Dodger Stadium fans toss balls, trash on field, interrupt Padres’ 10-2 win

By Beth Harris, The Associated Press on October 6, 2024.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fans threw baseballs in the direction of San Diego left fielder Jurickson Profar and then tossed trash that caused a lengthy delay before the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Sunday night to even their best-of-five National League Division Series at a game apiece.

Yu Darvish limited the Dodgers’ powerful offence to one run and three hits over seven innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. went deep twice as the Padres tied the post-season record of six homers.

David Peralta and Jackson Merrill each hit two-run homers, and a hobbled Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Higashioka had solo shots.

The delay in the middle of the seventh inning led to a 12-minute gap between pitches and occurred as two balls were thrown from the stands in the direction of Profar. He chased after one of them but a security officer got to it first. Trash was strewn on the warning track in right near the Padres’ bullpen.

There was continuous booing by the sellout crowd of 54,119 – the largest at Dodger Stadium this season.

Security rushed onto the field as Padres manager Mike Shildt and his team huddled in shallow left. They were joined by the umpiring crew. Security appeared to be trying to identify potential perpetrators in the crowd.

Manny Machado gathered his Padres teammates in the dugout to boost them before the game resumed.

The series shifts 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.

The Dodgers thought they’d tied it in the bottom of the first. Mookie Betts hit a deep fly to the corner and left field umpire Adrian Johnson circled his arm signalling a home run.

But Profar battled the outstretched arms of fans, reeling in the ball on the webbing of his glove. He barely reacted to his spectacular grab, hopping away backward as he stared at the astonished fans. Later, there were verbal exchanges between fans and Profar.

The Dodgers lost first baseman Freddie Freeman, who left after five innings with discomfort in his sprained right ankle. He struck out and flied out in two at-bats. Freeman got hurt on Sept. 26 and has fought 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-out, two-run shot in the second.

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

Ohtani finished 0-for-4 with another strikeout. Mookie Betts was hitless for a sixth consecutive playoff game.

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

Max Muncy homered for the Dodgers in the ninth.

UP NEXT

The Dodgers have yet to announce a starter for Game 3 on Tuesday. RHP Michael King goes for the Padres. He 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, tossing 12 innings of shutout ball in two of the outings while getting hit hard in the other two.

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

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