Dodger Stadium fans tossed balls and trashed the field, disrupting the Padres' 10-2 victory that evened the NLDS.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fans throw baseballs San Diego fielder Jurickson Proffer left and then threw trash in what was a long delay as the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Sunday night to even their NL Division Series at one game apiece.

Yu Darvish limited the Dodgers' potent offense to one run and three hits in seven innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. went deep twice as the Padres tied the postseason record with six homers.

David Peralta and Jackson Merrill each hit two-run homers, and Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Higashioka each had singles. At age 21, Merrill became the youngest Padres player with a postseason homer.

“Six of them are a special treat for us,” Merrill said.

A delay in the middle of the seventh inning caused a 12-minute gap between the pitches and two balls were thrown from the stands to Proffer. He chased after one of them but a security officer caught him first. Garbage was strewn on the caution track right near the Padres bullpen.

“I think that's when it went over the line, when they started throwing stuff on the field,” Tatis said. “I felt like it shouldn't be in a big league game.”

There was constant booing by the sellout crowd of 54,119 – the largest at Dodger Stadium this season.

“The bear has been poked for a while. It's been poked at for years, decades,” Merrill said. “We've just got the firepower, we've finally got the team to take it to them. They are good team. I love the way they play. They fight us every time. They don't stop.”

As Padres manager Mike Shields and his team bounded into shallow left, the safeties rushed the field. They were joined by the umpiring crew. Security appears to be trying to spot potential criminals in the crowd.

“We were looking for a heightened security presence in the left-field corner to ensure that this behavior does not continue” on the field, crew chief Dan Bellino told a pool reporter.

The Dodgers did not immediately respond when asked if any arrests had been made.

Before play resumed, Manny Machado gathered his teammates in the dugout to cheer them on.

The Dodgers have lost four consecutive Game 2s and seven of their last eight playoff games.

The best-of-five series shifts to San Diego on Tuesday.

Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty hit Tatis with a pitch in the sixth inning and Proffer exchanged words with Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

“An important series has a lot to throw at just guys,” Tatis said. “When he hurt me, he gave me more strength. My sons have given me more strength.”

The Dodgers thought they would tie it in the bottom of the first. Mookie Betts hit a deep fly into the corner and left field umpire Adrian Johnson circled his arm to signal the home run.

but Proffer fought Fans' outstretched arms, reeling in the ball over the webbing of his glove. He barely reacted to his spectacular possession, stepping back as he looked at the stunned fans.

“It was ridiculous,” Meryl Proffer said of trolling fans. “He's kidding. He was playing like a little kid and I loved it.”

Later there was a verbal conversation between the devotee and the pro.

The Dodgers First baseman Freddie Freeman lostwho left after five innings with discomfort from a sprained right ankle. He struck out and flew out in two at-bats. Freeman suffered the injury on Sept. 26 and has struggled to stay healthy enough for the playoffs.

Just like in Game 1, the Padres jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Tatis went deep in Flaherty's first off and former Dodger Peralta added a two-out, two-run shot in the second.

Darvish struck out three and walked two against his former team. He shut down fellow Japanese Shohei Ohtani, who struck out twice and grounded out against his friend.

“I was trying to see how he reacted to some of the pitches I threw,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “On top of that, I was trying to keep him off balance a little bit longer. I think it worked out pretty well.”

Ohtani finished 0 for 4 with another strikeout. Mookie Betts was hitless for the sixth straight playoff game.

Pitching from where he grew up in Burbank, Flaherty gave up four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, becoming the first Dodgers starter since Max Scherzer in 2021 to reach the sixth inning of a postseason game.

Max Muncie became the Dodgers in the ninth year.

Next UP

RHP Walker Buehler will start Game 3 for the Dodgers and RHP Michael King will go for the Padres. King was dominant against Atlanta in the NL Wild Card Series, striking out 12 in seven scoreless innings. King has faced the Dodgers four times this season, tossing 12 innings of shutout ball in two outings and getting hit hard in the other two.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB