The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will play a winner-take-all Game 5 of their NLDS matchup. The Dodgers forced the decisive Game 5 with an 8-0 win at Petco Park on Wednesday (box score). San Diego would have advanced to the NLCS with a win, but they couldn't seal the deal. Game 5 will be played at Dodger Stadium on Friday.
The winner of Game 5 will advance to face the Mets in the NLCS. New York eliminated the NL East-winning Phillies in Game 4 on Thursday afternoon. Whichever team wins Game 5 will host the NLCS, so although the Mets don't know who they're playing yet, they know they're starting in California. The NLCS begins Sunday.
Here now are some takeaways from Game 4 between the Dodgers and Padres.
Betts is heating up
Rather than go with a bullpen game or veteran lefty Martín Pérez in Game 4, the Padres opted to start Dylan Cease on short rest after he threw 3 1/3 innings and 82 pitches in Game 1. It was Cease's first career start on short rest and it did not go well. He faced 10 batters and got only five outs, surrendering three runs on four hits and a walk. Three of the four hits came in two-strike counts.
The Dodgers opened the scoring when Mookie Betts took Cease deep in the first inning. It was Mookie's second straight game with a first inning homer. Really, it was his third if you count the homer Jurickson Profar robbed in Game 2.
I doubt the Padres were expecting a full 100-pitch start from Cease on short rest. I'm guessing they would have loved to get five innings from him but would have been happy with four, or even three and change. Instead, Cease couldn't get through the second inning, and San Diego plowed through six relievers to finish Game 4. Fortunately, Thursday is an off-day.
As for Betts, he snapped an 0-for-22 in the postseason that dating back to 2022 with his first inning homer in Game 2. He went 2 for 4 with the homer in the Game 2 loss and 2 for 5 with a homer in the Game 3 win. Just like that, Mookie went from being in a major postseason slump to being one of the Dodgers' hottest hitters. Not a moment too soon either.
LA's bullpen game gambit worked
The Dodgers have an entire rotation and then some on the injured list. They entered the postseason with three clear-cut starting pitchers -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler -- and maybe a fourth in rookie Landon Knack. With their season on the line in Game 4, Los Angeles opted for a straight bullpen game rather than putting it in Knack's hands.
And you know what? The bullpen game worked. Teams wouldn't run openers and bullpen games if they weren't effective. Eight Dodgers relievers shut the Padres out in Game 4. Here are the pitching lines:
| IP | H | R | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RHP Ryan Brasier | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
LHP Anthony Banda | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
RHP Michael Kopech | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
LHP Alex Vesia | 1 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
RHP Evan Phillips | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
RHP Daniel Hudson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
RHP Blake Treinen | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
RHP Landon Knack | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 9 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
After Betts opened the scoring, the Dodgers added two runs in the second and two more runs in the third to stretch their lead to 5-0. They officially turned it into a laugher with a three-run seventh inning. Gavin Lux had the exclamation point with a two-run homer.
Even after the offense broke the game open late, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took no chances, and deployed his usual late-inning relievers to prevent any threat of a comeback. It wasn't until the ninth inning, when the Dodgers had an eight-run lead with three outs to go, that they brought in Knack to mop things up.
Game 5 is Friday
It'll likely be countrymen Yu Darvish and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. That said, it's a win or go home game, and it will be all hands on deck for both teams. Don't be surprised if we see Michael King out of the bullpen on his between-starts throw day, or Jack Flaherty in relief on what would be normal rest after his Game 2 start. Freddie Freeman did not play in Game 4 as he nurses his sprained right ankle. He has the off-day Thursday to rest before trying to play in Game 5 on Friday.