2024 National League Division Series 1

2024 National League Division Series

Los Angeles Dodgers 98 - 64 in the NL	3 - 2 Series Summary	San Diego Padres 93 - 69 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Dodgers: Dave Roberts | Padres: Mike Shildt

Dodgers

Padres

Umpires[edit]

Mark Ripperger, John Libka, Cory Blaser, Dan Bellino (crew chief), Tripp Gibson and Adrian Johnson

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	San Diego Padres 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 7	October 5	Dylan Cease (0-0) Yoshinobu Yamamoto (0-0)	8:38 pm
2	San Diego Padres 10 Los Angeles Dodgers 2	October 6	Yu Darvish (1-0) Jack Flaherty (0-1)	8:08 pm
3	Los Angeles Dodgers 5 San Diego Padres 6	October 8	Walker Buehler (0-1) Michael King (1-0)	9:08 pm
4	Los Angeles Dodgers 8 San Diego Padres 0	October 9	Ryan Brasier (0-0) Dylan Cease (0-1)	9:08 pm
5	San Diego Padres 0 Los Angeles Dodgers 2	October 11	Yu Darvish (1-1) Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0)	8:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	7	1
Dodgers	0	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	5	10	0
WP: Ryan Brasier (1-0); LP: Adrian Morejon (0-1); SV: Blake Treinen (1)
Home Runs: SD - Manny Machado (1); LA - Shohei Ohtani (1)

Attendance: 53,028

Neither starting pitcher was sharp in Game 1, resulting in a barrage of early runs at Dodger Stadium. The game was hyped up as the long-awaited postseason debut of superstar Shohei Ohtani, who had never had the opportunity to play October baseball while a member of the Los Angeles Angels for the first six seasons of his career, but he certainly made a grand entrance today. On the mound, the Padres had their best pitcher - on paper - in Dylan Cease while the Dodgers, with a whole starting rotation and a half on the injured list were more into deciding what was the least bad option to start the game, even after being given an extra week of rest. In the end, they settled on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their other big Japanese signing of the off-season, instead of mid-season acquisition Jack Flaherty, but neither starter did much to stop his opponents.

The Padres started attacking Yamamoto from the get-go as Luis Arraez led off the game with a single, then moved to second on a passed ball by catcher Will Smith and to third on a wild pitch by Yamamoto as Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a walk. Jurickson Profar drove in the first run of the game with a ground ball out, then Manny Machado followed with a two-run homer to left and it was already 3-0 for San Diego. Xander Bogaerts hit another single before the inning was over, but there were no more runs. Cease also was in trouble in his first inning, as he walked Mookie Betts with one out then gave up a single to Freddie Freeman, who was coming back early from a bad ankle sprain. Betts advanced to third when Teoscar Hernández forced out Freeman at second, but Max Muncy, at his Three True Outcomes best, struck out to end inning. Yamamoto had a rare smooth inning in the 2nd, allowing the Dodgers to get right back at Cease, and this time it resulted in some runs. Smith drew a lead-off walk and Gavin Lux singled. Cease retired the next two batters, the last two men in a lopsided Dodgers batting order, but it was now Ohtani's turn to bat for the second time in the game, after flying out to left to lead off the 1st inning. This time, he had a signature moment - another one, since he seemed to be collecting those of late - hitting a long homer to right field good for three runs and tying up the score. Somehow, it seemed to have been pre-ordained.

