The Padres had six runs before Los Angeles recorded an out in the second inning. It did not matter. The Dodgers scored 12 of the game's final 18 runs and walked away with a 12-7 victory at Dodger Stadium on July 2, extending their winning streak to four games.
Dalton Rushing was the engine of the comeback. The catcher finished 4-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored — a perfect afternoon at the plate. His two-run homer in the second inning, which scored Tucker, gave Los Angeles its first runs of the game and started the climb back. Rushing also drove in Tucker with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and singled home Tucker again in the eighth. On the season, he is hitting .263 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI. Kyle Tucker matched Rushing's 4-for-4 line, scoring three times, while Tommy Edman went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
San Diego built its lead quickly. Manny Machado's two-run homer to center in the first — a 408-foot shot that scored Fernando Tatis — put the Padres up 2-0. In the second, Jackson Merrill added a solo shot to left center, and Jake Cronenworth followed with a three-run homer to right center, scoring Xander Bogaerts and Tatis, pushing the lead to 6-0. Los Angeles answered with Rushing's two-run homer to make it 6-2, then chipped away with two more in the third on Muncy's RBI double and Tucker's run-scoring single. The fourth inning turned the game. Andy Pages doubled to left, scoring Edman and Rushing to tie it at 6-6. Then Mookie Betts doubled to center, scoring Pages to give Los Angeles its first lead at 6-7 — the go-ahead run that held. Muncy singled home Betts to extend it to 6-8, and the Dodgers kept adding from there.
Wandy Peralta absorbed the loss, his first of the season, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits over 1.0 inning with 2 strikeouts, carrying a 2.38 ERA. Will Klein earned his third win of the year, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings on 1 hit with 3 strikeouts, with a 2.36 ERA.
Los Angeles improved to 56-30, sitting atop the division. San Diego fell to 43-41, dropping its fourth straight. Bogaerts, who doubled in the second inning, is 10 doubles away from 400 career doubles.