San Diego

Dodgers Fall Short in Late Inning Loss to San Diego, 4-3

Manuel Margot hit two homers and Jose Pirela hit one, as the San Diego Padres came from behind to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3, on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

You can't win them all.

Manuel Margot hit two homers and Jose Pirela hit one, as the San Diego Padres came from behind to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3, on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

With San Diego trailing 3-2 heading into the seventh inning, Ross Stripling surrendered solo shots to Margot and Pirela in back-to-back innings to give the Padres the lead.

"Off the bat, I thought 'no way that goes fair,' I thought it was going foul for sure, but obviously it stayed true and went out," said Stripling of the go-ahead homer to Pirela. "I tried to throw him something offspeed, but obviously it backfired on me."

Cody Bellinger played a part in all three of the Dodgers runs as the Rookie of the Year Candidate finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. It was the first loss of the season for the Boys in Blue when Bellinger had at least two RBI in the game. The Dodgers are now 19-1 in such games this year. 

"You can't win them all," Bellinger said after the game. "That's the beauty of baseball, you get to come back out here again tomorrow."

Bellinger knocked in Justin Turner with an RBI single in the first inning, but he was caught in a rundown on the play to end the inning.

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Margot tied the game in the top of the fourth inning with home run to left field off Dodgers starter Rich Hill.

"He's hitting the ball pretty well right now," said catcher Austin Barnes. "We hung a curveball and he put a good swing on it. It happens."

San Diego ended the inning scoring two runs, but could have added more if not for the heroics of right fielder Yasiel Puig. The Gold Glove candidate threw out Hunter Renfroe at the plate in one of the more remarkable throws you'll ever see.

"Looking back, I think I tagged him the first time at the plate," Barnes said of the remarkbale play by Puig. "He's done that enough that I kind of expected that to be honest with you."

Bellinger single-handedly brought the Dodgers back, knocking in the tying run in the bottom of the third, and scoring the go-ahead run on an RBI double by Austin Barnes in the bottom of the fifth.

Hill left with the lead, but did not factor in the decision after allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and nine strikeouts in six innings.

Hill was involved in a scary moment at the plate in the fourth when he was hit in the throat by a fastball from Clayton Richard.

Hill remained in the game and threw two scoreless innings after the incident.

"He went to the hospital for precautionary reasons," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "It was scary. From talking to the medical staff, we dodged a bullet there."

Richard also did not factor in the decision, allowing three runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts in six innings of work.

Margot tied the game with his second home run of the game, when he sent a 94MPH fastball from Stripling to deep center.

It was Margot's second career multi-homer game, with his first coming during Opening Week against the San Francisco Giants back in April.

Since July 19, Margot is batting .316 with 11 runs, three doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 13 RBI. 

Pirela broke the tie with a solo shot on a slider from Stripling that landed in the short porch in left field.

Padres All-Star closer Brad Hand, a trade target of the Dodgers at the deadline, recorded a four-out save, his ninth of the season. 

"He's got good stuff," said Bellinger who struck out against Hand to end the game. "I think that was my first time facing him. He's pretty good."

Entering the game, the Dodgers were on a 12-game winning streak in one-run games, but the loss snapped their streak. They are 20-11 in one-run games this season. 

Despite the loss, the Dodgers still have the fourth best record against the Padres since 2015, with a 32-16 mark.

Up Next: 

Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin takes the mound on Saturday for San Diego opposite left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu who is in search of his third consecutive scoreless start. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10PM PST.

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