Fireworks continued in the 3rd, thanks to the wobbly starting pitching on both sides. San Diego scored a pair on a lead-off double by Tatis, a two-out walk to Jackson Merrill, and a double by Bogaerts that drove them both in. In the bottom of the inning, Freeman led off with a single and managed to steal second base, gimpy ankle be damned, but he was stranded when the next three batters made outs. When the 4th inning started, Yamamoto had been replaced by Ryan Brasier, and to their credit, the Dodgers' relievers would keep the Padres' bats in check from that point forward. Kyle Higashioka hit a one-out double and advanced to third on a fly out, but was stranded there. For the Dodgers though, it was the key inning. After a first out, Tommy Edman beat out a bunt for a single and Miguel Rojas singled as well, chasing Cease. Adrian Morejon replaced him but gave up a single to Ohtani to load the bases, then threw a wild pitch to advance everyone 90 feet and cut the lead to one. Mike Shildt reacted by ordering an intentional walk to Betts, loading the bases again, after which Freeman hit a ball to 1B Donovan Solano, who instead of attempting to start a double play via second base (which was far from certain), threw home, his throw barely beating out the runner, Rojas. There were two outs and the bases were still loaded, and with a bunch of right-handed batters now due up, Shildt replaced the lefty Morejon with Jeremiah Estrada. In the key play of the inning, Hernández hit a line drive to center that landed just in front of Merrill, who did not attempt a diving catch. The ball then scooted behind him long enough for two runners to score. The 6-5 lead was the first by the Dodgers in the game, but they would not give it back.

After the Padres had gone down in order against Brasier and Alex Vesia in the top of the 5th, the Dodgers added an insurance run when Smith reached on a throwing error by 3B Machado, then moved to third on a single by Lux. Edman grounded into a double play, but Smith was able to cross the plate, making the score 7-5. There were four more innings left to play, but no other runner would cross the plate. There was a succession of relievers on the mound, three for the Padres and as many for the Dodgers, but only two hits, both singles, and no runs over those innings. Blake Treinen was asked to get a long save, coming into the game with one out in the 8th after a pair of walks by Michael Kopech. He was not dominant, but did just enough to preserve the win. He issued a third walk, to Jake Cronenworth, to load the bases in the 8th before getting Solano to strike out, and in the 9th he gave up a single to Tatis and a walk to Profar after two outs, placing the tying run on base, before getting Machado to strike out swinging to end the game. The Dodgers had escaped with a win in spite of a poor performance from their starter, but the game left fans wondering if that was the only way they could win games in a postseason where their starting rotation was their biggest Achilles' Heel.

Game 2 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	3	10	13	0
Dodgers	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	0
WP: Yu Darvish (1-0); LP: Jack Flaherty (0-1)
Home Runs: SD - Fernando Tatis Jr. 2 (2), David Peralta (1), Jackson Merrill (1), Xander Bogaerts (1), Kyle Higashioka (1); LA - Max Muncy (1)

Attendance: 54,119

The Padres came roaring back in Game 2, scoring some early runs against Jack Flaherty, then flashing some spectacular defence as things got increasingly tense, eventually forcing a stoppage of play for ten minutes. After that, they scored six runs in their final two turns at bat to put the game well and truly away, and ended up tying the record for most home runs hit by one team in a postseason game with six - although two of these came off a mystery pitcher in the 9th. And the game also featured one of the most incredible home run robberies anyone is ever likely to see. So, all-in-all, it was quite the entertaining affair.

Flaherty, the Dodgers' starter, was a mid-season trade acquisition when the Detroit Tigers thought they were out of the running and disposed of a few veterans in return for prospects, looking to make a run next year. Famously, the Tigers got hot even without their second-best starting pitcher and were still alive in the postseason when this game was played, but Flaherty had proved to be a godsend for the Dodgers, for whom a healthy starting pitcher was rarer than a snowstorm in Santa Monica. Flaherty did not do badly, but he left in the 6th with his team down by two runs (which would become three as the man who relieved him allowed an inherited runner to score) and the Dodgers were never able to come back, saddling him with the loss. The Padres got to him quickly, though, as the second batter of the game, Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed one of his pitches into the left-field stands for a 1-0 lead. It then looked as if the Dodgers had mirrored this exactly against Yu Darvish as their second batter, Mookie Betts, hit a ball that seemed destined for the left-field stands as well, although not as deep. Jurickson Profar ran towards the first row of seats, stuck out his glove towards the outstretched hands of fans in the front rows, and then brought it back, staring at those fans. Just about everyone in the ballpark or watching on television thought the ball was gone, and Betts was all the way to third base, before Profar showed that he had actually caught the ball. So it was still 1-0. Darvish ended the inning by striking out Freddie Freeman and San Diego was back at it in the 2nd. Jackson Merrill led off with a single and advanced to second and then to third on ground outs. Flaherty was then ambushed by David Peralta, who was starting in place of Donovan Solano and hit the ball 414 feet to center field for a 3-0 lead.

