SAN DIEGO \u2014 The Petco Park scoreboard made a desperate plea in the sixth inning Saturday night, flashing \u201cLet\u2019s Go Padres\u201d up on the big screen in hopes of sparking a home crowd chant.<\/p>\n
All the graphic did, however, was rile up a heavy contingent of visiting Dodgers fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 Freddie Freeman and his teammates made history Saturday night at Petco Park. AP Photo\/Tony Ding<\/p>\n
Given the way the game was going, they were the only ones with something to cheer.<\/p>\n
After being tied with the Padres through five innings, the Dodgers unloaded on their division rival with a nine-run sixth-inning rally that keyed their eventual, and historic, 15-3 demolition.<\/p>\n
There was small ball and long balls. Big swings and hustle plays on the bases. Bad defense from the Padres. And, most of all, a clear gulf of talent between the Dodgers\u2019 collection of star talent and that of their biggest National League West competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were taking good at-bats throughout the game and then just exploded in that inning,\u201d utility man Tommy Edman said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a good indication of how good our offense is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, while the Padres struggled with Yoshinobu Yamamoto all night during his six-inning, two-run start, the Dodgers didn\u2019t relent once the door opened against San Diego right-hander Randy V\u00e1squez in the sixth.<\/p>\n
Twelve batters came to the plate. Eight of them reached safely. Three sent a ball soaring over the fence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time the side was retired, the Dodgers had recorded their second-highest scoring inning of the season and were on their way to matching their most runs in a game at Petco Park.<\/p>\n
A San Diego shellacking. An I-5 annihilation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said, \u201cwas fun to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers unloaded on Padres pitcher Randy V\u00e1squez in the sixth inning Saturday. AP Photo\/Tony Ding<\/p>\n
The inning began with a double from Freddie Freeman, then kicked into gear when Padres second baseman Will Wagner booted a ground ball from Max Muncy for a run-scoring error. Edman followed that by smacking an RBI triple off the Petco Porch down the right field line.<\/p>\n
Then, the previously slumping Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing delivered a one-two knockout punch, belting back-to-back home runs out to right field.<\/p>\n
\u201cNamely Kyle, that at-bat that he had was pivotal,\u201d Roberts said, praising Tucker\u2019s ability to stay alive in a nine-pitch battle before finally pulling an inside cutter. \u201cSeeing a lot of pitches and ending that at-bat with the cutter, homer, that was big.\u201d<\/p>\n
If all that wasn\u2019t enough, Mookie Betts put an exclamation point on the sixth by launching a three-run blast for yet another home run, before the Dodgers poured on four more runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.<\/p>\n
With every run, Dodgers fans only grew louder.<\/p>\n
And never again did the scoreboard attempt another \u201cLet\u2019s Go Padres\u201d chant.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts homered again, helping lead the rout against the host Padres on Saturday night. AP Photo\/Tony Ding<\/p>\n
What it means<\/p>\n
Run support for Yamamoto used to be a rare occurrence. But lately, the Dodgers have finally started backing up strong starts from their ace.<\/p>\n
In five of his last six outings, Yamamoto has seen his offense score at least five times. Saturday, specifically, was the most runs the Dodgers have scored with him on the mound in his career.<\/p>\n
It helped raise his record to 8-5 this season (two victories off the MLB lead) as he finished with a 2.67 ERA (seventh best in the National League).<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s hot<\/p>\n
There were plenty of candidates coming out of Saturday\u2019s rout. But few are standing out as much as Edman has lately.<\/p>\n
After missing the first three months of the year recovering from offseason ankle surgery, the utility man has immediately rediscovered his swing in his first couple weeks back.<\/p>\n
In addition to his sixth-inning triple Saturday, he also had the opening RBI on a double that got over Jackson Merrill\u2019s head in center, then drove in a third run on a grounder in the eighth. Through nine games since returning from the injured list, the switch-hitter is now batting .379 with a .972 OPS and more importantly finding balanced production from both sides of the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like this is one of the rare times where both swings feel good,\u201d said Edman, who doubled from the right side of the plate and tripled from the left. \u201cIt\u2019s really tough to maintain both swings over the course of the season, so just happy that I feel that way right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s not<\/p>\n
For one day (in a literal sense): Rushing, who alleviated some of his recent red-hot frustrations with his home run in the sixth.<\/p>\n
The blast was only Rushing\u2019s second long ball since April 20, after he had hit seven up to that point during his scorching-hot start to the season. It also snapped a recent 0-for-13 slump, giving him his first hit since his game-winning single against the Orioles during the team\u2019s last homestand.<\/p>\n