Walker Buehler beats his former team, Ty France homers in Padres’ 7-1 victory over Dodgers

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Walker Buehler pitched one-run ball into the sixth inning for a victory over his former team, Ty France hit an early three-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 on Friday night for their fourth consecutive win.

Buehler (5-3) yielded three hits and three walks with five strikeouts in his second career start against the Dodgers, his employers for his first decade in pro baseball. He made two All-Star teams and won two championship rings in Dodger Blue, recording the last out of the 2024 World Series in his final appearance.

Mookie Betts homered for the major league-leading Dodgers, whose three-game winning streak ended in the first of seven games in 10 days between these Southern California rivals.

Sung-mun Song delivered a two-run single before Rodolfo Durán and Fernando Tatis Jr. added RBI hits in a four-run eighth inning of the Padres’ sixth victory in eight games.

Roki Sasaki (3-5) gave up three runs and a season high-tying five walks while failing to get out of the fifth inning in his first start against the Padres, who were a reported finalist for his services when he came to the majors from Japan before last season.

Betts hit his 10th homer on the first pitch of the second inning. After Sasaki walked two Padres to begin his second, France put a hanging slider into the left field stands for his fourth homer in seven games.

Manny Machado and Tatis hit doubles off the wall against Sasaki before Jack Dreyer replaced him in the fifth and escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Yuki Matsui then escaped another bases-loaded jam after relieving Buehler in the sixth.

Los Angeles loaded the bases again in the eighth, but Adrian Morejon got Betts to ground into a double play.

Up next

World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-5, 2.65 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers on Saturday night against the Padres’ Randy Vásquez (6-5, 4.17 ERA).

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