It was still only the 2nd inning, and the Dodgers had a huge chance to come back in the bottom of that inning when they loaded the bases with no one out, on singles by Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy and a walk to Will Smith. Gavin Lux hit a sacrifice fly to Profar in left, scoring Hernández, but the other two runners could not advance. Then, in the second outstanding defensive play of the game, Tommy Edman lined a ball just off the ground towards 1B Luis Arraez, who in one motion caught it and stepped on the bag to double off Smith, ending the inning just like that. Things settled down after that, although RF Tatis made a beautiful catch on a full run to deprive Freeman of a double leading off the bottom of the 4th, then Arraez ended that same inning on a nice play on a grounder by Muncy. As the 6th inning started, Freeman was replaced by Kiké Hernandez, with Muncy sliding from 3B to 1B, as Freeman's ankle was clearly bothering him after his rushed return to action. Flaherty then hit the first batter in the inning, Tatis, with what looked very much like a purpose pitch aimed straight at his hip (for the record, Flaherty denied such intentions). Tatis had been swinging a scorching bat with a homer and double already in this game, but the move just got the Padres all riled up. The next batter, Profar, exchanged heated words with C Smith, then laid a perfect bunt down the third base line for a hit, and the following batter, Manny Machado started jawing at Flaherty, who struck him out. That was the end for Flaherty as lefty Anthony Banda was called into the game by manager Dave Roberts. The move did not work as the next batter, lefty rookie Merrill, deposited a single into left field, allowing Tatis to score the 4th run. Machado and Flaherty continued to exchange heated words after the inning ended but tensions really flared up in the bottom of the 7th when some fans got into it, throwing objects at Profar in left field. The game was stopped and delayed for ten minutes before order was restored.

When the Padres came back to bat in the 8th, they were on fire. With Ryan Brasier on the mound, Machado singled with two outs and Merrill followed with a two-run homer, after which Xander Bogaerts also teed off, against new pitcher Michael Grove. That made it 7-1 and the game was now out of reach for the Dodgers. Darvish was replaced by Tanner Scott after an outstanding start in which he gave up just three hits in seven innings and completely muzzled his countryman, Shohei Ohtani. In the 9th, Edgardo Henriquez, with only three games of big league experience, took the mound to mop up, but he gave up two more long balls, one to Kyle Higashioka and a second one to Tatis with Arraez on base, to increase the lead to 10-1. Manager Mike Shildt could use one of his lesser relievers for the final three outs, in this case Alek Jacob, and he gave up a solo homer to Muncy, but the game had long been lost by the Dodgers by then. The two teams were tied as they headed south down Interstate 5 towards San Diego.

Game 3 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6	1
Padres	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	6	7	0
WP: Michael King (1-0); LP: Walker Buehler (0-1); SV: Robert Suarez (1)
Home Runs: LA - Mookie Betts (1), Teoscar Hernández (1); SD - Fernando Tatis Jr. (3)

Attendance: 47,744

Game 3 was like a tropical storm: a few early drops of rain, then a veritable monsoon for a short spell, followed by some eerie calm. After two and half innings, the score was 6-5 - and that is how it would stay until the end of the game, with the Padres coming out on top. On the mound, the game appeared to be a mismatch, with Michael King coming off a great season and an even better winning start in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, facing off against Walker Buehler, whose return from Tommy John surgery was still an ongoing project and who had not recorded a win since May. In normal circumstances, he would not have been considered to start such an important game, but the Dodgers were badly short of healthy starting pitchers. For the Dodgers, 1B Freddie Freeman was back in the starting line-up after leaving Game 2 early when his recently-injured ankle flared up, and everyone was anxious to see how it would hold up. For their part, the Padres went with the starting line-up that had worked so well in Game 2, with Donovan Solano being benched in favor of David Peralta.

