Parity abounds in MLB postseason as big spenders and budget squads collide
USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale breaks down parity in the MLB postseason and why teams like the Padres are excelling despite cutting their budget.
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SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers had no starting pitcher.
They lost their starting first baseman before the first pitch.
They were without their starting shortstop and had three reserves in the lineup.
They also were on the brink of yet another disappointing postseason exit.
The Dodgers shrugged off the adversity, sneered at their critics, and determined that this National League Division Series deserves to have an epic finish.
They went out and slammed the San Diego Padres 8-0 on Wednesday night, silencing the sellout crowd at Petco Park, and setting up a dramatic winner-take-all Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, with the victor hosting the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers, who were bounced from the playoffs in the first round the last two years, winning just one game, showed their resolve by using eight different pitchers to shut down the Padres’ vaunted offense.
Mookie Betts and Will Smith each homered in the first three innings, with Smith’s seven postseason homers the most by a catcher in franchise history. Seven different players had reached base by the third inning.
And just like that, they staved off elimination.
“It’s win or go home, and that kind of fight or flight mentality,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “I know they’re not scared of the moment.”
The Dodgers, facing Padres starter Dylan Cease for the third time in two weeks, never gave him a chance to settle in while pitching on short rest.
Cease faced just 10 batters, giving up four hits and three earned runs in 1 ⅔ innings, while the Dodgers’ carousel of relievers worked like a charm. Ryan Brasier started the game, pitched 1 ⅓ innings, and seven others followed, yielding just seven hits.
If Roberts didn’t have enough headaches trying to maneuver through his bullpen, All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman was scratched an hour before the game started with his sore right ankle, and shortstop Miguel Rojas was still hobbled after leaving Game 3. It forced Roberts to completely juggle his lineup, moving Max Muncy from third base to first, Enrique Hernandez from center field to left field, and insert Chris Taylor in center.
The re-organized lineup still produced and by the time they play Friday night, should look different with Freeman back in the squad and $325 million starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound.
They’re ready for Game 5, but with this series so compelling, you can’t blame anyone for wishing it was a best-of-seven.
The Dodgers will have $1 billion in free agents on center stage Friday alone with Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto, hoping they can live up to all of the hype in the biggest game of their major-league careers.
The Dodgers have confidence that Ohtani, kept in check by the Padres, can put on a show just as he did all year. Ohtani is hitting .250 and has only one extra-base hit this series. Since his three-run homer and single Game 1, Ohtani is 2-for-13 with seven strikeouts.
Certainly, Betts has broken out of his three-year postseason slump. He was in a three-for-44 slump in his last 12 postseason games through the first two games of the series, and suddenly has gone 4-for-9 with homers in back-to-back games.
The Dodgers, who haven’t won consecutive postseason games since the 2021 NLDS against the San Francisco Giants, now believe the worst is behind them.
Just one more game, one more victory, and they’ll be back in the NLCS, eight victories away from winning their first World Series title in a full season since 1988.
“We can’t look at the mountain,” Betts said. “We have to just look at the task at hand and that’s one pitch at a time. We have to figure out a way to get it done.’’
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Here’s how Wednesday night’s game unfolded:
The Dodgers delivered a decisive victory Wednesday to send the series back to Los Angeles for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.
Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Gavin Lux homered for the Dodgers and Evan Phillips was credited with the win that featured eight Los Angeles pitchers, led off by Ryan Brasier.
With two outs in the top of the second, Gavin Lux hit a two-run homer off Wandy Peralta to run the Dodgers lead to 8-0. It looks like we’re headed for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.
Tommy Edman executed a rare safety squeeze in the top of the seventh inning to score Max Muncy and extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth and Shohei Ohtani on second base, Teoscar Hernandez chopped what looked to be an extra-base hit – but the ball struck the third baseman umpire after getting past Manny Machado. San Diego’s third baseman recovered it and quickly turned to get the back in, as an unaware Ohtani ran through a stop sign rounding third.
Machado got Ohtani at the plate easily, preventing what would have been Los Angeles’ sixth run.
In the top of the third, Dodgers catcher WIll Smith hit a two-run homer off Bryan Hoeing, scoring Max Muncy who had led off the inning with a double. The Dodgers lead 5-0 and have scored in all three of their turns at bat tonight.
In the top of the second, Shohei Ohtani hit a two-out RBI single to score Gavin Lux and get Padres starter Dylan Cease replaced by Bryan Hoeing. On the reliever’s first pitch, Mookie Betts ripped an RBI single of his own to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0.
Mookie Betts hit a first-inning home run for the second night in a row, taking Dylan Cease deep to center, giving the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.
What time is Dodgers vs Padres Game 4?
First pitch in San Diego is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. ET.
Dodgers vs Padres TV channel
- Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
- Mookie Betts (R) RF
- Teoscar Hernández (R) LF
- Max Muncy (L) 1B
- Will Smith (R) C
- Tommy Edman (S) SS
- Gavin Lux (L) 2B
- Enrique Hernández (R) 3B
- Chris Taylor (R) CF
- Luis Arraez (L) 1B
- Fernando Tatis Jr. (R) RF
- Jurickson Profar (S) LF
- Manny Machado (R) 3B
- Jackson Merrill (L) CF
- Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
- David Peralta (L) DH
- Jake Cronenworth (L) 2B
- Kyle Higashioka (R) C
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