SAN DIEGO -- After a quiet series opener at Petco Park, the Dodgers' bats were the driving force behind a statement showing against their rivals to the south.
A nine-run sixth inning that featured back-to-back homers from Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing and a three-run blast from Mookie Betts secured a 15-3 victory for the Dodgers on Saturday night, setting up a rubber game in Sunday's series finale.
The nine runs that scored in the sixth inning were the most by the Dodgers in a single inning in a game in San Diego since they scored 10 in the third inning on June 28, 1969. That was more than enough run support for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who tossed six innings of two-run ball.
The Padres turned to left-hander Kyle Hart to open the game in front of their originally scheduled starter, right-hander Randy Vásquez, with the idea of preventing Vásquez from facing the top of the order three times. That arrangement more or less served its purpose through five innings.
Hart surrendered the game's first run after giving up a triple to Max Muncy followed by an RBI double to Tommy Edman in the second inning, but that was the only damage he allowed in one turn through the order. Vásquez pitched three scoreless innings to begin his outing, but he managed to record only one out in the sixth before the Dodgers knocked him from the game.
Freddie Freeman led off the frame with a double to the gap in right-center. He came home two batters later, when Padres second baseman Will Wagner failed to handle a grounder off the bat of Muncy. The inning seemed to snowball on San Diego after the fielding error.
Edman followed with a triple, scoring Muncy. Tucker worked a nine-pitch at-bat that ended in a two-run shot to right field. Rushing went back to back with a solo blast.
An Alex Freeland walk and a Shohei Ohtani single knocked Vásquez from the game. Righty reliever Ron Marinaccio issued a free pass to Andy Pages to load the bases, bringing up Freeman for the second time that inning. Freeman grounded out, scoring another run, before Betts launched a three-run homer to cap the big inning.
Los Angeles again feasted on San Diego pitching in a four-run eighth inning, with Muncy, Edman and Tucker all driving in runs. Three Dodgers finished the night with multiple RBIs: Betts (three), Edman (three) and Tucker (four).