The action started quickly, as after King struck out Shohei Ohtani to start the game, Mookie Betts almost exactly reproduced his swing from the 1st inning of Game 2, sending a fly ball towards the first row of seats in the left field corner. This time again, LF Jurickson Profar jumped towards the fans to attempt a catch, but he did not time his jump perfectly, starting while he was still a foot or two from the wall, and just missed grabbing the ball. Betts did not see that and thought he had once again been robbed of a homer. He interrupted his trot for a moment and almost turned back to the dugout before he realized the umpires were giving him the home run sign. Mookie had been mired in a long postseason slump dating back to last season, so it must have felt great to finally contribute to his team's offence. For his part, Buehler got off to a good start, retiring the Padres in order in the 1st, as did King against the Dodgers in the top of the 2nd. It looked as if the game was settling down, but then the storm hit with full velocity.

The bottom of the 2nd was an absolute nightmare for the Dodgers, and it was a wonder that Buehler was still on the mound when it ended. It started with a routine single by Manny Machado, after which Jackson Merrill hit a batt to 1B Freeman's right. He fielded it from his knees, but could not put enough weight on his injured ankle to get up to throw to second, and instead his weak throw hit Machado on the shoulder and ended up in left field. Machado was intentionally running close to the infield grass in order to cut Freeman's throwing lane, but it was done within the rules. Runners were now on the corners when Xander Bogaerts hit what appeared to be a routine double play grounder to SS Miguel Rojas. But Rojas decided to touch the bag himself instead of tossing the ball to 2B Gavin Lux, and Merrill beat him to the bag, then the throw to first base lacked power, allowing Bogaerts to be safe as well. Meanwhile, Machado had scored - he would have done so even if Rojas had executed the play perfectly - and the score was tied, with still no one out. Next up, Peralta hit a double that scored both runners, putting San Diego ahead, 3-1, and Jake Cronenworth hit a single just out of Rojas's reach. The shortstop took his time getting up as he had apparently hurt an ankle as well, and he even received a medical visit a couple of pitches into the next at-bat, but convinced his manager to let him stay in the game. Kyle Higashioka then hit a sacrifice fly to center for the first out, then after a pop-up by Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his third home run in two games to make the score 6-1. It was the biggest postseason inning in Padres history and Petco Park was rocking while the Dodgers were down for the count. Profar followed Tatis's homer with a single before Machado made the third out in his second at-bat of the inning. Asked about what had just happened, Dave Roberts said that his team was not putting up the white flag yet, but these looked to be just words at that point.

However, Roberts proved to be right. The Dodgers bounced right back in the 3rd and they too landed a huge punch. The inning started off with back-to-back singles by Rojas and Ohtani, after which Betts singled as well to load the bases with nobody out. Rojas would normally have scored on the hit, but he was visibly limping, and this time he came out of the game, with Andy Pages taking over as a pinch-runner. Next up was Freeman, who lined out to Profar in left, but the runners stayed put. That brought up Teoscar Hernández, who had made it a specialty during the season to clean up any baserunners left for him by the superstars occupying the first three rungs of the Dodgers' batting order, and he did just that by blasting a ball just behind the centerfield wall for a grand slam. Just like that, the Padres' lead was cut to 6-5. Like Roberts had done the inning before, Mike Shildt decided to leave his starter in the game after that hard blow, and King recovered, retiring the next two batters. It looked at this point like the game was going to be a slugfest, but instead there would not be any more runs - and hardly any baserunners - after that point. The storm had passed.

