Dodgers History: Remembering the Crucible of the NLDS
It was an epic battle of heavyweights...
LOS ANGELES — For a moment, it looked like history might repeat itself—and not the good kind. After another early series stumble, the Dodgers found themselves on the brink of elimination in the 2024 NLDS against the San Diego Padres. The ghosts of 2022 lingered. Petco Park was rocking. And the Padres—powered by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and a record-setting barrage of home runs—appeared poised to knock out their Southern California rivals once again.
But this time, the Dodgers refused to fold.
Over five emotional, chaotic, and unforgettable games, the Dodgers erased a 2–1 series deficit and won the final two games by shutout, storming into the NLCS for the first time since 2021.
Game 1: Ohtani’s Arrival, Teoscar’s Knock, Treinen’s Heroics
Game 1 opened with early trouble for the Dodgers. Luis Arráez scored on an RBI groundout by Jurickson Profar, and moments later, Manny Machado crushed a two-run homer to left-center off Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give San Diego a 3–0 lead.
But Shohei Ohtani wasted no time announcing his postseason arrival in Dodger blue. With two on in the second, he launched a game-tying three-run homer—his first playoff blast.
San Diego regained the lead in the third on a two-run double by Xander Bogaerts, but the Dodgers answered back. Tommy Edman scored on a wild pitch, and Teoscar Hernández delivered a two-run single to give L.A. a 6–5 lead. A Will Smith run on a double-play ball added insurance.
The Padres loaded the bases in the eighth, but Blake Treinen entered and slammed the door. He completed a five-out save to secure the 7–5 victory, giving the Dodgers their first postseason win since 2022—against the same opponent.
Game 2: San Diego’s Home Run Derby
If Game 1 was about resolve, Game 2 was about raw power—and San Diego had plenty. Fernando Tatis Jr. homered twice, David Peralta launched a two-run shot, and the Padres tied an MLB postseason record with six home runs in a single game.
They became the first team in postseason history to hit six homers on the road, blowing the game open in the late innings. Jackson Merrill hit his first career playoff homer, Bogaerts and Kyle Higashioka added back-to-back bombs, and Tatis capped it off with a two-run shot in the ninth.
Mookie Betts was robbed of a potential game-tying homer in the first inning by Profar, and the Dodgers offense never found its rhythm. The Padres won 10–2 to even the series at one apiece.
Game 3: Teoscar’s Slam Isn’t Enough
Game 3 at Petco Park was explosive early. Mookie Betts homered in the first inning, but the Padres erupted for six runs in the bottom of the second. After a fielder’s choice by Bogaerts scored Machado, Peralta doubled in two more, and Tatis delivered a crushing two-run homer to make it 6–1.
Teoscar Hernández kept L.A. alive with a grand slam in the third, trimming the deficit to 6–5, but that would be the final scoring play of the night. Both bullpens locked in, and Robert Suárez recorded a gritty four-out save to preserve the win.
With a 2–1 series lead, the Padres were one win away from their second NLCS appearance in three years. But they wouldn’t score again for the rest of the series.
Game 4: Dodgers Dominate, Force Game 5
Facing elimination, the Dodgers unleashed their most complete performance of the series.
Mookie Betts homered in the first inning for the second straight night. Ohtani followed with an RBI single, and Betts added another RBI knock before the second inning ended. Will Smith blasted a two-run homer in the third. Gavin Lux added a two-run shot in the seventh. The Dodgers cruised to an 8–0 victory, powered by a bullpen day and seven pitchers combining to shut out San Diego.
This was the Dodgers team fans had expected—disciplined, balanced, and dangerous.
Game 5: Yamamoto, Kiké, and Teoscar Send LA to the NLCS
With everything on the line, Game 5 delivered a classic—pitching, tension, and timely power.
In the first-ever postseason duel between two Japanese-born starting pitchers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Yu Darvish. Kiké Hernández gave the Dodgers an early lead with a solo homer in the second, and Yamamoto blanked the Padres through five innings on just two hits and one walk.
In the seventh, Teoscar Hernández crushed a solo shot halfway up the pavilion to make it 2–0. Blake Treinen recorded the final six outs to close the game and the series. When Tatis grounded out to third for the final out, fireworks lit up Chavez Ravine, and the Dodgers poured onto the field. They had done it—comeback complete, series won, and demons exorcised.The Dodgers had shut out the Padres for the second straight game, holding them scoreless over the final 24 innings of the series.
Dodgers Find Their Grit
This series tested the Dodgers. They were humbled by a Game 2 thrashing. They watched their ace, Walker Buehler, get tagged early in Game 3. But through it all, they found the grit that defined their best teams of the past.
Ohtani delivered a signature moment. Mookie Betts, once mired in an 0-for-22 slump, broke through with key hits in Games 3 and 4. Kiké and Teoscar were postseason stars again. And Yamamoto proved he could thrive in October.
With the 3–2 series win, the Dodgers moved on to the NLCS and exorcised the demons of 2022. The Padres? Once again sent home by their older brother to the north.
It took a little while, but the Dodgers remembered who they are.
They were pushed to the brink—again. But instead of fading, they fought back. And now, they head to the National League Championship Series, battle-tested and hungry for more.
Dodger fans could breathe—at least for the moment.
