Nothing happened for six innings. Then everything did. Teoscar Hernandez hit a grand slam to center field in the seventh inning, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead in a single swing, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on to beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 before 49,578 at Dodger Stadium.
Hernandez finished 1-for-4 with 4 RBI, his homer traveling 419 feet and bringing home Betts, Muncy, and Tucker. It was his eighth home run of the season. He carries a .269 average with 36 RBI on the year. The Dodgers had managed just three hits through six innings against Michael King, and the game appeared to be slipping away. One swing changed all of it.
The Padres had built their lead methodically. Gavin Sheets singled to right in the first, scoring Fernando Tatis to put San Diego ahead. Jackson Merrill homered to center — 423 feet — in the fourth to make it 2-0. Xander Bogaerts doubled to right in the sixth, scoring Merrill again to push the lead to 3-0. Then came the seventh. With Betts, Muncy, and Tucker on base, Hernandez drove a 419-foot shot to center off Adrian Morejon, and the Dodgers led for the first time all night.
Shohei Ohtani absorbed the loss in the standings column but received no decision, having allowed 3 runs on 7 hits over 6.0 innings with 9 strikeouts and 2 walks on 110 pitches. His ERA stands at 1.79. King was equally sharp for San Diego — 6.0 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 5 strikeouts, 75 pitches — but also departed without a decision. Morejon took the loss, his record falling to 6-2, after allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks in 1.0 inning. Kyle Hurt earned the win, his third of the season, with a scoreless seventh. Tanner Scott struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth for his 12th save.
Los Angeles improved to 57-31, the top spot in the division. San Diego dropped to 43-43, extending their losing streak to six games. Ohtani is 2 home runs away from 300 in his career. Bogaerts, whose double drove in the Padres' final run, is 9 doubles away from 400 for his career.