Dodgers dump San Diego Padres, return to L.A. for Game 5 of NLDS

SAN DIEGO — 

The opening statement came two batters into the game, Mookie Betts hitting a ball to Chula Vista, the stunned stadium enveloping him in the sweetest of silence.

The follow-up statement came soon thereafter, Shohei Ohtani driving a ball down the right-field line at about 1,000 mph, the silence turning to shock.

The closing argument appeared shortly after that, Will Smith blasting another weak pitch over the center-field fence, one dugout dancing, the other one sulking — game over.

Three innings, one message, powerfully delivered Wednesday from the Dodgers to the suddenly harried and humbled San Diego Padres:

This is not 2022. This is not happening again. This is not going to be easy. This is going the distance.

The Padres want to steal this National League Division series again? This time they’re going to have to do it in a winner-take-all game at Dodger Stadium.

Buckle up. Batten down. The fifth and final game in this brawl will take place Friday night at Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers creating the drama with a desperation 8-0 victory at Petco Park on Wednesday night.

It was the largest shutout win in Dodgers playoff history. It gave life to the possibility of one of the greatest postseason series wins in Dodgers history.

“See … you … Fri-day!” a resilient band of Dodgers fans chanted at Petco and, indeed, it should be something to see.

It will be the biggest playoff elimination game at Dodger Stadium since Chris Taylor won the wild-card contest with a walk-off homer against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021.

But this feels bigger than that. This is Dodger Stadium versus Machado, Shohei versus Tatis, grinders versus showboaters, the real freeway series.

“When you get into the postseason, it’s a street fight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s about people, players, and your desire has got to be more than your opponent. And for me to see our guys go through what they’ve been through and respond the way they have really makes me excited about Game 5.”

These are the two best teams left in the playoffs. Because the New York Mets upset the Philadelphia Phillies in the other National League division series, the winner of this game likely will be the favorite to not only advance to the World Series but also win it.

It is only fitting that this neighborhood standoff, which was swiped and stunned by the Padres in four games two years ago, would come down to one game, one night, one more bit of drama.

The series opener featured a monster first punch by the home-run-hitting Ohtani. The second game was filled with showboating Padres who taunted bottle-throwing fans. When Game 3 came to San Diego, the Dodgers initially didn’t come with it, failing to show for most of a lackluster loss.

This set up Wednesday’s Game 4, a contest which the Dodgers entered missing two key injured players — Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas — and were forced to navigate with no starter and all bullpen.

All this, and there was a stat flying around that teams that lead a five-game series 2-1 at home win the series 82% of the time.

Turns out, the Dodgers had the Padres right where they wanted them.

During pregame workouts they were so loose, they played mini golf in the clubhouse.

“I think it was a lot more light than people would think,” Mookie Betts said. “We weren’t uptight. We were having fun, laughing, joking. We knew what we were about to do.”

Once the game began, they were relaxed and prepared to engage, the best example being Betts, who has two home runs and three RBIs in his last two playoff games after having no homers and one RBI in his previous nine.

“We have a bunch of grinders and a bunch of fighters,” Betts said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing’s easy. And so you just gotta take whatever cards you’re dealt and play them. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”

The lineup swung smartly and freely, especially against Padres starter Dylan Cease, scoring three runs in 1⅔ innings after the Dodgers predicted they could hit him on short rest.

“One of the things we think about is he’s not 100% on rest, we’re going to make him work,” Teoscar Hernández said before the game.

The aggressiveness also returned, with Michael Kopech unapologetically throwing inside to a flattened Fernando Tatis Jr.

Then there was, of course, the brilliant bullpen work, eight Dodgers pitchers combining to hold the Padres to five singles and two extra-base hits. The Padres haven’t scored in 15 innings dating to the second inning of Game 3, and they have to be thinking about that Friday when they surely will face some of these Dodgers relievers again.

“Obviously the energy makes it a little bit different, but it’s the same job,” said Kopech, who threw a one-hit inning. “If we have to come out and play with our roles a little bit differently than usual, the end of the day is, we’re getting outs. So to be able to do that in a big moment like this for us is important.”

The only thing that could stop the Dodgers on this night, it seemed, was third base umpire Mark Ripperger.

With two out in the fourth, Ohtani daringly sped around third on a sharp grounder just inside the third-base line. He could have stolen a run, except the ball bounced off of Ripperger and eventually was picked up by Manny Machado, who threw Ohtani out at home.

Cameras later captured Ohtani screaming at Ripperger in a rare show of anger.

A day after snoozing their way to the brink of elimination, the Dodgers showed they could be emotionally prepared to deal with their intense little brothers.

To prove it, both they and their fans have one more chance, one more moment, one more game.

Dodger up.