Joc's catch, A-Gon's double lift L.A. over Friars
SAN DIEGO -- Adrian Gonzalez tied the game, then won the game, but first Joc Pederson had to save the game.
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Gonzalez hit a two-out, two-run single in the 12th inning to lead the Dodgers past the Padres, 4-2, on Sunday at Petco Park. The former Padre had also tied the score in the eighth with an RBI double.
That set the stage for an unbelievable catch by Pederson with two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. On Justin Upton's potential game-winning drive to straightaway center, the Dodgers rookie made an in-stride grab on the track before crashing into the wall.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Hard-luck outing: Padres starter James Shields, who still hasn't received a loss in 14 starts this season, tossed seven solid innings. The only run he allowed came on a home run by Andre Ethier, who also tripled. Ethier's 151 hits and 23 home runs against San Diego are the most among active players.
"We've got to win that game," Shields said. "The game was ours to lose, and we have to do a better job of bearing down and getting that win right there."
Video: LAD@SD: Shields holds Dodgers to one run over seven
Where's Wil? The Padres used three pinch-hitters Sunday, none of whom was Wil Myers. After the game, manager Bud Black was asked why he didn't call upon Myers, who only recently returned from a month-long DL stint with left-wrist tendinitis. His response wasn't exactly encouraging.
"That's a fair question, and I'll explain that a little later," Black said. "I don't want to say just yet, publicly."
Myers did enter the on-deck circle in the 11th, but he was pulled back in favor of Will Middlebrooks, who struck out.
Short start: Mike Bolsinger was cruising for 4 2/3 innings, but wound up with the shortest start of his eight this season. It began to unravel with a two-out single in the fifth by Shields, the first of five consecutive Padres to reach base before he was lifted.
"The bullpen came in a saved the day," Bolsinger said of the 7 1/3 scoreless innings thrown by Dodgers relievers. More >
Video: LAD@SD: Jansen retires Alonso to earn the save
Kemp's cannon: With a runner on second in the top of the third inning, Pederson laced a single to right field that looked like an easy RBI. But Padres right fielder Matt Kemp came up throwing and fired a strike to home plate from about 275 feet out. Catcher Derek Norris applied a sweeping tag on Alberto Callaspo to keep the game scoreless.
Video: LAD@SD: Kemp fires a strike to nab Callaspo at home
Joc on patrol: Pederson has drawn national attention for his home-run surge. He's now gone 42 plate appearances without one, but on Sunday he was a run preventer, chasing down and catching line drives from Kemp, Alexi Amarista and Yonder Alonso earlier in the game, then saving the game with a spectacular running catch of Upton's two-out drive to dead center with two on in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game into extra innings. More >
Video: LAD@SD: Pederson makes another nice running grab
"He reminds me of how [Will] Venable plays center field here," said former Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal, "in the sense of routes and getting to the ball."
QUOTABLE
"At the Trade Deadline [last year], a lot of people wanted to get rid of him. I'm glad we didn't." -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, on Pederson
"I didn't think it was going out. But I thought it was going to get over his head." -- Upton, who screamed "No" on the basepaths after Pederson's grab
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
With his fifth-inning single, Upton knocked in his 16th and 17th runs against the Dodgers this season. That's just three shy of the club record, set by Chase Headley in 2012. The Padres will face the Dodgers seven more times this year.
Upton's 17 RBIs against L.A. are the second most by one player against a single team this season. Only Gonzalez -- with 19 against the Padres -- has more.
All three games in the series were decided in the eighth inning or later. The Dodgers have now taken two of three games in all four meetings between the two clubs this year. More >
REPLAY REVIEW
The Padres were the beneficiaries of a review after Kemp was initially called out at second base on a 3-6-3 double play in the bottom of the 10th. Black challenged the ruling, and replays showed Dodgers shortstop Kiké Hernandez leaving the bag to receive the throw. The call was overturned and Kemp was awarded second base, but he'd be stranded there when Norris and Cory Spangenberg struck out.
"The throw was not true," crew chief Bill Miller told a pool reporter after the game. "The throw caused him to come off the bag. That's when we don't enforce the neighborhood interpretation."
Video: LAD@SD: Kemp is safe at second on a close play
KOTSAY EJECTED
Padres hitting coach Mark Kotsay was ejected in the bottom of the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes. Home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson tossed Kotsay after a borderline Bolsinger fastball on the first pitch of Yangervis Solarte's at-bat. Solarte walked, before Upton put the Padres in front.
Video: LAD@SD: Kotsay tossed after arguing balls and strikes
WHAT'S NEXT
Dodgers: Carlos Frias isn't far behind Bolsinger for most pleasant surprise, and he's coming off his third consecutive quality start, a 6 2/3-inning no-decision against Arizona. Manager Don Mattingly said he hadn't decided who will serve as designated hitter for Monday's game at Globe Life Park in Arlington, which starts at 5:05 p.m. PT.
Padres: Tyson Ross faces the team that drafted him Monday night when the Padres play host to Oakland at 7:10 p.m. PT. Ross has never pitched against the A's, who took him in the second round of the 2008 Draft. He'll be opposed by former Padres pitcher Jesse Hahn.
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