SAN DIEGO – Corey Seager broke the tie with a two-run homer on Tim Hill’s first pitch in the 12th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 11-6 in the entertaining first game of the season between two rivals the West Division of the National League with serious playoff ambitions.
It took 4 hours and 57 minutes to determine the winner of the game, which ended early on Saturday. The banks were emptied when Dodgers-reliever Dennis Santana hit fellow countryman Jorge Mateo with a pitch that left runners on the corners with one out in the 10th inning. Trent Grisham walked to load the bases, but Santana retired fellow countryman Fernando Tatis Jr. struckout and escaped the jam.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Dodgers swept San Diego in the division series last year on their way to winning the World Series. The Padres responded by ramping up their rotation with the signings of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove. Darvish and Snell are scheduled to pitch in the last two games of series three.
Seager sent his second home run of the night to midfield, with Mookie Betts on second base, after receiving the last of the 11th. The Dodgers added three more touchdowns in the episode, including a sacrifice fly by reliever David Price (1-0), who scored the win, which was caught by Musgrove, who moved to left field when the Padres ran out of relievers.
Hill (0-2) took the loss after getting five at bats, three of which were earned, and four hits in one 1/3 innings.
For the Padres, the Dominican was Fernando Tatis Jr. 6-1, with a run scored and an RBI. Jurickson Profar of Curaçao 4-1, with two RBI’s. Puerto Rican Victor Caratini 2-0.