's one-hop smash and threw him out.
A hit and zip: The Padres finally broke through against Wood with Myers collecting the team's first hit in the fourth. Despite the heart of the lineup coming up, Myers was stranded at first when Kemp and Upton struck out and Norris grounded out.
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"I forgot all my English. I'm too excited." -- Solarte More >
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
It was the first time the Padres had walk-off wins in consecutive games since Sept. 23-24, 2015, in San Francisco. The last time San Diego won with a walk-off walk was on May 6, 2011 against Arizona when Chase Headley drew a base-on-balls that forced in Chris Denorfia, also in the 11th inning.
The 19 strikeouts were the most for the Dodgers since they struck out 20 Reds in 2009 and the third-most in franchise history in the modern era.

WHAT'S NEXT
Dodgers:Kenta Maeda starts for the Dodgers in the series finale. Since opening the season 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA, Maeda is 0-3 with a 5.82 ERA in his last four starts. When he faced the Padres in his MLB debut April 6, he homered and recorded his first victory.
Padres:Colin Rea gets the final start of this six-game homestand, with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 p.m. PT. Rea has won three of his last four decisions and faced the Dodgers once this season. He worked six innings of two-run ball on April 30 at Los Angeles in the Padres' win.
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