The Dodgers came from behind to win a thriller in San Diego. They scored twice against the vaunted Padre bullpen and got five scoreless out of their own bullpen for a 5-4 win.
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The Dodger offense woke up early after getting blanked last night. Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a double, and after a Mookie Betts groundout Freddie Freeman hit his fifth homer of the season and his first extra-base hit in over a week.
Cue the Freddie chants in San Diego! pic.twitter.com/1fZvsmr5uw
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 20, 2026
Unfortunately the lead was short-lived, as Emmet Sheehan battled through his entire outing. He got two quick outs in the bottom of the first and got ahead of Gavin Sheets 1-2, but walked him to bring up Manny Machado. Machado has been awful of late, so naturally he tied the game with his seventh homer of the season.
The Padres struck again in the third after Fernando Tatis Jr. grounded up the middle with one out in the inning. Hyeseong Kim was positioned well for the grounder, but backhanded it and didn’t get enough on his throw and Tatis beat it out. Miguel Andujar followed that up with his second homer of the series.
Meanwhile, Griffin Canning settled in nicely for the Padres. He allowed leadoff baserunners in the second and third innings, but left both of them at first. After a 1-2-3 fourth, Canning allowed a leadoff double to Teoscar Hernandez. Kim grounded out to move him to third, and Ohtani grounded out to score him.
Neither pitcher made it very deep into this game. Emmet Sheehan‘s final line: 4 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 67 pitches. He was the first Dodger starter to pitch on four days’ rest this season, and it showed. Canning came into this game with a double digit ERA, but had a bit more of a respectable final line. 5 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 72 pitches.
Jeremiah Estrada was the first Padre out of the bullpen and continued his struggles against LA. Freeman led off the sixth and greeted Estrada with another homer to tie it at 4.
FREDDIE AGAIN FOR THE TIE! pic.twitter.com/kgzZCLwFoO
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 20, 2026
Edgardo Henriquez and Alex Vesia combined for two scoreless innings after Sheehan left the game. Blake Treinen got the seventh and recorded two quick outs, but gave up a single and a stolen base to Tatis. The Dodgers chose to intentionally walk Andujar and brought in Tanner Scott. The Padres countered by bringing Ramon Laureano in to hit for Sheets, but Scott got Laureano to fly out to end the threat. Scott stayed in for the eighth and worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless frame.
The Dodgers went back to their pre-Angel series ways in the eighth inning. Adrian Morejon came in and immediately gave up a leadoff double to Ohtani and Betts moved him to third on a sac fly, but struck Freeman out and got Kyle Tucker to bounce back to him to end the inning.
The Dodgers threatened in the ninth last night against Mason Miller but were unable to get the tying run across. Miller got the ninth in a non-save situation today and were able to break through. Max Muncy drew a one-out walk after winning a challenge, and Alex Call came in to pinch run. Call broke early and Miller had him picked off easily, but threw the ball into right field and allowed Call to advance to third. Andy Pages worked an incredible AB against the best reliever in baseball, fouling off six pitches before hitting a liner to right. Tatis’ throw was cut off and the relay was just late, and Call barely got his foot down for the go-ahead run.
SAFE! pic.twitter.com/Aw6bC4CSEA
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 20, 2026
With Scott already used, the Dodgers turned to Will Klein for the ninth. Klein retired the side in order, getting Tatis to ground out for the final out to secure his first career save. The cool thing about that is that in no way did I fully expect Tatis to hit his first homer of the season in that situation.
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The Dodgers move to 30-19 and take back the top spot in the NL West. Ohtani gets the ball for the Dodgers in the rubber match tomorrow, with Randy Vazquez going for the Padres. First pitch is scheduled for 5:40 PM PT.