Freddie Freeman homered in back-to-back innings, rookie Dalton Rushing hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh and the Los Angeles Dodgers evened the NL West race once again with an 8-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Cortes threw an inside fastball in Game 1 of the World Series last October that Freeman hit into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium for the first walk-off grand slam in the event’s history. It began a run in which Freeman homered in four consecutive games, extending his World Series home run streak to six games.

As Freeman emphasized the importance of ignoring external factors like how the Padres are performing, he added that he can "sense the frustration" on a Dodgers team that has lost a lot of close games, including eight of their past 11 one-run decisions, according to Plunkett.