SAN DIEGO — — Mookie Betts homered for the second straight evening, Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Dylan Cease and the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Wednesday evening to pressure a deciding Game 5 of their tense NL Division Series.
Will Smith and Gavin Lux every hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who snapped a two-game dropping streak and now return dwelling for the subsequent matchup between the NL West rivals on Friday evening.
“We have a bunch of grinders, a bunch of fighters,” Betts said after the Dodgers posted the largest shutout win in franchise postseason history. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
The Padres received 10-2 at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 on Sunday evening, when tempers flared on the field and in the stands.
The winner can have home-field benefit within the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, who eradicated the Philadelphia Phillies of 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 effort by opener Ryan Brasier and 7 fellow relievers in a bullpen sport, holding the Padres to seven hits and lengthening their scoreless streak to fifteen innings. Evan Phillips, who received the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill on 5 pitches within the sixth.
“Overall the guys were efficient, understanding that they’re going to have to do up/downs, go a little bit longer potentially,” Roberts stated. “So the efficiency of the strike zone was huge and it gives us options for Game 5.”
The Dodgers hushed the Petco Park-record crowd of 47,773 that had hoped to see San Diego get rid of LA within the NLDS for the second time in three seasons.
With the Dodgers up 5-0, the Japanese superstar was thrown out trying to score from second on Teoscar Hernández's single in the fourth that caromed off third baseman Machado's glove and hit umpire Mark Ripperger. Machado circled around the ump, grabbed the ball and fired it to catcher Kyle Higashioka, who tagged Ohtani for the third out.
The Padres' gamble to start Cease on short rest backfired. He got Ohtani to ground out opening the game before Betts homered on a full-count pitch. Cease put on two runners with one out in the second and after getting the second out, was chased by Ohtani's RBI single to right 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. As for the early hook, “It depended on results and unfortunately the results weren’t here today.”
Betts hit an RBI single on Bryan Hoeing's first pitch for a 3-0 lead, quieting the towel-waving sellout crowd.
This time, Betts had no doubt about his home run. He drove a 3-2 pitch into the Padres' bullpen beyond the fence in left-center and raised his right index finger as he rounded first while Ohtani raised his arms in celebration in the dugout.
On Tuesday night, Betts homered to left but thought Jurickson Profar had robbed him once again and turned towards the dugout earlier than his teammates and even Padres starter Michael King motioned that it was a homer. Profar robbed Betts of a house run in Sunday evening at Dodger Stadium and trolled the followers. That sport was stopped for 12 minutes after followers threw baseballs at Profar and trash onto the outfield.
Betts snapped an 0-for-22 playoff droop together with his homer Tuesday evening.
“I’m not trying to win the game for us. And we got plenty of guys that can win games for us,” Betts stated. “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 within the slugger's extremely anticipated playoff debut, a 7-5 victory on Saturday evening. Ohtani grew to become the primary member of the 50-50 membership this season with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases.
With Max Muncy aboard on a leadoff double within the third, Smith drove a pitch from Hoeing to the batter's eye in straightaway middle area for a 5-0 lead. The Dodgers added on within the seventh with Tommy Edman's sacrifice bunt and Lux's two-run shot to proper off Wandy Peralta.
The Dodgers saved slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. within the yard after he hit three homers within the first three video games, together with two on Sunday evening, and 4 total this postseason. Brasier struck out Tatis within the first, the star's first whiff in six playoff video games.
“They executed as a group tonight, credit to them,” Tatis stated. “We had been rolling as an offense. But we had a few innings that didn’t go in our favor. We must get a greater method on the plate. … simply higher at-bats as a bunch.”
UP NEXT
Padres RHP Yu Darvish is scheduled to start Game 5. The Dodgers haven't named a starter.
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