Did Dodgers fans motivate the San Diego Padres to win in NLDS Game 2?

If the intent of the Dodgers fans who threw two baseballs at San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar and a water bottle, a beer can and other debris at right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. during a long delay in the seventh inning was to to intimidate the visiting team On Sunday evening it backfired spectacularly.

“I mean, we scored six runs after that? Five? Four? I don’t know,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said, grinning. “It was six? Yeah, maybe it fired us up.”

The Padres were leading by three runs in Game 2 of the National League Division Series when play was stopped and umpires worked with stadium security officers to lower the temperature among several unruly fans in the corners of left and right field.

When play finally resumed, San Diego right-hander Yu Darvish, crouched behind the Dodger Stadium mound for much of the delay, retired three batters in a row after issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh had to end a seven-inning three-run streak. Hit gem in which he held red-hot Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani hitless in three at-bats.

The Padres then hit four of the six home runs they hit in the final two innings on Sunday night, with Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts hitting consecutive hits in a three-run eighth and Kyle Higashioka and Fernando Tatis Jr. clearing the fence during a ninth Ranked in three runs as the Padres eked out a 10-2 win.

Not only did the blowout win the best-of-five series one game a game, it also significantly shifted the momentum toward the Padres, who return to Petco Park for Games 3 and 4 and have a crucial pitching win in Game 3. will have an advantage when their ace, right-hander Michael King, faces struggling Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler.

“What I discovered,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “is that we have a few guys who showed up in front of a large, hostile crowd and had things thrown at them and said, ‘We’re going to talk .’ with our piece; we will not give in; we will improve our game; We’ll be together and take care of business.”

To be fair, the Padres spoke with their mouths as much as they spoke with their bats. Machado and Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty insulted each other several times, with Flaherty first hurling a profanity at the Padres star after striking out Machado with two hits early in the sixth.

The two then barked at each other in the bottom of the sixth after Flaherty accused Machado of throwing a ball into the Dodgers’ dugout between innings. Machado was also mad at Flaherty for hitting Tatis with a 92 mph sinker early in the sixth race.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning on Sunday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Tatis, who has a .625 regular-season average (five for eight) off Flaherty with a home run and three doubles, hit a solo home run off Flaherty and a 111.7 mph double in the first inning Sunday night to the left third.

“I was ecstatic after I got Manny out — it’s a big spot in the playoffs, it happens, oh well,” Flaherty said, adding of the ball thrown in the Dodgers dugout: “Everybody catches the back one End of me and him.” I did it, but I was sitting there for my team. I had no intention of attacking him.”

Machado claimed he wasn’t trying to taunt the Dodgers.

“I throw balls in both dugouts all the time — they have foul balls, you throw the ball back there,” Machado said. “But if you try to hit our best hitter… you can’t get him out, don’t hit him, right? They have the best player in the game in Ohtani. We’re not trying to beat Ohtani. We’re trying to get him out. Don’t go out and try to hit my guy.”

Flaherty said the punch that hit Tatis in the left thigh was not intentional.

Dodgers third baseman Manny Machado speaks to the umpires during the sixth inning on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“Look, I missed in the first inning and threw the ball over the middle – I wouldn’t miss over the plate again,” Flaherty said. “I have no reason to hit a guy there at the start of the sixth. As good as he was, we were down in the game, I’m going for effectiveness, he didn’t get out of the way and it hit him.

“I didn’t try to give him the lead with a shot. That doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t go near his head. I just tried to knock a guy off the plate and he wouldn’t move out of the way. Sometimes that happens and they were upset about it.”

Machado didn’t believe Flaherty’s explanation.

“You hit Tatis with a sinker after he was two for two with a bomb and a double from him?” Machado said. “I mean, I’ll let you guys decide.”

Tatis, who celebrated his ninth-inning home run with an epic bat flip, a long look into his dugout and a deliberate trot around the bases, was more diplomatic than Machado when asked about the pitch that hit him.

“I know my guys have my back the whole time and everyone saw that tonight,” he said. “But we play baseball. It’s too early in the game to do things like this. It’s too important a series to blame on the boys. That’s what my baseball IQ tells me.

“When he hit me, he just gave me more energy. My boys gave me more energy. And from then on I knew we were just going to seize that moment and use that energy to play baseball the way we did tonight.”