LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 12: A bird sits on the field in the eighth inning during the game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Padres came out on top of a back-and-forth nail-biter to tie the series against the Dodgers, but even with all that excitement, somehow a goose stole the show.
It was the bottom of the 8th inning at Dodger Stadium and Jake Cronenworth had just popped a solo home run in the top of the inning to put the Padres up 5-3. Then a goose swooped in and plopped itself in shallow right field to shore up San Diego's defense against LA's left-handed power bats.
The goose stuck around for a few pitches until the umpires called in a crew to get it off the field. If the series extends to a Game 5 back at Chavez Ravine, maybe it can call balls and strikes.
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The 8th inning wrapped without any more animal appearances, and Josh Hader put the Dodgers down in the 9th, not without drama, to seal the victory. San Diego heads back to Petco Park for two games. If they win both, they'll advance to the NLCS without having to make a trip back up north.
Facing an 0-2 deficit in a 5-game series against baseball's best club would not have been ideal, and the Padres were well aware of this. Before the game, they talked about how big a win on the road would be. Once the game started, they showed they were serious.
With two outs in the first, Manny Machado got things going with a solo homer to left field off Clayton Kershaw.
The lead was short-lived, though. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Freddie Freeman evened the score with a solo shot to center just over the outstretched glove of Trent Grisham.
The Dodgers took Yu Darvish deep again in the 2nd with a Max Muncy solo shot. The game then see-sawed back and forth, as the Padres reclaimed the lead in the 3rd inning with a Machado RBI double and a Cronenworth sacrifice groundout to score Juan Soto with the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers drew even as Trae Turner turned a Darvish offering into a home run over the wall in left.
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San Diego kept the score tied in the 5th inning behind some dandy defense. Catcher Austin Nola threw out Mookie Betts trying to steal 2nd base and Machado made a great, spinning play at 3rd on a hot shot by Turner.
In the 6th inning, an error by shortstop Trae Tuner opened the door for the Padres to take the lead, and they did as Profar singled to scoring Cronenworth for a 4-3 lead.
The Padres protected the lead, as reliever Robert Suarez got out of a 1st and 3rd no-out situation with an inning-ending double play to end the 6th.
Game 3 of the National League Division series will be Friday at Petco Park.
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