Will Smith's dramatic pinch-hit home run in the 9th lifts Dodgers over Padres 4-3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Wednesday night.

The Padres tied the game at 3 in the top of the inning on Jake Cronenworth’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly off reliever Justin Wrobleski (2-2) and Xander Bogaerts’ RBI double to center.

Smith, a pinch hitter, connected on a 90 mph changeup from closer Robert Suarez (1-3) for the Dodgers’ 25th comeback win of the season.

After four players were hit by pitches in the first two games of the series and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was ejected on Tuesday, Andy Pages was hit on his left shoulder by a 91 mph cutter by Stephen Kolek in the seventh. Pages was plunked by Padres starter Dylan Cease on Monday.

With the umpires watching, Kolek and Pages exchanged nods as Kolek left the game one out later.

The first-place Dodgers won their fifth in a row and improved to 5-1 against the Padres.

Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan allowed one run over four innings of his first major league start in 1 1/2 years after having Tommy John surgery in May 2024.

The Dodgers got their offense from the bottom of the lineup, including a two-run single from rookie Dalton Rushing in the fifth.

The Dodgers' top four hitters — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández — were a combined 1 for 16.

San Diego's Manny Machado grounded into a fielder's choice to third in the ninth. Muncy's throw was low to the outfield side and second baseman Edman didn't get his glove down as the ball rolled past him, giving the Padres two runners on instead of a potential double play.

Ohtani struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh, extending his hitless skid to 0 for 8 since making his Dodgers pitching debut on Monday.

Padres RHP Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.33 ERA) starts Thursday's series finale. Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-5, 2.64) tries to end a three-game skid.

San Diego Padres' Jake Cronenworth, right, scores on a single by Elias Diaz as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing stands by during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Stephen Kolek throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)