Dalton

SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers finally landed a lot of little jabs as an offense Sunday against the San Diego Padres.

And in a pivotal, sweep-evading 8-2 win at Petco Park — which once again tied the two teams for first place in the National League West standings — it allowed their slumping lineup to deliver some badly needed knockout blows.

For the first time this weekend, the Dodgers looked like themselves at the plate.

They bashed four home runs, none bigger than a tie-breaking three-run shot from backup catcher Dalton Rushing in the seventh that ultimately decided the game.

They strung together seven hits and four walks, cracking a Padres pitching staff that had smothered them over the first two games in this rivalry’s final renewal of the season.

Most importantly, however, they did all the little things that have too often gone missing during their recent two-month funk; one in which they’ve ranked 24th in the majors in scoring since the start of July, and let what was once a nine-game lead in the division turn into a dogfight down the stretch.

They extended at-bats. Battled with two strikes. And, at long last, earned the kind of pitches their star-studded roster could wallop.

“For us to come out here and execute as an offense, way better than we did the last couple days, that’s a big boost for us,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who had two home runs to help the Dodgers salvage the series finale.

“When you expand the zone, the slugging percentage is going to go down, because pitchers are going to continue to expand,” manager Dave Roberts added. “But when you earn good counts and get good pitches, control the zone, then slug happens. You can’t always chase it. Which, I thought, today we did a really good job of.

Ahead of first pitch, Roberts spoke at length about the team’s recent offensive struggles — following up on his Saturday night critique of the club’s increasingly all-or-nothing approach.

“We haven’t really been in-sync,” Roberts said. “It’s been disjointed a lot, as far as the offense.”

Freddie Freeman, right, is congratulated by third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a home run in the sixth inning Sunday.

(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)

When asked if that meant his team needed to adopt more of a small-ball mentality, however, Roberts pushed back.

“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “But I couldn’t disagree more.”

After all, his team is still stocked full of All-Stars, MVPs and future Hall of Famers. At their core, they are built to bludgeon opponents — not slap singles and drop down sacrifice bunts.

“Slugging is still a part of it,” he said. “I definitely don’t want guys to hit like I did.”

Around the margins, though, there were ways Roberts felt the Dodgers (74-57) could better position themselves to do that. Like trying to work better counts, stay alive with two strikes, and striking a better balance between patience and aggression.

“I want my cake, and [to] eat it as well,” he quipped, a devilish smile on his face.

“I’d be shocked,” he added, “if we don’t see a different offensive output from here forward, starting today.”

The change started in the first inning, with the Dodgers putting Padres starter Nick Pivetta under immediate stress.

Shohei Ohtani drew a five-pitch leadoff walk. Mookie Betts shortened up his swing on an 0-and-2 slider to line a single up the middle. Freeman loaded the bases by grinding out a full-count free pass.

It was a string of small victories, that provided cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández the perfect chance to slug.

Hernández tried to, getting a fastball over the plate in a 3-and-1 count and launching a deep fly ball that seemed destined to be a grand slam. The drive, however, hung up just enough for Ramón Laureano to rob it at the wall.

The sacrifice fly brought in the Dodgers’ only run of the inning — giving them a 1-0 lead that would soon be erased on Elias Díaz’s two-run homer in the third off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only runs he allowed in a six-inning start).

Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Padres in the first inning Sunday.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Still, it set the tone for a flurry of offense that would follow, when a weekend of non-existent offense finally started to turn.

“Getting the guys on and scoring in that first inning was huge,” Freeman sad. “Even though we could have got more out of it, just getting one run across was a good boost for us coming off the last couple games.”

In the sixth, Freeman hit his first home run of the day, crushing another center-cut fastball from Pivetta to right-center for a tying blast.

Then, against Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh, the club put all the pieces together in a five-run rally.

Andy Pages rolled a single through the left side to lead off. Michael Conforto came up next, fouled off a full-count slider, then took a borderline fastball at the top of the zone for a stress-inducing walk.

Miguel Rojas couldn’t get a bunt down after that, eventually swinging away for a fly out to center.

But, in what was easily his best moment of a trying rookie season, Rushing connected on the fatal blow seven pitches later — resetting after a bad first strike call, fouling off his own two-strike slider to keep the at-bat alive, then clobbering another slider to right for his go-ahead three-run homer.

“When I’m in the box and I get put in a hole, it’s almost like, ‘All right, I’m going to find my way out,’” said Rushing, who entered the day batting just .184 with two home runs. “I kind of played the game with him. He threw every pitch that he had, and I was totally banking on just being able to put a good swing on the ball whatever he threw.”

“I think today,” Roberts added, “was a big step in the right direction for him.”

The same, of course, was true of the Dodgers’ entire offense — which also got a second homer from Freeman later in the seventh, then another when Ohtani belted his 45th homer of the season in the ninth.

They got back to doing the little things right. They reeled off one big swing after another as a result.

“Today was more indicative of what we’re going to do, we expect, going forward,” Roberts said. “The fight, the grind, taking what the pitcher is giving you — and then if there’s slug there, it’s there. Just the byproduct of good at-bats all day.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter, closing the three-game California Classic with a win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Chase Center.

Lakers forward Darius Bazley led all players in scoring with 27 points on seven-for-nine shooting, hitting the game-sealing dunk. Bazley also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

When asked what sparked the rally for the Lakers, Bazley responded, “Our defense, just turning up the intensity, turning up our physicality. Ultimately it was just our mindset, you just want to finish through.”

The Lakers stepped up with key defensive rebounds and stops down the stretch, with Bazley being the defensive focal point. He has been the team’s top defender statistically throughout summer league games.

“There’s a lot of dogs on this team, defensively.” Bazley said. “That’s a big point of emphasis that we had throughout training camp, leading up to now, going into Vegas. So it’s on our minds going into huddles, something that we constantly talk about.”

Dalton Knecht was also pivotal in the Lakers’ comeback win, scoring 25 points and collecting eight rebounds on 50% shooting, including four three-pointers.

Knecht went 0-for-nine from three-point range during his first two games of the California Classic.

“I finally found my rhythm. Took a while, took a couple games but I just stayed the course.” Knecht said reflecting on his performance, “All my teammates believed in me to go out and hit those shots. When I saw one fall I kept shooting and my teammates kept finding me.”

The Lakers got off to a slow start, shooting less than 40% in the first half, but they found their rhythm when it mattered.

“Every single one of us picked up full court and made life pretty hard, trying to run them out of their sets which we did a good job off especially down the stretch.” Knecht said discussing what raised the teams level defensively.

Bronny James, still working on getting his conditioning back to game level, played just over five minutes and scored two points.

Cole Swider, who tallied 15 points against the Spurs, was named to the 2025 All-California Classic team. Swider averaged 19.7 points, shooting 57.6% from the field, 47.6% from three and 91.7% from the free-throw line. Swider added five rebounds a game with a steal and a block in 28.7 minutes across three games.

The Lakers will travel to Las Vegas and will play the Dallas Mavericks, led by No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg, on Thursday.

Bronny James stood with his back to the wall with both hands buried in his workout shorts, his practice with the Lakers summer league team complete, his voice sounding more confident now that he’s entering his second season in the NBA.

He had to endure the outsized pressure and criticism of playing last season with his superstar father, LeBron James, a season in which Bronny and his dad made history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game.

Now, Bronny is more assured about his talents and he’ll get to showcase what he’s worked on when the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors in the California Classic on Saturday in San Francisco.

The Lakers will play three games there and then head to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League.

That is where the most anticipated summer game could take place because the Lakers open the action against Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, and the Dallas Mavericks on July 10.

Like all last season, James knows a lot of people will pay attention to that game — to him, still, and to Flagg.

“Last year it was a crazy environment for me to step in and produce right off the rip, like being nervous too,” Bronny said. “So, I feel like this year, I’ll be able to go out and play freely and know what I’m gonna go out and do for me and my teammates. So, yeah, I’m just really excited to be able to play nervous-free.”

Dalton Knecht got some extra shots up after practice Wednesday, his stroke looking just as impressive as it did last season when he shot 37.6% from three-point range during his rookie season with the Lakers.

Knecht, too, is especially looking forward to playing in Las Vegas.

“Vegas, I mean, I feel like all of us didn’t care who we played [last summer],” Knecht said. “It was just go out there and play. Our fans always show up. We go out there all the time and it’s pretty much Laker fans that sell out that arena and show us so much love. We’re just trying to go out there and try to put on a show no matter who we are playing.”

Lakers rookie Adou Thiero, their second-round pick (36th overall) out of Arkansas whom they acquired in a trade with the Timberwolves, is dealing with a left knee injury and will not play this summer. The Lakers said Thiero is in the final stages of his return to play and expected to be fully cleared for training camp.

For James, one year of playing in the NBA has made a difference as he approaches this summer.

He appeared in 27 games last season, starting once, and averaged 2.3 points per game on 31.3% shooting, 28.1% from three-point range.

“Yeah, it’s definitely some more excitement than nervousness, for sure,” James said. “I’m just ready to go out there and play and be better than I was the last time I was playing. Just having that mindset of being ready to play and ready for whatever’s thrown at me, no matter the role, what I gotta do on defense, offense, everything. Being a good teammate for my new summer league team, stuff like that.”

Besides skill work, James said his plan for the summer is to be in “elite condition” and to “be disruptive on the defensive end.”

“So that’s my main focus, probably why I’m getting a little leaner,” he said. “But I still got 215 [pounds] on me still. So, I’m just running a lot, getting a lot of conditioning in. And then just staying on top of my diet, eating healthy, being a professional. It’s just Year 2, so I gotta lock in on the things that I didn’t know before my rookie year and being better and excel with that. Yeah, my main focus is this year, or this summer, has been being in elite condition. That’s what I’ve been talking to my coaches about.”

Knecht played in 78 games last season, averaging 9.1 points over 19.2 minutes per game.

As the season progressed, Knecht said the game slowed down for him and that allowed him to improve.

When the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Timberwolves, Knecht said he went to work right away. In his eyes, there was no time to waste.

“Right after the [playoff] loss, I pretty much started right away. Didn’t take much time off,” he said. “So I was getting in the gym, starting at 6 a.m., going with the guys at 10 and then coming back later at night just to get as many shots as I can, just working on my game and my cuts.”