Figuring that Buehler's troubles had been caused as much by shaky defence behind him as by his own failures, Roberts left him in the game for the 3rd, and he rewarded his manager's confidence by pitching three more innings without giving up anything significant. It was especially important not to overtax the bullpen, given how much it had endured in the first two games, and additionally because one of the Dodgers' relievers, Michael Grove, had had to be replaced on the roster after Game 2 due to an injury, with his replacement, Ben Casparius, having little big league experience. But if Buehler recovered from the early blows, so did King. Both men made it to the end of the 5th giving up just one more hit each. In Buehler's case, the hit was by Machado with two outs in the 5th and was followed by a wild pitch and an intentional walk to Merrill, but he got Bogaerts to hit into a force out to complete the inning. A total of seven relievers were used by both teams starting from the top of the 6th inning - three by the Dodgers and four by the Padres - but they completely shut down the batters they faced. In a combined seven turns at bat until the end of the game, there was one hit - a single - and no walks. For L.A., it was Anthony Banda, Daniel Hudson and Michael Kopech who took the mound, and for San Diego Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, Tanner Scott and closer Robert Suarez. The hit came off Scott, a two-out single by Freeman in the 8th, who gave way to pinch-runner Chris Taylor. Shildt then brought in Suarez to face Hernández and got him to pop up to first, before he retired the Dodgers in order in the 9th, recording a pair of strikeouts in the process. The Padres were now leading the series.

Game 4 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dodgers	1	2	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	8	12	0
Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
WP: Evan Phillips (1-0); LP: Dylan Cease (0-1)
Home Runs: LA - Mookie Betts (2), Will Smith (1), Gavin Lux (1)

Attendance: 47,773

The Dodgers forced a decisive game with an emphatic win in Game 4, scoring early and often against Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing to run away with an 8-0 final score. They had run out of valid starting pitchers by this point, and only hours before game time, their starting pitcher was still listed as "tba" until they finally settled on short reliever Ryan Brasier. But it was clear that this was going to be a "Johnny Wholestaff" sort of deal, given this was now a must-win game. They would also have to go without 1B Freddie Freeman, who had to accept that his ankle was simply not healthy enough for him to perform, and Max Muncy was moved from 3B to 1B, with Tommy Edman moving to SS in place of Miguel Rojas, who had also been bothered by a leg injury in Game 3. As a result, Kiké Hernandez and Chris Taylor got to start at 3B and CF respectively to fill the empty slots. With Teoscar Hernández occupying Freeman's habitual third slot in the batting order, it made for an even more lopsided line-up than usual for the Dodgers, but for this game at least, they made it work.

It was once again Mookie Betts, now back to being Mookie, who got things started, with his now usual long hit to the outfield with one out in the 1st inning. This time, there was no risk of Jurickson Profar robbing him of a homer as he hit the ball to center and it cleared the fence for a homer against Cease, giving L.A. a quick 1-0 lead. Brasier retired the Padres in order in the bottom of the inning, and in the 2nd, the Dodgers scored two more runs on a walk to Gavin Lux, a single by Kiké Hernandez, an RBI single by Shohei Ohtani with two outs, and another RBI single, this one by Betts, after Cease had been replaced by Hoeing. In the 2nd, Brasier made it four straight outs before ceding the ball to Anthony Banda, who would be the second of eight pitchers to take the mound for the Dodgers. With two outs, he walked Xander Bogaerts and gave up a single to David Peralta but got Jake Cronenworth to pop up for the third out. In the 3rd, the Dodgers made it three straight innings with a score when Muncy led off with a double and Will Smith followed with a homer, making it 5-0. Before the inning was over, Adrian Morejon had become the third Padres pitcher to take the mound; four more would follow for a two-team total of 15 for the game.

