San Diego beat Los Angeles 5-1 Wednesday to even their series, with Manny Machado’s fourth-inning homer giving the Padres a lead they never lost. Losses by Chicago and Philadelphia moved San Diego into the NL’s top Wild Card spot.
Rookie catcher Ethan Salas won all three of his ball-strike challenges, overturning calls to strikes. With the bases loaded in the fourth, his challenge changed Shohei Ohtani’s count from 3-1 to 3-2; David Morgan then struck Ohtani out to end the threat.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits over six innings; his throwing error on a bunt contributed to two unearned runs. Robbie Ray gave up one run on seven hits in three and one-third innings and left after 84 pitches. The Padres were outhit 10-8 and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
