LOS ANGELES, CA– In decisive, winner take all Game 5 between NL West foes, the San Diego Padres wilted under the pressure, as the Los Angeles Dodgers silenced the Padres bats en route to a hard fought 2-0 victory at the rowdy Dodgers Stadium.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are returning to the NLCS and will be looking to win their first NL pennant since 2020, when they won the World Series. Awaiting the Boys in Blue are the New York Mets. The National League Championship Series begins Sunday night at iconic Dodgers Stadium.
It was the bottom of the second inning when Enrique Hernández went deep to provide the first run of the game. This was the 75th career playoff game for Kiké and the blast above was his 14th career homer in those playoff games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for the Dodgers in a pitching duel facing former Dodger Yu Darvish-with the season on the line-and was magnificent. A truly resilient performance since he was rocked in Game 1.
In five scoreless innings, he gave up only two hits and one walk. He struck out two, but didn’t give up much hard contact. More than anything, he provided his team with length and didn’t give up a single run in the final game of a series that had seen so much scoring in the first four games.
The Padres offense over the final two games was nonexistent. A new Ice Age. It seems unfathomable, however, the Padres were unable to score a single run in the final 24 innings. Sweet revenge for the dodgers who were knocked out by the same padres in 2023.
The bullpen was great in the back half of this series, just like they were in Game 1. They closed the door after Yamamoto departed in this one, too. In addition to Yamamoto in Game 5, credit Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen.
Even with the Padres’ offense having laid dormant for so many innings, the 1-0 lead still felt pretty tenuous heading into the late innings. Teoscar Hernández made it a little easier to breathe with this blast in the bottom of the seventh.
The 31-year-old veteran had a nice bounce-back year in 2024 after a down season with the Mariners in 2023. This year, he hit 33 homers and drove home 99 runs, making his second All-Star team in the process. He even won the Home Run Derby.
The Dodgers advance to the NLCS to host the Mets in a best-of-seven battle for the pennant. Game 1 will take place in Chavez Ravine on Sunday.
The Mets closed their series down on Wednesday, giving them plenty of time to set up their pitching. And while the Mets were the No. 6 seed heading into the playoffs, they had the best record in baseball from June through the end of the season.
The Dodgers, of course, had the best record in baseball, period.
The Dodger won the season series, four games to two, and outscored the Mets 36-20. They haven’t played each other since May 29, however, so it’s hard to call those results relevant to how this series will unfold.
Brace yourself for plenty of blue in the NLCS!
