Mookie Betts on Wednesday homered for the second straight night, while Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Dylan Cease and the San Diego Padres 8-0 to force a deciding Game 5 in their tense National League Division Series.
At Petco Park in San Diego, Will Smith and Gavin Lux each hit two-run homers for the Dodgers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and are to return home for the next matchup between the NL West rivals.
“We have a bunch of grinders, a bunch of fighters,” Betts said after the Dodgers posted the largest shutout win in franchise post-season history. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Photo: AP
The Padres won 10-2 at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 on Sunday night, when tempers flared on the field and in the stands.
The winners are to have home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
“I’m proud... Your desire’s got to be more than your opponent’s,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “To see our guys go through what they’ve been through and respond the way they have, it makes me excited about Game 5.”
The Dodgers got a superb effort by opener Ryan Brasier and seven fellow relievers in a bullpen game, holding the Padres to seven hits and extending their scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Evan Phillips, who got the win, retired Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill on five pitches in the sixth.
“Overall the guys were efficient, understanding that they’re going to have to do up/downs, go a little bit longer potentially,” Roberts said. “So the efficiency of the strike zone was huge and it gives us options for Game 5.”
The Dodgers hushed the Petco Park-record crowd of 47,773 that had hoped to see San Diego eliminate LA in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons.
With All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman sidelined by a troublesome right ankle sprain, Betts and Ohtani — who starred in his first season with the Dodgers — needed to produce to keep LA’s season alive. They did just that, with Betts driving in two runs on two hits and Ohtani bringing in one run and reaching base three times.
Elsewhere, the New York Yankees moved to 2-1 in their American League Division Series against the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers took a 2-1 lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the other AL series.
At Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Giancarlo Stanton hit a long go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to lead the Yankees past the Royals 3-2 in Game 3.
At Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, Riley Greene, Matt Vierling and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and six pitchers combined on a second straight shutout to give the Tigers a 3-0 win over the Guardians.
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS