SAN DIEGO — There was a lot of noise between Games 2 and 3 of the NLDS. The Dodgers felt disrespected after Manny Machado’s bickering and under-analyzed throws. The Padres felt disrespected by Fernando Tatis Jr. after he was drilled by Jack Flaherty, which led to a lot of shouting.
There is no love lost between these two teams. That energy and intensity filled Petco Park on Tuesday, creating a lot of tension leading up to Game 3. Before the first pitch, you could feel the building shaking with anticipation.
But the Padres are not afraid of the Dodgers. They’re not afraid of Los Angeles’ stellar lineup, and as they showed in Game 2, they’re not afraid of Dodger Stadium either. They know they can beat the Dodgers in October because they’ve done it before. And when the series returned to San Diego soil, the Padres were ready to let their play do the talking.
“There’s definitely no fear,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said of the team’s mentality. “But it’s about gaining experience playing against those guys over the years.”
If you want a microcosm of who this Padres team is, look no further than the second inning of Game 3, which the Dodgers won 6-5 and were on the verge of yet another elimination in early October.
Losing 10-2 in Game 2, Los Angeles was forced to take the lead on Tuesday and finally went 0-for-22 in the postseason with a solo homer, assisted by Mookie Betts. The Dodgers led 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
However, San Diego’s lineup fought tenaciously in Game 2 against Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler and the Dodgers’ defense. Manny Machado started the inning with a single. Jackson Merrill threw a grounder to Freddie Freeman that the first baseman said would usually turn into at least a force out, or even a double play. But this wasn’t the Dodgers’ night.
The former Gold Glove Award winner instead threw the ball to left field, allowing Machado to advance to third and advance Merrill to first, setting the table for San Diego’s monster inning. Giving a team extra outs is never a recipe for success, and for a team with momentum like these Padres, that was just the little bit of space they needed to change the game and take control of the series.
Things got even worse for LA on the next play. Xander Bogaerts’ slow chopper was fielded by Miguel Rojas, but he couldn’t get a single out as Merrill beat a feed to second and Bogaerts beat a throw to first. Machado came home to score the Padres’ first run before an out was recorded in the inning.
The next batter, David Peralta, made LA pay for his defensive error as he belted a two-run double down the right field line and brought the sold-out Petco Park crowd to its feet.
“We’re good,” said Peralta, a 37-year-old veteran who signed a minor league contract with San Diego in May. “The first day I stepped into the clubhouse… They welcomed me warmly. You know, it’s a great group of people. We are all in this together. “It’s like a brotherhood.”
What felt like a celebration in San Diego quickly turned into a disaster in Los Angeles.
“There was a ball we couldn’t convert for an out,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “And that builds stress in the innings.”
The Padres went on the offense following Peralta’s double and added a run on a Kyle Higashioka sacrifice fly after a Jake Cronenworth single. Then the Dodgers’ failure to turn batted balls into outs, especially against the bottom of the Padres’ order, flipped their lineup and brought to the plate one man who doesn’t disappoint at this time of the year.
As he had done throughout the postseason, Tatis lifted the city of San Diego to the top with one swing. And when he launched an unquestionable two-run blast from the front of the deck in the second to give San Diego a 6-1 lead, one thing was clear. This Padres team will not be denied.
“I just lost my mind,” Tatis later said. “I feed off that energy. When the fans come, when you have meaningful games, you leave everything you have out there. I just feel like it takes it to another level. My mindset, my body, everything is through the roof.”
Tatis’ home runs continued his dominance against the Dodgers, bringing him to a career .264/.326/.544 with 19 home runs and the postseason. He’s now posted a standout 1.969 OPS this October, a .556 batting average and four home runs, three of which came in this series.
Not even a Dodgers rally the next inning could stop the runaway train that is the Padres. After three consecutive hits, Teoscar Hernández’s grand slam opened the door to a comeback, but the San Diego bullpen blocked it. Padres starting pitcher Michael King pitched five scoreless innings, and the electric quartet of Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam, Tanner Scott and Robert Suarez They combined to secure the home team’s victory with 4 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit, leading to the home team’s victory. Game 4 likely to conclude the series on Wednesday.
But let’s be clear, to say that all the chatter before Game 3 sparked this Padres team would be missing the fact that no pressure was actually needed. San Diego has the best record in baseball since the All-Star break, and appears to be the best team after sweeping the Braves in the wild card round, taking a firm grip on this NLDS, and even taking advantage of the opportunity to send the Dodgers home. In baseball.
When comparing the Dodgers and Padres, the key difference isn’t the quality of the players or the environment at the ballpark. That’s the Clubhouse mentality. From Game 1, the Dodgers put all the pressure on them. Winning the first contest of this series felt more like a sigh of relief than a victory.
On the other hand, San Diego played carefree in these playoffs, as if not considering tomorrow at all. The Padres play every game as if it were their last. That is why they are the most dangerous team left on the field.
“I really appreciate the way this group competes and carries themselves,” coach Mike Shildt said. “I’m proud of this group. “I love them.”
