Aug 24, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres relief pitcher Jeremiah Estrada (56) delivers during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
San Diego, California – For 24 innings at Petco Park, the Padres’ pitchers kept the mighty Dodgers in check. Yu Darvish, Nestor Cortes, and Nick Pivetta allowed just four runs combined over the first two games, giving San Diego a chance to sweep its fiercest rival. But on Sunday afternoon, the dam finally broke in the seventh inning. Los Angeles put up five runs on back-to-back homers to take an 8-2 win, avoid the sweep, and knot the National League West yet again.
Pivetta’s day started rocky and could have turned disastrous. In the first inning, he walked two batters, gave up a single to Mookie Betts, and left one over the plate to Teoscar Hernández. The crack of the bat had most of Petco holding its breath. Then Ramon Laureano leapt above the wall and pulled back what looked like a sure grand slam. Instead of four runs, it was just a sacrifice fly — a four-run robbery that turned into a jolt of energy for the ballpark and for Pivetta. From there he found his groove, striking out seven across six innings and allowing only two runs, including a Freddie Freeman solo shot that tied things at 2-2.
The Padres had briefly grabbed a lead in the fourth, thanks to Elias Díaz. Batting ninth, the veteran catcher — and former All-Star Game MVP — turned on a Yoshinobu Yamamoto sinker and sent it 413 feet into the seats. Díaz’s two-run blast gave San Diego a 2-1 edge that held until the late innings.
But the bullpen, usually the most reliable part of this team, faltered. Jeremiah Estrada gave up his second homer in as many games when rookie Dalton Rushing launched a three-run shot in the seventh. Freeman and Shohei Ohtani added their own long balls to put the game out of reach. Ohtani, who had been held hitless all weekend, crushed a two-run homer in the ninth and even exchanged a cheeky high-five with a heckler who’d been riding him all game.
Despite Sunday’s stumble, Padres fans walked away from the weekend encouraged. San Diego took two of three from the defending champs, with starting pitching that looks October-ready. Darvish, Cortes, and Pivetta combined to hold Los Angeles to three runs across 18 innings — no small feat against a lineup stacked with Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts.
The loss leaves both teams tied at 74-57, though the Dodgers own the season series 9-4 and thus the tiebreaker. Still, manager Mike Shildt downplayed the finale. “We couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re tied for our division lead and expect to go win it.”
That division crown matters. San Diego hasn’t finished on top of the NL West since 2006, while the Dodgers have owned 11 of the past 12 titles. With 31 games left, the race is wide open — and Padres fans can finally say their team is built to match L.A. pitch for pitch.
