In the hours leading up to Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Petco Park on Wednesday night, there was a quiet but palpable optimism around the Dodgers dugout that belied the dire situation in which they found themselves.
Of course, the team faced a third straight elimination in the NLDS, falling two games to one to the San Diego Padres.
And no, they weren’t at full strength, playing without injured veterans Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas and picking up a bullpen game from the pitching staff they pitched on the same day.
Yet, in stark contrast to the past two Octobers, they showed no panic. They felt no fear.
“I think it’s a lot brighter than people think,” right fielder Mookie Betts said. “We weren’t uptight. We were having fun, laughing and joking. We knew what we were going to do. We knew the challenge we were going to face. But we were all enjoying it … and we knew we were going to be fine.
Well, actually.
By the end of the night, that pregame optimism blossomed into postgame celebration as the Dodgers salvaged their season. 8-0 The blowtorch is a hit.
“We played our game,” utility player Kike Hernandez said. “We did what we could.”
Unlike last year, when the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered a season-ending loss by pitchers, the Dodgers lineup was locked in from the jump, scoring three times in the first two innings against Padres starter Dylann Seas. He had the time of his career on three days’ rest before adding two more in the third inning to put the bullpen on a 5-0 run.
Unlike in 2022, when the Dodgers blew a late lead in a Game 4 elimination at the same stadium, their relievers called on eight different pitchers in 2020 for the club’s first postseason shutout since the wild-card round. , and first postseason road win since Game 5 of the 2021 NLDS.
“Our bullpen is special,” left-hander Alex Vecia said. “We’ve got eight, nine, 10 guys who can all step up in very high situations, and I think that shows.”
Now, this Dodgers team will see at least two more days where Chavez would have evened the best-of-five series at two games to force a decisive fifth game back in Ravine.
“When you get to the postseason, it’s a street fight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Your desire has to be greater than your opponent’s. And to see our guys go through what they’ve been through and respond the way they’ve been through, it makes me really excited for Game 5.
The Dodgers’ road to a 4-game winning streak began on the heels of a Game 3 victory over the Padres on Tuesday. In his postgame news conference that night, San Diego manager Mike Schildt announced that Seaz, who had started Game 1 of the series, would get the ball in Game 4 on three days’ rest.
That was good news for some with the Dodgers. Not only because they tagged the Cheese with five runs in four innings in a Game 1 victory, but for the first time in three postseasons, they’ll get the chance to see the same starter twice in the same series. .
“Whenever someone comes back on short rest, you never know what you’re going to get,” said Max Muncy, who went to first base for Freeman. “You have to find a way to control the zone and hit pitches that are over the plate.”
From the first inning, the Dodgers did just that.
Just like in Game 3, Betts set the tone with a first-inning homer, connecting on a full-count fastball up the middle of the zone.
Rather than squander early momentum like they did in Tuesday’s loss, the Dodgers added relentlessly until the score got out of hand.
Quality second-inning at-bats by Kevin Lucks (a walk) and Kike Hernandez (two-strike single) led to RBI singles by Shohei Ohtani (just one over his last 12 at that point) and Betts (his). officially out of his postseason slump).
In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers added two more on Will Smith’s home run, a blast to straight center that snapped his nine hitless at-bats to start the series.
“We just kept adding,” Hernandez said. “We slowed down, we rallied, we went station to station … overall we played a great game.”
That assessment also applies to the lockdown bullpen, which doesn’t need breathing room with the way the Padres are quieting their bats.
Dodgers reliever Ryan Brazier delivers during the first inning of an 8-0 win over the Padres in Game 4 of the NLDS at Petco Park on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Ryan Brazier has started with four straight shutouts. Anthony Banda took over from there, stranding a pair of baserunners in the second.
Roberts was aggressive in the third, closing in on Michael Kopech for a five-run lead.
Vecia got the most outs of anyone, pitching 1⅔ innings while stranding two more runners in the fifth.
“We all knew where we were going,” Vecia said. “The offense helped us out big time, scoring quick runs and then putting pressure on them.”
The mix and match was complete with effortless looks from Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen and Landon Nock.
In all, Dodgers pitchers Luis Ares, Jurickson Proffer and Fernando Tadis Jr. were held to one hit each, while Manny Machado went 0-for with two strikeouts.
“They were all great,” Smith said after catching all nine innings. “Attacking the zone, putting guys away, putting up nine zeroes. We needed that tonight.”
Wednesday was not without some adversity for the Dodgers.
Rojas, as expected, was unable to play due to his adductor injury. Freeman was initially in the starting lineup, but less than two hours into the game was scratched in a bit of “gamesmanship,” he said as he nursed his sprained right ankle.
“[Playing on] Back-to-back days, it’s a little tough,” said Freeman, who was ejected from Tuesday’s game for the second time in the series. “So we decided at breakfast that I wasn’t going to play.”
In their absence, however, Ohtani (one hit, two walks, one RBI), Betts (two hits and two RBIs) and Teoscar Hernandez (two hits) have turned in star-caliber performances, even when pitching excellent fifth innings. Hernandez’s potential RBI double hit third-base umpire Mark Ripperker’s arm, causing Ohtani to be thrown out at home plate.
The bottom of the batting line-up was equally impressive.
Kike Hernandez had two hits (depending on whether the pitcher was on the mound, a fly-ball or ground-ball between third base and center field) in his first start of the series, making a strong stand to stay in the lineup. For Game 5. Lux continued his strong streak with an infield single in the sixth and an insurance two-run homer in the seventh. Hitless Tommy Edman also contributed with a sacrifice bunt that scored a run.
“We grinded out some at-bats tonight and got some runs,” Muncie said after his team went five-for-nine with runners on base. “We kept to ourselves…it was fun to watch.”
That was everything the Dodgers hoped for coming into the game; All that they failed to build on when facing relegation in the previous two years.
“We have players and people who can do it,” Teoscar Hernandez said of the Dodgers’ bid to get back in the series. “I trust every guy in that clubhouse.”
