Mookie Betts hit a home run for the second night in a row, and Shohei Ohtani added an RBI single as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Dylan Cease and the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Wednesday night. This win forced a deciding Game 5 in their close NL Division Series.
Will Smith and Gavin Lux each contributed with two-run homers, helping the Dodgers end a two-game losing streak. They will now head back home for the next game against their NL West rivals on Friday night.
“We have a bunch of grinders, a bunch of fighters,” Betts said after the Dodgers achieved their largest shutout win in postseason history. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
The Padres had previously won 10-2 at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 on Sunday, a match that saw tempers rise both on the field and in the stands.
The winner of this series will gain home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, who knocked out the Philadelphia Phillies in their NLDS.
“I’m proud. … Your desire’s got to be more than your opponent’s,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “To see our guys go through what they’ve been through, and respond the way they have, it makes me excited about Game 5.”
The Dodgers received an excellent performance from opener Ryan Brasier and seven relievers in a bullpen game, limiting the Padres to seven hits and extending their scoreless streak to 15 innings. Evan Phillips, who earned the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, and Jackson Merrill with just five pitches in the sixth inning.
“The guys were efficient, understanding that they’re going to have to do up/downs, go a little bit longer potentially,” Roberts said. “So the efficiency of the strike zone was huge and it gives us options for Game 5.”
The Dodgers quieted the crowd of 47,773 at Petco Park, who had hoped to see San Diego eliminate LA in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons.
With All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman out due to a bothersome right ankle sprain, Betts and Ohtani—who had a great first season with the Dodgers—needed to step up to keep LA’s season going. They did just that, with Betts driving in two runs on two hits and Ohtani bringing in one run while reaching base three times.
When the Dodgers were ahead 5-0, Ohtani was thrown out trying to score from second on a single by Teoscar Hernández. The ball deflected off third baseman Machado’s glove and hit umpire Mark Ripperger.
Machado went around the umpire, retrieved the ball, and threw it to catcher Kyle Higashioka, who tagged Ohtani for the third out.
The Padres’ decision to start Cease on short rest didn’t work out. He got Ohtani to ground out at the start of the game before Betts hit a home run on a full-count pitch. Cease then allowed two runners with one out in the second inning and was taken out after Ohtani’s RBI single on his 38th pitch.
“I like how the ball was coming out of my hand, and I didn’t feel like I shot myself in the foot too much, which I felt like I’ve been doing. I felt good out there,” Cease said. About being taken out early, he added, “It depended on results, and unfortunately the results weren’t here today.”
Betts hit an RBI single on Bryan Hoeing’s first pitch, extending the lead to 3-0 and quieting the excited crowd waving towels.
This time, Betts was sure about his home run. He hit a 3-2 pitch into the Padres’ bullpen beyond the left-center fence, raising his right index finger as he rounded first base, while Ohtani celebrated in the dugout.
On Tuesday night, Betts hit a home run to left field but thought Jurickson Profar had caught it again. He started to walk toward the dugout until his teammates and even Padres pitcher Michael King signaled that it was a homer.
Profar had previously robbed Betts of a home run on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, which led to a 12-minute delay when fans threw baseballs and trash onto the field.
Betts ended a slump of 0-for-22 in the playoffs with his home run on Tuesday night.
“I’m not trying to win the game for us. And we got plenty of guys that can win games for us,” Betts said. “I just want to do my part in the team. And that’s all I’ve been focused on.”
Ohtani hit a tying three-run homer off Cease in his highly awaited playoff debut, helping the Dodgers win 7-5 on Saturday night. Ohtani became the first player this season to join the 50-50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases.
With Max Muncy on second base after a leadoff double in the third inning, Smith hit a pitch from Hoeing straight to the batter’s eye in center field, giving the Dodgers a 5-0 lead.
The Dodgers added more runs in the seventh with Tommy Edman’s sacrifice bunt and Lux’s two-run homer to right off Wandy Peralta.
The Dodgers managed to keep star Fernando Tatis Jr. from hitting any home runs after he hit three in the first three games, including two on Sunday, and a total of four this postseason. Brasier struck out Tatis in the first inning, marking the star’s first strikeout in six playoff games.
“They executed as a group tonight, credit to them,” Tatis said. “We were rolling as an offense. But we had a couple of innings that didn’t go in our favor. We need to get a better approach at the plate. … just better at-bats as a group.”
