SAN DIEGO — Freddie Freeman’s eyes were heavy as he trudged down the dugout steps after running through glove work on the field before the Dodgers’ game against the Padres on Tuesday.
The first baseman had been battling flu-like symptoms for days, and the fatigue was evident in the slump of his shoulders.
Several hours later, Freeman energized the Dodgers offense with a pair of home runs, before Andy Pages delivered the winning sacrifice fly in a 5-4 victory. The Dodgers (30-19) evened the series and pulled back into the top spot in the division standings.
The Dodgers had learned the night before how important it was to avoid going into the late innings against this Padres bullpen with a deficit. And with Freeman’s first swing of the night, he gave the Dodgers their first two runs of the series.
The Dodgers faithful, scattered among the home fans, chanted his name.
With Shohei Ohtani on base after a leadoff double, Freeman jumped on a fastball from Padres starter Griffin Canning and sent it the other way. The ball bounced off the hands of a fan in the front row of the left-field stands for a two-run homer.
The Padres, however, quickly evened the score in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run homer from Manny Machado and then pulled ahead in the third with a two-run homer from Miguel Andujar.
Those two blasts accounted for all four runs given up by Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan, whom manager Dave Roberts lifted after four innings.
Sheehan didn’t watch the first home run, which Machado drove just beyond the center-field wall. But his eyes followed the second, roped to left by Andujar, as Sheehan adjusted his cap and smacked himself on the back of the head. Then he buried his fist in his glove.
The Dodgers chipped away at the deficit in fifth. Teoscar Hernández led off with a double, then advanced to third and scored on a pair of groundouts to the right side of the infield.
The next inning started with Freeman. He worked a 2-2 count against Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada. And then he golfed an inside splitter over the right-field wall to tie the score.
The tension in Petco Park steadily increased as each team tried and failed to break the tie.
In the eighth, Ohtani again led off with a double, knocking off his helmet before he reached first and turning on the burners to slide safely into second. He raced to third on Mookie Betts’ fly-out to center.
Then Freeman stepped into the box, inspiring dueling “Fre-ddie” and “Let’s go Padres” chants.
In a 3-1 count, Padres lefty Adrian Morejon pumped a 100.2-mph fastball well over the strike zone, and Freeman bit on it. He slapped his bat in frustration, the count now even.
Freeman went down swinging, and Kyle Tucker grounded out after him to strand Ohtani at third.
After Dodgers left-hander Tanner Scott held the Padres at bay for the bottom half of the inning, Petco Park was plunged into darkness.
Padres fans roared in response. Closer Mason Miller was coming out for the ninth, with the score knotted at four runs apiece.
With one out, Miller walked Max Muncy, whom pinch-runner Alex Call replaced at first base. Miller caught Call off the base with a deft pick-off move, but his throw got past first baseman Ty France, giving Call third base.
Andy Pages then battled Miller for nine pitches, fouling off six before he drove a high fastball to right field for the go-ahead sacrifice fly.
Call popped up after a close play at the plate, spreading his arms wide to motion that he was safe. A replay review agreed, upholding the call at the plate.
Dodgers right-hander Will Klein then took the mound in the ninth to record his first career save and finish off a scoreless showing for the bullpen.
Lauer activated
The Dodgers plan to slot left-hander Eric Lauer into the rotation next Tuesday against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, Roberts said.
They added Lauer to the active roster before their game against the Padres on Tuesday, after acquiring him from the Blue Jays over the weekend. In a corresponding move, they optioned right-hander Wyatt Mills to triple-A Oklahoma City. Lauer may be available out of the bullpen Wednesday, Roberts said, if the team needs him to cover innings.
He’s already talked with Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior, who was the Padres’ minor-league pitching coordinator when Lauer started his pro career in their system, about changes he could make to return to the best version of himself.
“It’s a couple slight adjustments,” Lauer said. “It’s a little bit of a mental break, a change of scenery I think is good for everybody every once in a while. But there’s a few mechanical things that I definitely want to work on and that they’ve already kind of thrown out there as possibilities. There’s a few different things that we can try and mess around with, tinker a little bit. But hopefully it all works.”
Snell has surgery
Left-hander Blake Snell underwent the NanoNeedle Scope procedure Tuesday to remove the loose bodies in his left elbow.
“It went well,” Roberts said. “…The recovery is cut much shorter. I don’t have a timeline, I just know that it’s shorter than we initially anticipated.”
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