Shohei Ohtani hit a single to bring in the go-ahead run and stole his 56th base of the season in the sixth inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Wednesday night. This win puts the Dodgers just one victory away from clinching the NL West title.
The Dodgers increased their lead over the second-place Padres to three games with four games remaining and lowered their magic number to two. They need to win Thursday’s final game of the series to secure their 11th division title in 12 years.
“You want to think about it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s right in front of us. We’ll be ready.”
The Padres’ five-game winning streak ended after they celebrated a postseason spot with a game-ending triple play against their biggest rival the night before. They are still 3.5 games ahead of Arizona and the New York Mets for the top wild-card spot in the NL.
“We’re just going to keep coming,” Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “We’re definitely going to bring the same energy tomorrow and keep going like that.”
Ohtani’s single with two strikes and two outs off Adrián Morejón brought in Will Smith, who had walked to start the inning, making the score 4-3. Ohtani then stole second base, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for the most steals in a season by a Japanese-born player.
“He’s somebody I admire and look up to,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I will continue to steal when the occasion is necessary.”
The Dodgers couldn’t take advantage, though, as Mookie Betts followed with a popup that ended the inning, popping up to every infield position.
In the ninth inning, with two outs, Michael Kopech walked Jake Cronenworth, putting the tying run on base. Brandon Lockridge ran for Cronenworth and stole second base. However, Donovan Solano struck out swinging at a 101 mph fastball from Kopech, ending the game and keeping the fans cheering. Kopech earned his 15th save.
Alex Vesia (5-4) earned the win with one hitless inning of relief.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen had a perfect eighth inning, getting Tatis out on a flyout and striking out Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado on called third strikes.
“Tonight was a clinic,” Roberts said of Treinen. “He’s using his entire toolbox.”
A 448-foot home run from Tatis, the longest by a Padres player this season, tied the game at 3-3 with two outs in the fifth. This was his seventh homer in the last 13 games. San Diego didn’t get any hits after that.
The Dodgers scored both the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs in the fourth inning. Gavin Lux had an RBI single, and Ohtani’s double hit the Padres bullpen gate in right field, as the sellout crowd of 52,310 chanted “MVP! MVP!”
“There’s some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games,” Ohtani said. “I’m really focused on quality at-bats.” Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada (6-3) took the loss.
Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single, and Cronenworth followed with an RBI groundout to second base, giving the Padres a 2-1 lead in the second inning.
Teoscar Hernández’s two-strike, two-out RBI single brought in Ohtani, who had walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch from Padres starter Dylan Cease in the first inning. Hernández’s hit ended Cease’s streak of 16 1/3 scoreless innings.
Ohtani leads the major leagues with 130 runs scored, just one short of the Los Angeles Dodgers record set by Freddie Freeman last season.
Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty allowed three runs and four hits over five innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked three.
Cease also gave up three runs and five hits in five innings, striking out four and walking three.
