SAN DIEGO _ Kenley Jansen's seventh blown save in 34 chances this season began Wednesday at Petco Park with a measly 229-foot flyball to shallow left field. A conventional defense would have rendered it a routine flyout. But the Los Angeles Dodgers had positioned left fielder Chris Taylor deeper than normal and the ball bounced in front of his dive. So Francisco Mejia raced to second base, narrowly beating Taylor's throw for a leadoff double in the ninth inning for the San Diego Padres.
Mejia was at third base after advancing on a flyout when Jansen fired a pitch over catcher Russell Martin's head. The ball bounced off the backstop and right to Martin as Mejia darted home, but Martin muffled the ricochet and Mejia slid home safely to tie the game.
Jansen retired the next two hitters but the damage was done. He slowly walked to the Dodgers' dugout and took a seat. Cameras caught him in a blank stare straightahead. His face spelled anger. Fortune was not on his side Wednesday.
Moments later, his teammates answered, capitalizing on Padres shortstop Luis Urias's throwing error with two outs to score two runs off All-Star closer Kirby Yates en route to a 6-4 win.
The Dodgers' unlikely rally began when Enrique Hernandez worked a two-out walk against Yates. Hernandez stole second base and Martin slammed a 104-mph one-hopper to Urias. He fielded it smoothly, eliciting gasps from the crowd, but his throw sailed over the first baseman and Hernandez raced around to score the go-ahead run. Two batters later, A.J. Pollock lined an RBI single to supply extra cushion for Casey Sadler, who logged a scoreless inning for his first career save.
Was it not for a perfectly placed fly ball, Jansen probably would've notched the save himself. Instead, he got the win. The Padres (61-71) didn't hit a ball particularly hard off Jansen _ Urias' 89-mph flyout to advance Mejia was the hardest in play _ but the result remained discouraging. It was more disappointment and another letdown for the once untouchable closer, further highlighting a potential vulnerability for the National League favorites come October.
A different kind of scare surfaced for the Dodgers (88-47) in the fifth inning. The sound resembled ball meeting lumber, and that would've been the optimal outcome for the Dodgers. But left-hander Matt Strahm's 94-mph fastball did not bounce off Max Muncy's bat. It plunked Muncy on the right wrist. Suddenly, a sense of dread pervaded the visitors dugout.
Muncy grimaced on his walk to first base. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and trainer Yosuke Nakajima joined him. After a brief conversation, Muncy was removed from the game and the Dodgers were left wondering if one of their most important players was headed for an extended absence five weeks before the games start mattering again for them.
Two innings later, the Dodgers announced Muncy left the game with a "right wrist contusion," suggesting that at least initial tests did not indicate Muncy had a serious injury. Even if that holds true, the incident served as a reminder that the Dodgers' outlook, even with their considerable depth, can change in an instant.
It was the sixth time Muncy was hit by a pitch this season. Three have come against the Padres, including two in the three-game series that wrapped up Wednesday,
An All-Star for the first time this season, Muncy is second on the Dodgers in home runs (33), runs batted in (87), and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.900). His 4.3 FanGraphs WAR entering Wednesday was tied for 21st in the majors. He is an integral member of the National League's highest-scoring offense and he is the kind of hitter the Dodgers covet _ a slugger with elite plate discipline.
The Dodgers were leading 3-2 when Muncy exited. The Padres elected to have right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter open the game before using another pitcher log multiple innings. The plan backfired. Wingenter recorded a perfect first inning, but found trouble in the second. Cody Bellinger walked and Chris Taylor singled before Corey Seager grounded out to score Bellinger.
Hernandez walked to prompt Wingenter's departure. Right-hander Luis Perdomo entered and walked Martin to bring up Kenta Maeda, one of the National League's most productive hitting pitchers this season, with the bases loaded. Maeda capitalized, lining a two-run single to right field to give Los Angeles the lead.
San Diego had ambushed Maeda in the first inning. Two walks led to two runs on Eric Hosmer's single and Hunter Renfroe's sacrifice fly. That was all Maeda would allow. The right-hander limited the Padres to two runs on two hits across five innings. After entering the game holding right-handed batters to a major-league-low .166 batting average, Padres right-handed hitters went 0 for 8 against Maeda with two walks.
The Dodgers added an insurance in the eighth inning. Seager led off with his NL-leading 38th double off Craig Stammen and Hernandez smacked a line drive to right field. Hernandez tried extending the single to a double but was thrown out at second base as Seager crossed home plate to give Los Angeles a two-run edge.
That run proved crucial when Eric Hosmer clubbed a solo home run off Pedro Baez in the bottom of the frame. Instead of tying the game, the Padres needed to scratch together another run against Jansen. They ultimately couldn't keep up.
