Dodgers pound Padres to move back into tie atop NL West

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested a couple times this weekend that his team had become too homer-reliant and he was looking for his hitters to create scoring opportunities by being more selfless, patient and disciplined.

The Dodgers took what was given them early Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. And they did so again a bit later.

But that was just a prelude and an interlude to doing what they do best — hitting home runs.

They tied the game with one, took the lead with another and piled on with two more en route to an 8-2 victory over the Padres that knotted up the top of the National League West.

“To salvage after the last couple games was huge,” said Freddie Freeman, who hit two of the Dodgers’ homers. “As an offense, much better ABs that we put out there today.”

Sunday was the last time the two teams will play each other in the regular season, and both have 31 games remaining.

“Exactly where we want to be,” Padres left fielder Gavin Sheets said. “It’s a clean slate right now. And we go out, we play our brand of baseball, we just worry about this clubhouse and how we go about our business and win games, and that’s all that matters.”

The Padres had secured the series victory by winning the first two games with mostly superb pitching and an opportunistic offense. The Dodgers, who have hit the second-most home runs and scored the most runs in the major leagues, had five hits and scored twice in the first two games.

It seemed big to the Padres to not only improve their standings but to demonstrate they could bounce back after being swept in Los Angeles last weekend.

“I think that shows who we are,” Ramón Laureano said. “We’re never going to give up. We’re never going to back down and we’re going to do our best to get the job done.”

The Padres’ only runs Sunday were via the Dodgers’ template, as they took a 2-1 lead on a two-run homer by Elias Díaz in the third inning. But they finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, which was entirely the product of going hitless after Sheets doubled to lead off the Padres’ half of the fifth and seventh innings.

At the outset, Padres starter Nick Pivetta obliged the Dodgers’ desire to be a different kind of offense, as his fastball command was uncharacteristically askew.

The Dodgers got just one run in the first inning after loading the bases with no outs. That run came on a sacrifice fly that Tesocar Hernández hit 400 feet but that Laureano caught above the short wall in right-center field.

“I got lucky there,” Pivetta said.

He commenced throwing strikes thereafter.

Pivetta allowed just one baserunner, on a one-out walk to Mookie Betts in the third inning, after his perilous beginning. That was, until he left a fastball up and on the inner third of the plate that Freeman deposited beyond the wall in right-center field with one out in the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2.

Jeremiah Estrada took over to start the seventh, and his misadventures against the Dodgers this season continued.

Andy Pages led off the seventh with a single grounded through the left side before Estrada walked Michael Conforto. Then, after getting the inning’s first out on a fly ball by Miguel Rojas, Estrada surrendered his fifth home run of the season to the Dodgers on a full-count slider in the heart of the zone that No. 9 batter Dalton Rushing hit to the deck beyond right field to put the Dodgers up 5-2.

“Don’t hang a slider,” Estrada said. “Simple as that. Don’t walk people.”

He has allowed just eight home runs all season — and none since mid-May to any team besides the Dodgers.

“Clearly, they’re not making many mistakes with me,” Estrada said. “Any type of contact, it’s either over the fence or something. Baseball ain’t easy. It can really mess with your mind a bit. But the greats have gone through these struggles. Since this game has existed, there are struggles. Could be one team, two teams. I mean, it’s baseball. … It’s a tough game. You’re gonna leave pitches down the middle. You’re gonna give up three-run bombs. You’re gonna have a team that has seen your stuff. You’re gonna have something. And ironically, it’s against a team that we’re battling right now for the lead.”

Estrada went on to strike out Shohei Ohtani before Betts singled to bring Padres manager Mike Shildt from the dugout. He went to lefty Wandy Peralta to face Freeman, who hit Peralta’s third pitch over the right field wall for his second homer in two innings.

Ohtani also homered off Yuki Matsui in the ninth.

The three-run homer by Rushing and the run scored by Betts upped the total runs Estrada has allowed to the Dodgers this season to 13 and pushed his ERA in eight appearances against them to 18.47 in 6⅓ innings. He has a 1.36 ERA in 54 games (53 innings) against every other team he has faced.

Shildt was adamant Estrada is his choice in that situation no matter who the opponent is.

“Jeremiah has been outstanding all (season),” Shildt said. “He was in a lane that, quite frankly, he’s been great for us. People can run from people. I personally don’t. … We felt good about all of it. He gave up a ground ball, single, the walk to Conforto obviously was important. Got Rojas.”

Shildt confirmed he did not go to Adrian Morejón, who was warming up in the event the Padres were not trailing when the lineup turned over and Ohtani came up, to face the left-handed-hitting Rushing because Roberts would have gone to Will Smith to pinch-hit.

And Estrada said, “I’m gonna be the first person to put my hand up” when Shildt needs someone to face the Dodgers in the future.

If the Padres and Dodgers play again in 2025, it will be in October.

Their identical 74-57 records have them tied for not only the NL West lead but for the second of three wild-card spots, two games behind behind the Cubs and 4½ games ahead of the Mets.

The Dodgers do hold the tiebreaker by virtue of having won the series series 9-4.

Both teams have what are considered to be favorable schedules remaining, with the majority of their games against teams with losing records. The Padres have been the hotter team, having made up nine games in the standings since July 3.

“We’re excited,” said Shildt, whose team has won seven of its past eight series. “We couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re playing great baseball. You know, we’re playing outstanding baseball. I don’t tend to get too caught up in today. Today, we were disappointed. I’m disappointed. All right, didn’t happen for us. We couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re tied for our divisional lead and expect to go win it.”