Mookie Betts on Wednesday homered for the second straight night, while Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Dylan Cease and the San Diego Padres 8-0 to force a deciding Game 5 in their tense National League Division Series.
At Petco Park in San Diego, Will Smith and Gavin Lux each hit two-run homers for the Dodgers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and are to return home for the next matchup between the NL West rivals.
“We have a bunch of grinders, a bunch of fighters,” Betts said after the Dodgers posted the largest shutout win in franchise post-season history. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Photo: AP
The Padres won 10-2 at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 on Sunday night, when tempers flared on the field and in the stands.
The winners are to have home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
“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 got a superb effort by opener Ryan Brasier and seven fellow relievers in a bullpen game, holding the Padres to seven hits and extending their scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Evan Phillips, who got the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill on five pitches in 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 said. “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 eliminate LA in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons.
With All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman sidelined by a troublesome right ankle sprain, Betts and Ohtani — who starred in his first season with the Dodgers — needed to produce to keep LA’s season alive. They did just that, with Betts driving in two runs on two hits and Ohtani bringing in one run and reaching base three times.
Elsewhere, the New York Yankees moved to 2-1 in their American League Division Series against the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers took a 2-1 lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the other AL series.
At Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Giancarlo Stanton hit a long go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to lead the Yankees past the Royals 3-2 in Game 3.
At Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, Riley Greene, Matt Vierling and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and six pitchers combined on a second straight shutout to give the Tigers a 3-0 win over the Guardians.
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