SAN DIEGO —
Mookie Betts hit a ball to Chula Vista and the stadium, stunned, enveloped him in the sweetest of silences.
Shortly after, Shohei Ohtani hit a ball down the right field line at 1,000 mph, and the silence turned to shock.
Soon after came the closing argument: Will Smith threw another weak pitch over the center field fence, one of the dugouts danced and the other sulked: the game was over.
Three innings, one message, powerfully conveyed Wednesday by the Dodgers to the suddenly harassed and humiliated San Diego Padres:
This is not 2022. This is not happening again. This is not going to be easy. This is going all the way.
Dodgers Mookie Betts celebrates with teammates Gavin Lux (9) and Tommy Edman (25) after defeating the San Diego Padres 8-0 in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Petco Park on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Fasten seat belts. Fasten seat belts. The fifth and final match of this fight will take place on Friday night in Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers created drama with a desperate 8-0 victory at Petco Park on Wednesday night.
It was the largest shutout victory in Dodgers playoff history. The possibility of one of the biggest postseason series victories in Dodgers history was brought to life.
“See you…on…Friday!” chanted a resilient group of Dodger fans at Petco, and indeed, it should be something to see.
It will be the biggest playoff elimination game at Dodger Stadium since Chris Taylor hit a game-winning home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021.
But this feels bigger than that. This is Dodger Stadium vs. Machado, Shohei vs. Tatis Jr, grinders vs. braggarts, the real highway series.
“When you get to the postseason, it’s a street fight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s about people, players, and your desire has to be more than your opponent’s. And for me, seeing our guys go through what they’ve been through and respond the way they have, it really excites me for Game 5.”
These are the two best teams left in the playoffs. Because the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League’s other division series, the winner of this game will likely be the favorite to not only advance to the World Series, but also win it.
It’s only fitting that this neighborhood showdown, which two years ago was swept and stunned by the Padres in four games, comes down to one game, one night, a little more drama.
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen’s teammates visit him on the mound during an 8-0 win over the Padres at Petco Park on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The first game of the series featured a monster first hit from home run hit Ohtani. The second game was filled with boastful, jeering Padres engulfed by bottle-throwing fans. When Game 3 came to San Diego, the Dodgers initially didn’t come with it, faltering for the most part in a lackluster loss.
This set up Wednesday’s Game 4, a game in which the Dodgers entered without two key injured players – Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas – and were forced to navigate without a starter and with an entire bullpen.
All this, and there was a statistic flying around that teams that lead a five-game series 2-1 at home win the series 82% of the time.
Turns out the Dodgers had the Padres right where they wanted them.
During pre-match training they were so relaxed that they played mini golf at the club.
“I think it was a lot more relaxed than people think,” Mookie Betts said. “We were not tense. We had fun, we laughed, we joked. “We knew what we were going to do.”
Once the game started, they seemed relaxed and ready to participate, the best example of this being Betts, who has had two home runs and three RBIs in his last two playoff games after not having had a home run and an RBI. in his previous nine.
“We have a lot of players that fight,” Betts said. “We knew this was not going to be easy. Nothing is easy. And so you just have to take the cards you’re dealt and play them. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”
The lineup’s offense swung smartly and freely, especially against Padres starter Dylan Cease, scoring three runs in 1⅔ innings after the Dodgers predicted they might hit him on short rest.
“One of the things we think is that he is not 100% rested, we are going to make him work,” Teoscar Hernández said before the game.
The aggressiveness also returned, with Michael Kopech mindlessly throwing in to a crushed Fernando Tatis Jr.
Then there was, of course, the brilliant work of the bullpen, eight Dodgers pitchers combining to hold the Padres to five singles and two extra-base hits. combining on a seven-hit shutout. The Padres haven’t scored in 15 innings dating back to the second inning of Game 3, 4, and they surely have to be thinking about that on Friday when they’re sure to face some of these Dodgers relievers again.
“Obviously the energy makes it a little different, but it’s the same job,” said Kopech, who pitched a one-hit inning. «If we have to go out and play our roles a little different than usual, at the end of the day it is, we are getting outs. So being able to do that in a big moment like this for us is important.”
Dodger Gavin Lux celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the seventh inning of Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The only thing that could stop the Dodgers tonight, it seemed, was third base umpire Mark Ripperger.
With two outs in the fourth, Ohtani dared to go to third with a hard hit just inside the third base line. He could have stolen a run, but the ball bounced off Ripperger and was eventually scooped up by Manny Machado, who threw out Ohtani at home.
Cameras later caught Ohtani yelling at Ripperger in a rare display of anger.
A day after falling asleep on the brink of elimination, the Dodgers showed they could be emotionally prepared to deal with their intense little brothers.
To prove it, both they and their fans have one more chance, one more moment, one more game.
