SAN DIEGO -- Dalton Rushing took a big swing and walked slowly down the first-base line, watching intently as the ball sailed through the air. When it cleared the right-field fence, the rookie backstop flipped his bat with feeling before breaking into a trot around the bases.
With a share of the NL West lead on the line, it was arguably the biggest swing of Rushing's young career.
"It felt like I was able to come through for the boys," Rushing said. "Big moments, playing a team like the Padres, it feels a little better."
Said Freddie Freeman: “You could rip the whole stadium down with how excited he was."
Rushing's go-ahead three-run blast in the seventh inning helped the Dodgers avoid a sweep at the hands of the Padres with an 8-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park. After a trying first two games, the Dodgers got everything they needed in the finale: six strong innings from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a lockdown performance from the bullpen and a resurgent offensive effort.
The biggest swings left the yard: Freeman (twice), Rushing and Shohei Ohtani, whose ninth-inning blast was his only hit in the series.
The two NL West rivals will not face each other again in the regular season. Although they're tied in the standings, the Dodgers essentially lead the Padres by a game after going 9-4 against them to clinch the season series and a potential tiebreaker in postseason seeding.
"Honestly, we did take care of business head to head," manager Dave Roberts said. "But right now I’m turning the page on the Padres and looking ahead to the 31 games or however many games we have left."
Coming off two lackluster team-wide performances at the plate, the Dodgers seemed to be off to a promising start in the first inning, loading the bases with nobody out against Nick Pivetta when Ohtani and Freeman drew walks to bookend a Mookie Betts single.
Then Teoscar Hernández hit a deep drive to center -- only for Ramón Laureano to snag it at the wall, taking away a potential grand slam. The Dodgers got a run out of Laureano's robbery, but it was the beginning of a stretch in which Pivetta retired 16 of 17 batters. Meanwhile, the Padres took a lead on Elias Díaz's two-run homer off Yamamoto in the third.
But Freeman made it a new ballgame in the sixth, tying things up with a solo shot off Pivetta. Rushing finished the job the following inning, connecting on a full-count slider from Jeremiah Estrada for his third career homer to give the Dodgers their biggest lead of the series. Freeman broke the game open by going deep again, this time a two-run drive off Wandy Peralta.
"He’s a confident young player," Roberts said of Rushing. "But regardless of what a player says, certainly a young player, performance matters, and you have to have success to have true confidence."
Rushing was ranked as MLB Pipeline's top Dodgers prospect when he was called up to be Will Smith's backup in May. The team made clear that its main expectation for the 24-year-old was for him to excel behind the plate and build relationships with his pitching staff. Any offensive upside would be a bonus.
The Dodgers have been impressed with how Rushing has bought into his role. But the rookie has heard for quite some time that his bat would play at the big league level, and it's been frustrating for him to not get the results he desires.
Entering Sunday, Rushing had recorded a .517 OPS in 38 games. He hit his first Major League homer off a position player in May and didn't take a full-time pitcher deep until earlier this month in Anaheim, which was overshadowed by a disappointing loss in extra innings.
Rushing has heard about all the ways he has contributed to his team. His presence has helped keep Smith fresh and productive deep into the season. His pitching staff has had great things to say about what he brings behind the plate.
On Sunday, Rushing was thrilled to play a more active role in a big team win. And he's already looking forward to the next one.
"Moving forward, I have my feet under myself, and it's like, 'All right, I know what that situation feels like. I know what that moment feels like,'" Rushing said. "It's going to come again, whether it's the regular season or it's the postseason when we see these guys again. It's going to happen again."