Unusual IBB to Betts backfires on Padres

LOS ANGELES -- An intentional walk with two strikes?

That's not a move managers are usually willing to make, but Padres manager Mike Shildt tossed "the book" aside Saturday and strategized differently. He felt that way when it came to dealing with Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts during the pivotal three-run bottom of the fourth inning of a 7-5 loss in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

“That whole inning was already kind of thought about with different variables," Shildt said about what led to that unique choice.

Padres lefty reliever Adrian Morejon was brought in to replace struggling starter Dylan Cease and face Shohei Ohtani with two men on and one out while protecting a 5-3 lead. Morejon elevated a 3-2 sinker and got the left-handed Ohtani to break his bat, but the slugger still managed to flare a bloop single to center field that loaded the bases.

“Morejon absolutely made a beautiful pitch and blew him up. [Ohtani] got one into center field," Shildt said.

Against Betts in a 1-2 count, Morejon threw a splitter that got by catcher Kyle Higashioka for a wild pitch that scored Tommy Edman and put runners on second and third base.

Now with first base open, Shildt decided to intentionally walk Betts -- despite having him in a 2-2 count.

"Mookie, against lefties, is not going to hit ground balls," Shildt explained. "He’s not going to strike out, pretty much. And he’s going to walk. So now you can sit there and say, ‘Eh, let’s tap dance around him.’ No, let’s go to Freddie [Freeman] with Morejon, who throws a 50 percent ground-ball rate against lefties."

Did Morejon think it was odd to take a pass on putting away Betts?

“No, I wasn't thinking about that in that moment," Morejon said via translator Danny Sanchez. "That’s a decision the manager makes, and I have full confidence in the manager’s decision.

"As soon as the sign went up, I was focused on what was next and the Freeman at-bat. I’m really not thinking about what could have been or what should have been.”

That was a managerial chess move not anticipated in the Dodgers' dugout.

"I was surprised. I think Mookie was, too," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I don't know if Mike was kind of leery of another wild pitch … Obviously, with two strikes, it typically doesn't happen, and they wanted to take their chance with Freddie, which is one of those things, when you have good players, I think we're in a good spot, either if it's Mookie or Freddie. But I guess they just wanted that left-handed matchup."

For a moment, it looked like Shildt's move might pay off. Freeman indeed hit a grounder, but it was a slow one to the right side. First baseman Donovan Solano went to his right to field the ball and made a desperation heave to Kyle Higashioka at the plate for the force play that got Miguel Rojas by inches. (A replay challenge upheld the out call.)

"A ground ball wasn’t at anybody from Freddie but Solano makes a great play. Higgy makes a great play, too," Shildt said.

Now looking for a righty-on-righty matchup against Teoscar Hernández, Shildt went back to the mound to lift Morejon for right-hander Jeremiah Estrada.

Hernández got a 1-0 fastball right down the middle from Estrada and scorched a line drive to center field. The ball short-hopped by Jackson Merrill for a two-run single that gave the Dodgers the lead for good. And it was Betts -- the beneficiary of that unconventional intentional walk -- who scored the decisive run.

"The whole inning was not where we wanted it but it played the way we basically wanted it in a sense," Shildt said.

The fourth-inning rally could have been different had Cease taken care of the bottom of the Dodgers' order to begin with. With one out, he gave up Edman's bunt single and a lined single by Rojas to turn the lineup over and back to Ohtani.

"That kind of killed me right there. It's definitely frustrating," said Cease, who gave up five runs and six hits over 3 1/3 innings. "I just didn't execute well, and I never found a rhythm. I've got a couple days to prep, and hopefully another shot. But it's definitely disappointing."