---
title: "Tucker and Rushing Go Back-to-Back as Dodgers Rout the Padres"
description: "Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing hit consecutive home runs to ignite a nine-run sixth inning, and the Dodgers buried the rival Padres 15-3 at Petco Park on Saturday night — a lopsided statement in a tight NL West race."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/sports
author: "Simone Bishop"
published: 2026-06-28T04:38:37.000Z
updated: 2026-06-28T04:38:37.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/tucker-and-rushing-go-back-to-back-as-dodgers-rout-the-padres
tags: ["Los Angeles Dodgers", "San Diego Padres", "MLB", "Kyle Tucker", "Dalton Rushing", "NL West"]
---
# Tucker and Rushing Go Back-to-Back as Dodgers Rout the Padres

Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing hit consecutive home runs to ignite a nine-run sixth inning, and the Dodgers buried the rival Padres 15-3 at Petco Park on Saturday night — a lopsided statement in a tight NL West race.

For five innings, Saturday night at Petco Park looked like the kind of taut, low-scoring duel these two rivals have traded all year. Then the Dodgers' sixth inning turned it into a rout.

## The inning that broke it open

With Padres starter Randy Vásquez still on the mound, Kyle Tucker launched a two-run homer to snap a four-game hitless slide, [Yahoo Sports reported](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kyle-tucker-dalton-rushing-rebound-041331289.html). The next batter, catcher Dalton Rushing — mired in a slump of his own — worked to two strikes and then drove the ball over the wall for back-to-back home runs. The blasts opened the floodgates on a nine-run inning, helped along by a pair of San Diego errors, and the Dodgers cruised to a 15-3 win.

## Slumps snapped

The night was a tonic for two struggling bats. Tucker finished 3 for 5 with four runs batted in. Rushing, who had gone hitless in five straight games, celebrated his homer with teammate Alex Freeland at the plate. Mookie Betts piled on with a three-run shot — his third home run in three games — to put the result well out of reach.

## Yamamoto cruises

The offense made things easy on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave the Dodgers exactly what a blowout needs from its starter: six innings, two runs, and no drama. By the late innings, with the margin lopsided, both teams turned to position players to finish out on the mound — the surest sign a game is long decided.

## The bigger picture

The Dodgers and Padres have spent the season trading blows atop the NL West, but a double-digit beatdown in San Diego — with Vásquez tagged for both early homers — is the sort of night that lands a psychological marker. Manager Dave Roberts, still awaiting catcher Will Smith's return from a neck injury, watched his lineup erupt for 15 runs against its fiercest rival. Heading into the summer stretch, that is about as comfortable as a contender can look.

## Sources

- [Kyle Tucker, Dalton Rushing rebound to lead Dodgers past Padres](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kyle-tucker-dalton-rushing-rebound-041331289.html)
- [Kyle Tucker, Dalton Rushing hit homers as Dodgers rout Padres](https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2026-06-27/kyle-tucker-dalton-rushing-hit-homers-as-dodgers-rout-padres-recap)