There wasn't much to report for the remainder of the game, as the Dodgers never looked like they would lose their control on the score. Ohtani got thrown out at home to end the 4th, but in the 7th, they added three more runs to make it virtually impossible for the Padres to come back, those runs coming on a squeeze bunt by Edman and a two-run homer by Lux off Wandy Peralta, who had just come into the game. The Padres did manage to put a few runners on base and even in scoring position over the late innings, but never managed to push a run across as they finished the game 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. In fact, of the eight pitchers the Dodgers used, six gave up at least one hit, the two exceptions being the opener Brasier and Evan Phillips, who also retired all four batters he faced and received credit for the win as a result, even though the game had already been won by the time he took his turn on the mound with two outs in the 5th.

Game 5 @ Dodger Stadium[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Dodgers	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	x	2	4	0
WP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0); LP: Yu Darvish (1-1); SV: Blake Treinen (2)
Home Runs: LA - Kiké Hernandez (1), Teoscar Hernández (2)

Attendance: 53,183

Game 5 was historic as it was the first-ever postseason game to feature two starting pitchers from Japan, Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Dodgers and Yu Darvish for the Padres. They were coming off very different performances, Yamamoto having been beaten around in Game 1 while Darvish had had a great outing in his Game 2 start. Indeed, when asked early on about what he was expecting from his starter, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that he would be happy with four innings of work, after which he was confident that his bullpen could handle the remainder of the game. In the end he got more - five scoreless innings during which Yamamoto allowed just two hits and one walk and was never in serious trouble. He used just 63 pitches, and in a regular season game, he would probably have been left in for one or two more innings, but as it turned out he had done enough to get credit for the win.

Darvish also had a good start, and in most circumstances, it would have been a winning one as he pitched into the 7th inning and gave up just three hits - but two of them turned out to be solo homers. He dominated every player not named Hernandez and his outing qualified as a quality start, but his batters just did not give him any run support, being shut out for the second straight game, and he ended up on the losing end of the scale. There were three key moments in the game. The first came in the bottom of the 2nd, when Kiké Hernandez, starting in centerfield with Miguel Rojas out of the line-up, hit a homer to left field with two outs. It came just after Will Smith had grounded into a double play following a walk to Max Muncy - the only one Darvish would issue all evening. Freddie Freeman had hit a single in the 1st but been left there. After Kiké's homer made it 1-0, the Dodgers did absolutely nothing against Darvish until the 7th.

The Padres had their best chance - and really their only chance - in the 3rd when Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arráez hit back-to-back singles against Yamamoto with one out. Up next was Fernando Tatis Jr., who had been San Diego's most dangerous hitter in the series, but instead of doing damage, in what was the second key moment of the game, he hit a ground ball to 3B Muncy, who started an inning-ending double play. And that was it for the Padres threatening. In the 6th, Roberts called upon Evan Phillips to pitch, one inning later than originally planned thanks to Yamamoto's outstanding performance. Phillips was just as good as his predecessor, retiring all five batters he faced in order before Alex Vesia was called in to face Jackson Merrill with two outs in the 7th, and struck him out. Darvish returned to pitch the bottom of that inning, as apart from Kiké's long ball, he had completely muzzled the Dodgers' bats, but after Freeman made the first out, it was Teoscar Hernández who took him deep to make the score 2-0. That was the third and final key moment. Darvish recorded one more our before Jason Adam was called in to face Smith, who singled and then surprised everyone with a stolen base (he had been successful just once all season). But Kiké Hernandez grounded out, and that was the end of the inning. Just as Vesia was completing his warm-up tosses in the 8th, he felt something in his arm and asked to be removed, with Michael Kopech coming in for him. While the loss of Vesia was possibly a tough blow for the Dodgers in the longer term, given how many of their pitchers were already hurt, for this game it had little impact as Kopech retired the Padres in order, and Blake Treinen did the same in the 9th. The game ended with the score still 2-0, and the Dodgers were moving on to the NLCS.