Pinch-hitter Donovan Solano hit a single past diving third baseman Kiké Hernández with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th inning, leading the San Diego Padres to a surprising 6-5 win over the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
Solano’s hit excited a record crowd of 47,559 at Petco Park and gave the Padres their eighth win in 10 games since the All-Star break.
“Everybody here pushes, fights through the same way, trying to win it,” Solano said. “It’s big, against the Dodgers, first place in the division. This situation was one of the biggest situations I’ve ever been in.”
The Padres tied the game in the ninth inning with home runs from Manny Machado, who hit one on Blake Treinen’s first pitch, and a high-arching shot to right field with one out by rookie Jackson Merrill. Machado had also homered off starter Tyler Glasnow in the second inning.
It was Machado’s 41st career multi-homer game.
San Diego loaded the bases against Alex Vesia (1-3), who’s from suburban Alpine before Solano’s key hit against a drawn-in infield.
Solano, a right-handed hitter, was pinch-hitting for left-handed hitter Jake Cronenworth against the lefty Vesia.
“It’s an opportunity. I was a little surprised, but I was ready for any situation,” Solano said. “The manager makes the decision and I’m ready for that.”
Manager Mike Shildt said Cronenworth has had “a great year for us, one of our main guys, but the situation just presented itself. We’ve got a guy over there in Solano with a professional at-bat on display there.”
Shildt added that Cronenworth “stood right beside me and cheered his tail off for Donny and he rewarded us with a real quality at-bat and brought it home for us.”
This was the 25th comeback win of the season for the Padres, who are 3-1 in extra innings, while the Dodgers are 7-5.
Robert Suarez (6-1) pitched a perfect 10th inning to get the win. The Dodgers had taken a 5-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by rookie Cavan Biggio’s two-run home run off the right-field foul pole with two outs.
