Goose On The Loose Causes Delay At Padres-Dodgers Playoff Game

LOS ANGELES, CA — Chaos ensued at Wednesday night’s National League playoff game between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers when a literal wild goose chase unfolded on the field.

The bird flew into Dodger Stadium and landed in shallow right field with two outs in the eighth inning. It sat on the grass as Gavin Lux of the Dodgers singled to right.

The grounds crew closed in on the goose, but the bird took off, flying all the way to near the Dodgers' on-deck circle, where Cody Bellinger was standing.

Doubling down on their efforts, the crew approached the goose with a blue plastic garbage bin. It flew to the infield near third base before a worker rushed over, put a towel over the goose, and dropped it into the bin – finally ending the pursuit.

“That was pretty gnarly,” Padres slugger Manny Machado said. “Just didn’t want to hurt him. I think he was hurt when he landed so I didn’t like seeing that, but I guess it was good luck for us.”

The Padres ultimately beat the Dodgers 5-3 to tie the best-of-five Division Series at one game each.

The goose appeared to be unharmed and flew away after its release, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Dodgers told KTLA Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.