SAN DIEGO - For one day at least, the San Diego Padres are in first place in the National League West, ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying home run leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseball’s North American opener Sunday night.
Smith’s first hit with the Padres came on a 2-0 pitch from Brian Wilson, who started the eighth after Hyun-Jin Ryu threw seven scoreless innings. It sailed an estimated 360 feet into the right-field seats. It was his seventh career pinch-hit home run. He was acquired in an offseason trade with Oakland for reliever Luke Gregerson.
Wilson (0-1) walked pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal, who advanced when theveteran reliever couldn’t handle Everth Cabrera’s bunt for an error. Grandal stole third and Cabrera took second on indifference before Denorfia hit a bouncer up the middleto bring them both in.
“They’re all just one game, but when you’re facing a team like the Dodgers, full of great players, Brian Wilson, a guy who knows how to get it done in those situations, it’s not easy to do what our hitters did,” said Huston Street, who pitched a perfect ninth for the save. “To come back and get three right there in that situation, especially after leaving guys on base early, that’s what this team is going to have to do to win. We’re going to have to battle all year long.”
Dale Thayer (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for the victory.
Smith was acquired to provide a left-handed bat off the bench. He went deep on a cutter.
“You get in the box and it’s an at-bat,” he said. “As a professional ballplayer you hope that you can kind of flush the fact that it’s your first at-bat with your team or it’s in a big spot or whatever, and just do what you’ve been practicing for the last six weeks.”
Wilson said it was tough to deal with because starter Hyun-Jin Ryu “pitched such a marvelous game. It’s a hard one to swallow.”
He said he threw a pitch “that was a little bit uncharacteristic of me. Right then and there, the tire deflated.”
The defending NL West champion Dodgers had started the regular season with a two-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney.
Ryu got the start after reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw was scratched due to a swollen back muscle and then placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his seven-year career.
In a scheduling quirk, the left-hander started consecutive regular-season games. He made his season debut a week earlier, when the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks in their second game in Australia.
Ryu retired 16 in a row from the second inning until one out in the seventh. He then walked rookie Tommy Medica, who was then erased in a 3-6-3 double play.
Ryu allowed 3 hits, struck out 7 and walked 3.
Today’s games - All times Central NATIONAL LEAGUE Chi. Cubs (Samardzija 8-13 in 2013) at Pittsburgh (Liriano 16-8 in 2013), 12:05 p.m. Washington (Strasburg 8-9 in 2013) at NY Mets (Gee 12-11 in 2013), 12:10 p.m. Atlanta (Teheran 14-8 in 2013) at Milwaukee (Gallardo 12-10 in 2013), 1:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Wainwright 19-9 in 2013) at Cincinnati (Cueto 5-2 in 2013), 3:10 p.m.
Colorado (De La Rosa 16-6 in 2013) at Miami (Fernandez 12-6 in 2013), 6:10 p.m. San Fran. (Bumgarner 13-9 in 2013) at Arizona (McCarthy 5-11 in 2013), 8:40 p.m. AMERICAN LEAGUE Kansas City (Shields 13-9 in 2013) at Detroit (Verlander 13-12 in 2013), 12:08 p.m. Boston (Lester 15-8 in 2013) at Baltimore (Tillman 16-7 in 2013), 2:05 p.m.
Minnesota (Nolasco 13-11 in 2013) at Chi. White Sox (Sale 11-14 in 2013), 3:10 p.m. Toronto (Dickey 14-13 in 2013) at Tampa Bay (Price 10-8 in 2013), 3:10 p.m.
Cleveland (Masterson 14-10 in 2013) at Oakland (Gray 5-3 in 2013), 9:05 p.m.
Seattle (Hernandez 12-10 in 2013) at LA Angels (Weaver 11-8 in 2013), 9:05 p.m. INTERLEAGUE Philadelphia (Lee 14-8 in 2013) at Texas (Scheppers 6-2 in 2013), 1:05 p.m.
Sports, Pages 13 on 03/31/2014