SAN DIEGO—Pinch-hitter Donovan Solano singled past diving third baseman Kiké Hernández with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th inning Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres stunned the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5.
Solano’s hit capped San Diego’s comeback from an early five-run deficit, thrilling a record crowd of 47,559 at Petco Park and giving 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 it in the ninth on home runs by Manny Machado, who connected on Blake Treinen’s first pitch, and a towering one-out shot to right by rookie Jackson Merrill. Machado also homered off starter Tyler Glasnow in the second.
It was Machado’s 41st career multi-homer game.
San Diego loaded the bases in the 10th against Alex Vesia (1-3) before Solano’s big hit against a drawn-in infield.
Solano, a right-handed hitter, was pinch-hitting for the left-handed 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 said 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.”
It 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 for the win.
The Dodgers had taken a 5-0 lead in the first inning, capped by rookie Cavan Biggio’s two-out, two-run home run off the right-field foul pole.
But the Padres began their comeback with Machado’s leadoff homer off Glasnow in the second and two runs on three straight two-out hits in the third.
The Dodgers entered the night with a 6 1/2-game lead over the Padres, who were clinging to the third National League wild-card spot. San Diego had gone 7-2 on a three-city trip after the All-Star break.
Earlier, Los Angeles obtained right-hander Jack Flaherty from Detroit and four-time Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder Kevin Kiermaier from Toronto just before the trade deadline.
The Padres added to their already strong bullpen by acquiring All-Star left-hander Tanner Scott and right-hander Bryan Hoeing from the Miami Marlins for four prospects.
The Dodgers, who lost three of their previous five games, wasted no time jumping on knuckleballer Matt Waldron.
Shohei Ohtani drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced on Will Smith’s single, and scored on Gavin Lux’s sacrifice fly. After Teoscar Hernández struck out, Waldron allowed a double to Jason Heyward, a two-run single to Andy Pages, and Biggio’s homer, which bounced off the pole and hit right fielder David Peralta in the stomach. It was Biggio’s fifth homer this season.
Glasnow allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out eight, and walked one.
Machado homered leading off the second. Jurickson Profar hit an RBI single and Cronenworth an RBI double in the third.
Waldron allowed five runs and five hits in four innings, struck out six, and walked one.
