In a surprise upset, the Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51) were knocked out of the National League Division Series by the San Diego Padres (89-73) on Oct. 15 at Petco Park. San Diego will now move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies (87-75) in the 2022 National League Championship Series.
The last time the Padres appeared in the National League Championship Series was back in 1998, when they would go on to face the New York Yankees — and lose — in the World Series.
What originally started as a solid offensive game one for the Dodgers, winning 5-3, soon became a deficit of 3-1 in the National League Division Series (NLDS), with the Padres winning three straight games — a credit to the Padres’ offensive prowess.
Throughout the regular season, the Dodgers pitching rotation and bullpen put up great performances and generally limited the number of runs scored. Yet, in this postseason run, the Padres gave the Dodgers’ pitching a run for their money.
Game two of the NLDS exposed more pitching and offensive vulnerabilities from the Dodgers. Padres third baseman Manny Machado hit a solo home run in the first inning and an RBI (runs batted in) double to left field off longtime Dodgers ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Machado’s RBIs contributed significantly to the Padres’ successful attempt at tying the game 3-3 in the third inning.
To their credit, the Dodgers still put up a good offensive show against the Padres. They scored runs off pitcher Yu Darvish in the first, second and third innings, with Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman, third baseman Max Muncy, and shortstop Trea Turner hitting solo home runs off him. However, the Dodgers offense were kept at bay for the rest of the game by the Padres bullpen, courtesy of bullpen pitchers RHP Robert Suarez, RHP Nick Martinez and San Diego ace closer LHP Josh Hader.
The Padres would drive in one more run in the sixth inning — courtesy of an RBI single by infielder Jurickson Profar. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth would hit one more solo home run in the seventh inning off Dodgers bullpen pitcher Blake Treinen. The game closed with a 5-3 Padres victory, tying up the NLDS series at one game apiece (1-1). However, once the NLDS series moved to San Diego, the Dodgers offense — especially the pitching — dropped the ball.
Game three of the NLDS was a pitching duel between LA Dodger ace Tony Gonsolin and SD Padre ace Blake Snell. Additionally, the Dodgers experienced an utter offensive failure, with the lone RBI scored by right fielder Mookie Betts in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly ball to deep right field to drive in outfielder Trayce Thompson. Soon after, Turner popped a ball in foul territory, only to have it caught. Freeman was grounded out, ending the top of the fifth.
The Dodgers left a total of six players stranded on base in game three, three of whom were in scoring position. With regards to pitching, Snell gave up a total of five hits and one run, in addition to pitching five and two-thirds innings for the Padres. On the other hand, Gonsolin faced nine batters and pitched one and one-third innings. He gave up a run and four hits before coming out of the game early due to forearm injury issues, leaving bullpen left-handed pitcher (LHP) Andrew Heaney to pitch the rest of the second inning. The rest of the game became a bullpen face off for the LA Dodgers, who allowed only one more run. The Padres ultimately won a close game three, 2-1, giving them a leg up before game four.
Game four of the NLDS was nothing short of a disaster and a tragic season conclusion for the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the same time, it was a hallelujah moment for the San Diego Padres. The starting pitcher for the Dodgers was the left handed pitcher Tyler Anderson, coming off his best MLB season in his career as a Cy Young Award candidate with a end-of-season ERA of 2.57 and 15-5 record. Anderson pitched a good game, going five innings for the Dodgers with no runs and five hits allowed while he was on the mound.
The Padres’ starter for game four was right-handed pitcher (RHP) Joe Musgrove, who gave up a go-ahead RBI double to Freeman in the top of the third inning, putting the score at 2-0. Fast forward to the top of the seventh inning, and the Dodgers scored a run off a sacrifice fly ball by catcher Will Smith to deep center field, driving in right fielder Betts to make it a 3-0 game. The Dodgers left two men stranded on second and third base to end the top of the seventh.
At the bottom of the seventh inning, the Padres scored an impressive five runs off of three different pitchers from the Dodger bullpen. The inning began with RHP Tommy Kahnle walking the Padres first batter, Profar. The next Padres batter, center fielder Trent Grisham, then hit a single to center field, bringing Profar to third base and into scoring position. Following that, catcher Austin Nola hit a single to first base for San Diego, scoring one run to move Grisham to second base, making it a 3-1 ball game. At that moment, LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to send a new pitcher out to the mound.
The next man up to face the new RHP Yency Almonte was Padre shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, who doubled to left field on a ground ball, scoring in another run. With that, Kim headed to second base and pushed Nola to third, making it a 3-2 ball game. At this point, the Padres hit their stride with no outs. The next batter up was outfielder Juan Soto, who singled to deep right field, scoring another run to bring Kim to third base, making it a tie game at 3-3. Fortunately, the next two outs came with Almonte striking out Machado at the plate and a foul pop fly by third baseman Brandon Drury to stop the bleeding. However, in a stunning turn of events that would prove to be disastrous in hindsight for the Dodgers, Roberts opted to get yet another pitcher from the bullpen to finish the seventh inning, for what seemed to be a precautionary measure.
The next pitcher up, LHP Alex Vesia, faced Jake Cronenworth, who doubled to center field and brought Kim and Soto to home plate, making it a newsworthy 5-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Vesia would then strike out Profar. The San Diego Padres went through their entire lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning alone. They made five hits and scored five runs, secured two walks and ultimately kept the Dodgers from a potential game five back in Chavez Ravine.
There are many reasons why the Los Angeles Dodgers failed to beat the San Diego Padres at their game but the most compelling one of all is that they simply did not hit the ball when they needed to. The Dodgers had many opportunities to capitalize on runners in scoring positions, which were shut down in large part to the Padres’ starting rotation and bullpen for silencing the offensive juggernaut that was the Dodgers. Games two and three were understandable losses in retrospect, but game four of the NLDS was a painful loss that both ball clubs will remember fondly, if not for different reasons.
Phillip Lemus is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. They can be reached at plemus1@uci.edu
