No matter what has been thrown the San Diego Padres’ way — from the mound or from the stands — not much has deterred a club headed back to the warm embrace of home.
The Padres did not just even their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at a game apiece on Sunday.
They walked into a must-win situation on the road, hit six home runs and grew even closer as a team amid a hostile fan atmosphere to put momentum firmly on their side.
The Padres return home on Tuesday for Game 3 of the best-of-five series following Sunday’s 10-2 win at Los Angeles.
San Diego controlled the Dodgers’ offense and rose to the occasion after Dodgers fans threw baseballs and beverage cans toward Padres outfielders Jurickson Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the seventh inning on Sunday.
Padres third baseman Manny Machado was the voice of reason before the eighth, gathering his teammates for a reminder on channeling anger and energy into the game. San Diego made it a rout from there, scoring six runs over the final two innings, with four home runs during that span.
Padres right-hander Yu Darvish, who allowed one run over seven innings on Sunday, characterized Machado’s rallying cry as, “Some dirty words here and there.”
Tatis, who hit a pair of homers, offered a bit more insight.
“We just gathered up together and we told each other, especially Manny, to control our emotions,” Tatis said. “The game was on our side. We know what we’re capable of. It was just a reminder who we really are as a group and just how crazy we can turn a place to go nuts.”
Now Padres fans get a chance to turn up the energy with the next two games of the series at their park.
San Diego can advance to the NL Championship Series without leaving home, which is the route it took in 2022 after it lost Game 1 of the NLDS to the Dodgers before winning the next three.
The Padres will send right-hander Michael King (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound for Game 3 after he struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings last Tuesday in a 4-0 Game 1 win over the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card round.
King was 2-0 with a 3.10 ERA in four appearances (three starts) against the Dodgers this season and has a 2.82 ERA in five career appearances (22 1/3 innings) against Los Angeles.
The Dodgers will turn to right-hander Walker Buehler (0-0, 0.00), who has playoff pedigree but has traveled a rocky road this season after two years away following his second career Tommy John surgery.
Buehler was 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts this season but was solid on Sept. 26, when he gave up one run to the Padres in five innings. He ended up with a no-decision as Los Angeles went on to a 7-2 win that clinched its 11th NL West title in 12 seasons.
With their pitching situation tenuous at best, the Dodgers knew they would have to lean into their offense, but the heralded top three spots in the order combined to go 0-for-12 in Game 2.
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and Mookie Betts had a home run robbed by Profar in left in the first inning.
No. 3 hitter Freddie Freeman went 0-for-2 before exiting after the fifth inning with continued right ankle discomfort from a late-season injury. Enrique Hernandez went 0-for-2 in Freeman’s place.
“It’s really frustrating but there’s nothing really to do right now,” Betts said after Sunday’s game. “You just have to keep going and hopefully it turns.”
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media