Jorge Alfaro drew a bases-loaded walk from Craig Kimbrel with two outs in the 10th inning as the San Diego Padres beat the Dodgers 4-3 on Tuesday.
Even after being demoted from the closer role last week, Craig Kimbrel blew another game for the Dodgers on Tuesday night.
The embattled right-hander was far from the only culprit in the Dodgers’ 4-3 defeat to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, in which shaky defense contributed to the Padres’ first three runs and the Dodgers lineup went one for 17 with runners in scoring position.
But it was Kimbrel’s blunders that proved fatal in the 10th: a pair of two-out walks, including a bases-loaded free pass to Jorge Alfaro, that gave the Padres their third walk-off win over the Dodgers this year and fourth in which they scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning or later.
“I just missed some fastballs and threw some uncompetitive pitches,” Kimbrel said. “Walked guys in.”
To even get to the 10th inning, the Dodgers, who at 106-48 only have a club win record left to chase down the stretch, and Padres, who are 86-68 and still trying to clinch a playoff spot, traded a series of miscues and mistakes.
The hosts opened the scoring in a two-run first inning that was extended when third baseman Justin Turner fell down fielding a potential inning-ending double-play — the only runs the Padres scored against left-hander Tyler Anderson in a strong six-inning start.
