LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers stayed alive in the National League Division Series, defeating the San Diego Padres 8-0 to take Game 4 and send the series back to Dodger Stadium
The Padres had the momentum and the home crowd, and the Dodgers were forced to go with a bullpen game without Freddie Freeman, a late scratch from the lineup. Mookie Betts hit another first-inning homer to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead, and it was the only run they’d need.
Betts and Shohei Ohtani both drove in runs in the second inning, and in the third inning, Will Smith launched a 432-foot homer, the longest blast from any hitter in the postseason. The Dodgers tacked on runs in the later innings, including two on a Gavin Lux home run.
The Dodgers, with a full rotation on the injured list, went with a bullpen game out of necessity, and it wasn’t ideal, considering their bullpen wasn’t very effective this season. All seven relievers were nearly perfect when it mattered, though, shutting the Padres out and stealing the momentum back.
Shohei Ohtani was thrown out at home plate in the fourth inning, but the Dodgers mostly kept tacking on runs. (Harry How / Getty Images)
The Padres’ pitching gambit was a bust, with Dylan Cease starting on short rest and not getting out of the second inning. The bullpen that was almost flawless in Game 3 was dreadful in Game 4, as every Padres reliever until the ninth inning allowed multiple baserunners, multiple runs or both.
Game 5 will be at Dodger Stadium on Friday, with the winner moving on to meet the Mets in the National League Championship Series.
Mookie Betts gets in the groove
Betts has found himself. In the first inning, he crushed a Dylan Cease fastball out to center to give the Dodgers and their bullpen game something they’ve rarely been able to sustain in previous Octobers: momentum. An inning later, Betts half-swung at a Bryan Hoeing slider, lining it through the hole to extend the Dodgers’ early lead to 3-0.
The slump appears over. With the Dodgers facing elimination, one of their biggest stars arrived.
Betts’ October woes could be summed up in how they ended a day earlier. When Betts connected on a deep fly ball in his first at-bat in Game 3 on Tuesday, he started to turn back toward his own dugout before he was informed that the ball had, in fact, cleared the fence for a home run. That was his first hit in his past 23 postseason at-bats and made him 4-for-45 in his postseason career. So severe were his extended postseason woes, and the weight behind them, that Betts estimated he took between 300 and 400 swings during Monday’s workout day looking to recapture something.
“It’s not like it’s a secret,” Betts said then. “I know. Nobody’s telling me anything I don’t know already. Nobody can be any harder on myself. Only thing I can really do is look forward but I know it’s there.”
Dylan Cease looks shaky on short rest
Pitching on short rest for the first time in his career, Padres starter Dylan Cease did not lack for power. His opening fastball, to Shohei Ohtani, registered at 99.6 mph. It was his highest velocity reading since his July 25 no-hitter.
What Cease did lack was precision. Mookie Betts smacked the right-hander’s 11th pitch, a 98.7 mph fastball over the plate, for a home run. In the top of the second, Cease fell into a familiar rut, allowing the Dodgers’ Nos. 7 and 8 hitters to reach base. Two batters later, Ohtani sent an RBI single into right field. Manager Mike Shildt then lifted Cease, after just five outs and 38 pitches.
Whether Shildt should have allowed Cease to face Ohtani a second time was up for debate. A frigid Padres offense might have rendered the point largely moot. As for whether Cease should have even started the game, San Diego — with Joe Musgrove headed for Tommy John surgery — faced a shortage of attractive options.
The Padres can take solace in their scheduled starter Friday at Dodger Stadium: a seemingly in-form Yu Darvish. Still, Cease’s struggles in this series helped push them to a winner-take-all Game 5.
At long last, a comfortable lead
Getting a double from Max Muncy (2-for-12 for the series entering the night) and a two-run home run from Will Smith (0-for-8) to expand the lead to 5-0 not only helped the Dodgers stay alive but flexed some lineup depth that has been missing for the Dodgers since their Game 1 victory. They blew things open early even without Freddie Freeman or Miguel Rojas.
The Dodgers have hardly afforded themselves breathing room in recent postseasons, largely due to their starting pitching woes. They never held a single lead a year ago against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After Game 1 of the 2022 NLDS against the Padres, they never held a lead greater than three runs. So when Ohtani and Betts each stroked second-inning singles, giving them their largest lead thus far in this year’s series, at 3-0, it opened the door for some flexibility for manager Dave Roberts to navigate 27 outs with his bullpen.
(Top photo of Mookie Betts: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
