LOS ANGELES_Clayton Kershaw, flashing an ear-to-ear smile, his hair drenched from the sweat from his six innings of work, prodded the rookie to absorb the love. And so Will Smith, fresh off his latest game-changing blast, reluctantly scooted up the dugout steps at Dodger Stadium. He tipped his batting helmet and took it in. The Dodgers were winning again because he did it again.
The latest installment in the catcher's growing catalogue of dramatic home runs came in the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 8-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday. The bases were loaded with two outs. The Dodgers had finally chased left-hander Joey Lucchesi. The Padres summoned Trey Wingenter, a right-hander, to face Smith.
The fourth pitch of the encounter was a fastball up over the outer half of the plate. Smith applied a powerful, compact swing. It looked like it could have been a long out. Wingenter thought so, and pointed up to it. But the ball kept carrying and landed over the center field wall.
A day after supplying a go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies, Smith fist-pumped as he rounded first base. Dodger Stadium shook. It was his sixth home run this season. Two have been walk-offs. Two have given the Dodgers a late lead. He added a double to his performance in the eighth inning as the Dodgers' lead in the National League West ballooned to 16 games.
Kershaw watched his batterymate's blast from the dugout with gratitude. It meant he was in line for his 10th win, one he secured despite a rare round of acute imprecision. Kershaw walked a season-high five batters in six innings. He struggled to land his curveball for a strike. And yet he managed to limit San Diego (50-58) to two runs on six hits.
Along the way, he accumulated five strikeouts. The fourth, fittingly on a looping curveball, tied him with Sandy Koufax for third all-time in Dodgers history. The fifth, the 2,397th of his career, jumped him to third on his own. Kershaw reached the total in 2,2191/3 career innings. Koufax retired in 1966 after 2,3241/3 innings. Don Sutton and Don Drysdale sit ahead of Kershaw. No left-hander has more.
A few minutes before first pitch, Alex Verdugo was scratched from the Dodgers' lineup with left knee soreness after going four for four Wednesday against the Rockies. Without him, the Dodgers struggled to score off Lucchesi.
The clubs exchanged solo home runs in the second inning. Hunter Renfroe went first, slamming a slider from Kershaw for his 30th homer. Cody Bellinger responded with a 425-foot blast to snap a 12-game skid without hitting a ball over the wall. It was Bellinger's 35th this season. He remains on pace for more than 50. He also banged a two-run double to left in the seventh inning.
The Padres, specifically their young star shortstop, ran into outs at third base to spoil opportunities twice in the early innings.
In the first, Fernando Tatis was thrown out when he saw third base uncovered after Manuel Margot dropped a sacrifice bunt. Shortstop Kristopher Negron noticed in time to take the throw from first baseman Tyler White and tag him out in time.
Tatis' second baserunning gaffe occurred in the third inning. He tried advancing to third from first on Manny Machado's single as Austin Hedges scored the Padres' second run. White cut the relay throw off from center field and fired to third base again. Tatis was initially ruled safe but the call was revered after a replay review.
The mistakes allowed Kershaw to stay afloat despite his worst bout of command trouble this season. The left-hander walked two batters in the third inning and one in each of the next three frames. The Padres capitalized on the imprecision just once, in the third inning, and left seven runners on base with Kershaw on the mound.
The failures allowed Kershaw to log at least six innings for the 19th straight start to begin the season. He exited with 87 pitches and a 2-1 deficit because Lucchesi, a Kershaw admirer, was silencing the Dodgers' bats. That soon changed once Lucchesi was bounced and the Dodgers' rookie catcher stole the show again.
