Padres beat Dodgers 15-11 in dramatic end to Seoul Series

Major League Baseball left Seoul with a bang on Thursday, the San Diego Padres beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-11 in a dramatic finale to a week of big league baseball in Korea.

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, left, hits a three-run home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith watches during Game 2 of the Seoul Series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

Major League Baseball left Seoul with a bang on Thursday, the San Diego Padres beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-11 in a dramatic finale to a week of big league baseball in Korea.

The Padres capitalized on a big first inning to beat the Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, leading off the game with five runs and holding on to that lead throughout the nearly four-hour game.

Both teams got off the mark early, Jake Cronenworth bringing in two runs on a triple before the first out and Shohei Ohtani crossing the plate at the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1 before some fans had even found their seats.

The Dodgers cut the lead down to 5-2 in the second, with both teams adding four runs in a high-scoring third to make it 9-6.

The Dodgers narrowed the lead to 10-8 at the bottom of the fifth and 12-9 at the bottom of the eighth, but a three-run blast from Manny Machado gave the Padres a comfortable lead again at the top of the ninth to see the deal and tie the Seoul Series at a game apiece.

There were 33 hits across the two teams with two home runs — from Mookie Betts in the fifth and Machado in the ninth. Betts’ home run was also the first long ball of the Seoul Series, winning him a Hyundai Ioniq.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts gestures after hitting a two run home run during the fifth inning of Game 2 of the Seoul Series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

It was a night to forget on defense for the Dodgers, the Los Angeles side hit with three defensive errors in the loss to the Padres’ zero.

Michael King took the win for the Padres, giving up four hits and three earned runs while striking out five in 3 and a third innings of work. Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the L with five earned runs in a single inning of work.

Local star Kim Ha-seong went hitless in both games of the Seoul Series, but went deep twice in the exhibition games to cap off his homecoming. His Korean teammate Go Woo-suk failed to impress, however, and was sent down immediately before the Seoul Series started on Wednesday.

Kim Ha-seong enters the field ahead of Game 2 of the Seoul Series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Off the field, the Seoul Series continued to provide an entertaining fusion of Korean and U.S. baseball culture, from the Koreanized chants designed for the two big league teams to the Kiwoom Heroes mascots choreographed dance to the 2012 AMA mashup of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit.”

Even before the game began the combination of elements of the U.S. and Korea was on display, with MLB legend Ken Griffey Jr. helping two young Korean little league players make the ceremonial first pitch.

The cheerleaders and loud music typical of a day out at a Korean ball park continued throughout the game, combined with distinctly American elements like the seventh inning stretch and shouts out for servicemen in the crowd.

The final day of the Seoul Series was overshadowed by the breaking news that lawyers representing Ohtani had accused his long-term interpreter of stealing million, with the Los Angeles Times saying the money was used to pay off gambling debts.

That story, which broke around the world early Thursday morning in Korea, threatened to cast a damper on the festivities in Seoul, although the sell-out crowd at Gocheok Sky Dome seemed determined to ignore the news, at least for the duration of the game.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani runs to first base during the first inning of Game 2 of the Seoul Series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

Thursday’s Game 2 followed the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Padres in Game 1 on Wednesday, splitting the series 1-1 to kick off the 2024 MLB season. The Seoul Series marks the first time regular season MLB games have been played on Korean soil.

Prior to the official series, the two big league teams also played a series of exhibition games in Seoul, the Dodgers beating the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes 14-3 and the Korean national team 5-2 and the Padres edging out the Korean national team 1-0 and beating the reigning KBO champion LG Twins 5-4.

Thursday’s game marks the end of the festivities, with both the Dodgers and Padres set to fly back to the United States on Friday ahead of the resumption of MLB regular season games on March 28.

Back in Korea, meanwhile, the 2024 KBO season begins Saturday. Gocheok Sky Dome will remain unused until March 29, with the Heroes instead starting their season against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju.

The LG Twins will host the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, the Lotte Giants will visit the SSG Landers in Incheon, the Doosan Bears head down to Changwon, South Gyeongsang to take on the NC Dinos and the Samsung Lions and KT Wiz face off in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]