A 6-run second inning gave the Padres a Game 3 win

SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr.'s towering two-run home run highlighted a six-run second inning and the San Diego Padres beat Shohei Ohtani and the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 on Tuesday night. 2-1 lead in thrilling NL Division Series.

The Padres moved within one win of eliminating the Dodgers in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons. Game 4 was packed Wednesday night at Petco Park, a record, towel-waving rally of 47,744.

The fans roared as Robert Suarez struck out Gavin Lux on a full count pitch for the four-out save.

Tatis' impressive homer gave the Padres a 6-1 lead, but Teoscar Hernandez hit a grand slam off Michael King with one out from third to bring the Dodgers within a run.

Mookie Betts also homered to break a 0-for-22 playoff slump for the Dodgers, but apparently felt left fielder Jurickson Proffer snubbed him as he did in Sunday night's 10-2 Padres victory at Dodger Stadium, when tempers flared on the field and Bates scored first in the stands and headed to the dugout in front of his teammates, and even King indicated it was a homer.

Tatis' shot into the left-field seats was his third of the series, leaving him one shy of the NLDS record held by Carlos Beltran (2004, Houston) and Nick Castellanos (2023, Philadelphia). Tatis had two of San Diego's six homers Sunday night. The flamboyant Tatis stood for a few seconds, watched the ball roll out of the yard, flipped his bat and pointed toward the dugout before beginning his trot.

King got his second win in as many playoff starts after allowing five runs and five hits over five innings with three strikeouts and one walk. He's coming off a gem in the opening game of the wild-card series against Atlanta, when he became the first pitcher in history to go without 12 strikeouts in San Diego's 4-0 postseason debut.

After some confusion, Bates gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead at first.

He lifted a fly ball into the left-field corner with one out in the first inning at nearly the same distance Sunday night at Dodger Stadium as Proffer reached into the crowd to make the catch. After Proffer landed, he trolled the fans by looking at them and jumping up and down several times before throwing the ball into the infield.

Proffer pounced again Tuesday night but couldn't retrieve it, the ball ricocheting off his glove and into the crowd. Bates turned to the dugout before scoring first and taking second. Bates' teammates in the dugout, including Max Muncie, motioned for him to continue, and King signaled with his right hand that it was fair.

Bates resumed his trot after hitting his first playoff hit since Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS against San Diego, which the Padres won in four games.

San Diego's second-inning outburst came against losing pitcher Walker Buehler, who was making his first playoff start since Game 6 of the 2021 NLCS against Atlanta. Buhler missed the 2023 season after undergoing second Tommy John surgery in August 2022.

The first five Padres batters reached and scored. Xander Bogaerts drove in a run on a fielder's choice and David Peralta hit a two-run double. Kyle Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly with two batters before Tatis homered with two outs.

Manny Machado hit a leadoff single and went to third after first baseman Freddie Freeman fielded a grounder by Jackson Merrill and hit Machado in the left shoulder while throwing from his knee to second.

Buehler also went five innings, allowing six runs and seven hits with no strikeouts and one walk.

The Dodgers opened the third with consecutive singles by Miguel Rojas, Shohei Ohtani and Betts to load the bases before Hernandez hit a huge shot to straight center.