Friday, July 3, 2026

Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026

Teoscar Hernández’s seventh-inning grand slam dashed the Padres’ hopes to snap their losing streak.

On a gorgeous Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers came back to beat the San Diego Padres, 4–3. They lengthened their lead in the National League West to thirteen games.

Before the game, Will Smith took batting practice and threw. He has been on the IL with an irritated disc in his neck since June 8. The likelihood of Smith’s return before the All-Star break is unrealistic, but he should be back before August. Kiké Hernández took batting practice for the first time since tearing his oblique in late May. He should be able to return in August.

When Dalton Rushing last caught Shohei Ohtani, everyone on the internet noticed they weren’t on the same page. But on Friday, these players worked seemingly together.

Ohtani walked the first two batters of the game, which led to a run. After the first inning, he had great command and worked the edges in the strike zone. He did allow two more runs. He struggled when he had to pitch from the stretch. On 110 pitches, Ohtani struck out nine while walking two.

Kyle Hurt has struggled with his command since the middle of May. He walked a batter and allowed a hit but escaped from the seventh inning scorelessly. Eduardo Henriquez and Tanner Scott were sharp in relief.

Michael King was dominant for the first six innings when he allowed two singles to Freddie Freeman and Rushing. However, in the seventh inning, he couldn’t locate his pitches in the strike zone. Mookie Betts began the inning with a walk and went to second on Max Muncy’s single. Kyle Tucker reached on a fielding error to load the bases. Teoscar Hernández hit his first home run since returning from the IL on Monday.

In the eighth inning, Miguel Rojas pinch-hit for Ohtani. After the game, Ohtani said that his right biceps hurt on the last at-bat. The Dodgers will sit him on Saturday to rest the worrisome biceps.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will look to continue his dominance over the Padres on Saturday.