SAN DIEGO — Known for their superstars and that cool billion in offseason spending, the Los Angeles Dodgers showed they can also be crafty while extending their season to at least a deciding Game 5 in the National League Division Series.
Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Gavin Lux homered as the visiting Dodgers used a makeshift lineup to keep their season alive with an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in Game 4 of the NLDS.
Eight Dodgers pitchers combined to allow seven hits in a bullpen game as Los Angeles tied the series 2-2 in advance of a winner-take-all game at Dodger Stadium on Friday. Evan Phillips (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings to get the win.
“When you get into the postseason, it’s a street fight. It’s about people, players, and your desire has got to be more than your opponent,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “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.”
Without both shortstop Miguel Rojas (groin) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (ankle), the Dodgers had Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor in the starting lineup, while Max Muncy moved to first base and Tommy Edman moved to shortstop.
“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing’s easy,” Betts said. “And so you just gotta take whatever cards you’re dealt and play them. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”
San Diego right-hander Dylan Cease (0-1) started on three days of rest but lasted just 1 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and throwing 38 pitches. He struck out one and walked one.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had a double in four at-bats and Jake Cronenworth had a triple for San Diego. Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado combined to go 1-for-8.
“You gotta hit the ball. You gotta score runs. That’s the name of the game,” Machado said when asked about the difficulty of facing so many different pitchers. “They’re a good team over there, right? They’ve been doing it all year. We just didn’t execute when we had a couple of opportunities.”
Betts gave the Dodgers a home run in the first inning for the second consecutive game, belting a solo shot to center field off Cease.
In the second inning, Lux worked a one-out walk and Enrique Hernandez followed with a single. Shohei Ohtani delivered a two-out RBI single, and Betts followed with a run-scoring single after Cease was replaced by Bryan Hoeing.
“I understand right there, let on some baserunners, so I wasn’t really a (lengthy) option today,” Cease said. “I liked how the ball was coming out of my hand. I really didn’t feel like I shot myself in the foot too much, which I feel like I had been doing.”
The Dodgers added two more in the third inning for a 5-0 lead when Muncy led off with a double and Smith crushed a home run to center field for his first hit in 10 NLDS at-bats.
Los Angeles nearly scored again in the fourth inning, but Ohtani was thrown out at home after Teoscar Hernandez’s hit down the third base line was deflected by Machado off the arm of third base umpire Mark Ripperger. Machado recovered to make the play at the plate.
In the fifth inning, Muncy’s drive to right-center was tracked down against the wall by Padres rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill.
The Dodgers scored three more times in the seventh inning, when Edman laid down a run-scoring safety squeeze and Lux hit a two-run homer.
“We weren’t uptight,” Betts said. “We were having fun, laughing, joking. We knew what we were about to do. We knew the challenge we had to face, but we all just enjoyed it. I think it was light, and we knew we’d be OK.”
–By Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
