Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Wow. Maybe this year WILL be different after all. If the thrilling Game 1 is any evidence, it will be very different indeed, Dodgers fans. Unlike last year (and the year before), the stars showed up big time in the Dodgers 7-5 win over the Padres. After falling in an 0-3 hole, Shohei had a mammoth home run to tie the score, Freddie Freeman had two hits and stolen base in spite of a twisted ankle, and Teoscar Hernandez finished things off with a go-ahead RBI single. It was awesome!
The top of the first got off to a shaky start against the Padres for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. First, Luis Arraez ripped a single into left to lead off the game. Then, a passed ball and a wild pitch got Arraez to third with nobody out. Fernando Tatis walked. Jurickson Profar grounded out, scoring the run. Then, the big blow. After getting Manny Machado into a 0-2 hole, he hung a breaking ball and Machado blasted it to centerfield, clearing the fence and staking the Padres to a 3-0 lead before the Dodgers even hit the bat rack.
The Dodgers got a couple of baserunners in the bottom of the first against Padres starter Dylan Cease on a Mookie Betts walk and a Freddie Freeman single. But a Teo fielder’s choice and a Max Muncy strikeout with runners at the corners ended the threat with a zero on the board.
The second inning went a WHOLE lot better for the boys in blue. Yammoto seemed to be settling in and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Then, the tide-turning bottom of the second. Will Smith led off with a walk, followed by a Gavin Lux single to put a couple of runners on base with nobody out. A strikeout and a popup later, the two runners were exactly where they were at the beginning of the inning. But then came Shohei. After getting into a two-strike hole, he absolutely blasted a 97-mph fastball at the top of the zone into right field. It landed among the paying customers in the pavilion, and the ballgame was tied.
In the top of the third, the Padres got a leadoff double from Fernando Tatis Jr. and a two-out walk from Jackson Merrill before Xander Bogaerts ripped a double into left field to score two runs. Ugh. If that weren’t distressing enough, the Dodgers got a great hit from Freddie Freeman (his second of the night) and Freddie stole a base. However, Freddie was stranded there, as they couldn’t get anything going.
That was the end of the night for Yamamoto. He left the game with a very disappointing first start in the MLB postseason. 3.0 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. He’ll have to pitch a WHOLE lot better if the Dodgers are hoping to make a deep run this October.
Ryan Brasier was the first out of the bullpen, and though the gave up a double to Kyle Higashioka in the top of the fourth, he hung a zero on the scoreboard. That set the stage for the Dodgers to finally take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. It started with a one-out bunt single from Tommy Edman, followed up by a regular kind of single from Miggy Rojas. That ended the day for Dylan Cease. Reliever Andrian Morejon came in and busted Shohei Ohtani‘s bat, but he muscled a single into center field. With the bases loaded and Mookie Betts up to bat, Morejon uncorked a wild pitch to score Edman with the Dodgers’ fourth run of the night.
Padres manager Mike Shildt had seeen enough and stopped the at-bat to walk the bases loaded again to face Freddie Freeman. Not usually a good idea, but this time, the strategy worked. Betts grounded into a force out to first baseman Donovan Solano, and the bases remained loaded for Teoscar Hernandez. And Teo came through, on the second pitch from new reliever Jeremiah Estrada. He ripped a two-run single into center field, which Jackson Merrill misplayed a bit to allow both Ohtani and Betts to scamper home with the tying and go-ahead runs.
After Brasier and Alex Vesia had a shutdown inning in the top of the fifth, the Dodgers got a free run of insurance in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an error from Manny Machado that put Will Smith on second and in position to score after a Gavin Lux single and a double play ball.
Leading 7-5, the Dodgers took the game into the sixth inning. Vesia came out and pitched two outs of solid ball before giving the ball over to Evan Phillips, who finished off another scoreless frame from the bullpen. Jason Adam, the Padres’ big trade deadline pickup, then pitched an impressive bottom of the inning, getting a 1-2-3 inning off of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. He’ll be one to keep an eye on as the series continues.
In the top of the seventh, Evan Phillips returned to the mound and also went 1-2-3, setting the Dodgers up in perfect shape to finish up the game strong with the big dogs on the back end of the pen. The plan didn’t quite work out perfectly, as Michael Kopech was unable to find the strike zone in the top of the eighth, requiring Blake Treinen to come on with two on and one out. Treinen got a pop out for the second out, but then walked Jake Cronenworth to load up the bases. Eek! Treinen then got Donavan Solano to strike out to preserve the increasingly precarious lead.
The Dodgers had another chance in the bottom of the eighth when Tommy Edman got on and stole a base. Unfortunately, Shohei struck out, leading to an intentional pass to Mookie Betts to put runners at first and second for Freddie Freeman, but Freddie, who had a remarkable game considering his ankle health, struck out and sent the game into the ninth inning with the score still 7-5.
Blake Treinen, who hasn’t gone multiple innings since 2021 came out for the ninth inning. He struck out Elias Diaz to start the inning. Luis Arraez then hit a screaming liner to the right side of the infield. Gavin Lux made a fantastic diving catch to put the Dodgers one out from a victory. On came Fernando Tatis Jr., who drilled a single into left, bringing the tying run to the plate in the person of Jurickson Profar. Treinen got it to a full count and then lost him on a walk. And of course, it came down to Manny Machado. Treinen was pushed, but came through: a swinging strikeout from the guy who started the game with a home run and now ends it with a strikeout. Cue Randy Newman, let’s party! It was the most pitches that Treinen has thrown in five years. But damn, it was glorious.
Having survived Game 1, the Dodgers look to Jack Flaherty in Game 2. He’s going to be matched up against former Dodger Yu Darvish, and it promises to be a good matchup. Darvish has been injured much of the year, and has posted a 3.55 ERA since returning at the beginning of September. Flaherty, on the other hand, has been one of the best pitching stories of the year, but has struggled a bit in the last month, pitched to a 4.22 ERA in his last four starts. We’ll see how it plays out. Let’s head into San Diego with a bit of momentum, Dodgers fans. We got this!
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