LOS ANGELES — All that spending and all that star power, amid a season of crushing injuries, did buy the Dodgers an additional valuable asset heading into a deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
The winner-take-all game, for the right to play the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series, will be played in Los Angeles.
Even as the Dodgers dealt with injuries all season and addressed on-field setbacks after spending more than $1 billion during the offseason, they reeled off 98 victories to earn baseball’s top record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
So after Los Angeles won Wednesday’s elimination game 8-0 at San Diego to even the NLDS at two games each, both teams picked up buses and took the show two hours up the coast for Friday’s must-see event.
“How fun is that going to be?” Padres manager Mike Shildt asked rhetorically.
San Diego will send Game 2 winner Yu Darvish to the mound, while the Dodgers say they are undecided on a pitching plan despite having Game 1 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto waiting on an extra day of rest and Game 2 starter Jack Flaherty on regular rest.
Los Angeles could elect to go with another bullpen game in hopes of matching the eight-pitcher shutout it pulled off in Game 4. Not up for debate is the need for the explosive offense shown in Game 4, when Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Gavin Lux hit home runs.
After he entered Game 3 on an 0-for-22 playoff downturn, Betts has a home run in the first inning of the past two games. He added an RBI single in the second inning of Game 4, immediately after Shohei Ohtani delivered his own RBI single.
So, how did Betts emerge from a playoff slump that appeared to be as much mental as it was physical?
“Hit (and) kept hitting,” he said. “That’s all I’ve been doing. That’s what I know. I work. I’m not trying to win the game for us. We got plenty of guys that can win games for us. I just want to do my part in the team. And that’s all I’ve been focused on.”
The Dodgers had 52 home wins during the regular season, second most in baseball. The Padres’ 48 road victories led the NL.
Darvish was stellar in Sunday’s 10-2 win at Los Angeles, giving up one run on three hits over seven innings. He changed speeds to tie countryman Ohtani in knots, with the Dodgers star going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
The performance has Darvish’s teammates feeling good about their Game 5 prospects.
“I’m fully confident because he has already proven himself,” San Diego star Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “He has proven himself for the last 18 years, probably, pitching in baseball. He has all my confidence playing behind him and we’re ready to go.”
Said the Padres’ Manny Machado: “We have the right guy on the mound and we have confidence with what he’s done in the past, (and will do) in the future.”
Darvish is no stranger to elimination games at Dodger Stadium. He was Los Angeles’ starting pitcher in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, but was roughed up for five runs (four earned) over 1 2/3 innings and the Houston Astros won the title with a 5-1 victory.
The winner of Friday’s game will host the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media