SAN DIEGO —
Mookie Betts homered for the second straight night, Shohei Ohtani had an RBI single and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed Dylan Cease and the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Wednesday to force a decisive fifth game in their intense AL Division Series. the National League.
Will Smith and Gavin Lux each hit two-run homers for the Dodgers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and now return home for the next matchup between the NL West rivals on Friday night.
“We’ve got a lot of fighters,” Betts said after the Dodgers posted the biggest shutout playoff win in franchise history. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
The Padres won Game 2 by a 10-2 blowout at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, as tempers flared both on the field and in the stands.
The winner will have home field advantage in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, who eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies on the day.
“I’m proud… You have to want things more than your opponent,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Seeing our guys respond after everything they’ve been through makes me excited for game five.”
The Dodgers featured a standout performance from starter Ryan Brasier and seven more relievers in a bullpen game, holding the Padres to seven hits and extending their scoreless inning streak to 15. Evan Phillips, who earned the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill with five pitches in the sixth inning.
The Dodgers silenced the record Petco Park crowd of 47,773, who expected San Diego to eliminate Los Angeles here for the second time in three seasons.
Freddie Freeman, the star first baseman, remains sidelined with a sprained right ankle. Under these conditions, Betts and Ohtani — who shined in his first season with the Dodgers — needed to produce to keep Los Angeles’ season alive.
And that’s what they did. Betts drove in two runs with two hits and Ohtani drove in a run in a game in which he reached base three times.
The Dodgers were up 5-0 when the superstar was retired in an attempt to score from second on a single by Dominican Teoscar Hernández in the fourth inning. The ball bounced off third baseman Manny Machado’s glove and hit umpire Mark Ripperger.
Machado walked around Ripperger, grabbed the ball and threw it to catcher Kyle Higashioka, who tagged Ohtani for the third out.
The Padres’ bet, which started Cease with little rest, failed. Cease got Ohtani out with a groundout to open the game before Betts homered on a full-count pitch.
Cease allowed two batters to reach base with one out in the second inning and was retired after allowing Ohtani’s RBI single to right field on his 38th pitch.
Betts hit an RBI single on Bryan Hoeing’s first pitch to make the lead 3-0 and silence the towel-waving crowd.
This time, Betts had no doubts about his home run. He hit a 3-2 pitch and deposited the ball into the Padres bullpen, beyond the left-center field fence.
He raised his right index finger as he rounded first base. Ohtani raised his arms in celebration in the dugout.
On Tuesday night, Betts hit a home run to left field but thought Jurickson Profar had stolen it once again and headed toward the dugout before his teammates and even Padres starter Michael King pointed out that it was a home run
Profar robbed Betts of a home run Sunday night at Dodger Stadium and got into an altercation with fans. That game was stopped for 12 minutes after some spectators threw baseballs at Profar and trash onto the field.
For the Dodgers, the Dominican Hernández is 5-2. Puerto Rican Kiké Hernández 2-for-4 with one run scored.
For the Padres, the Venezuelans Luis Arráez 4-1, David Peralta 4-2. The Dominicans Fernando Tatis 4-1, Manny Machado 4-0.
