The Dodgers blank the Padres, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 in the National League Division Series
Things change in the playoffs at a pace that can cause whiplash and test the toy with the heart of a team and the hearts of its fans.
Each at-bat sends a packed ballpark from elated to deflated. Each outcome radically swings the perceived benefit.
So it was Wednesday. In front of another record crowd at Petco Park, the Padres went from needing to win one of two games to needing to win or go home on Wednesday.
They had to play the National League Division Series in full after an 8-0 loss to the Dodgers, who used eight relievers to stop them and even the series at two games.
“I'm already excited for Friday,” Padres manager Mike Shields said. “How fun would that be? Missed opportunity, missed opportunity to close it out. Didn't. Go ahead. Play Game 5. Winner takes it.
Friday's game, starting at 5:08 pm PT at Dodger Stadium, will determine which team will host the Mets in the NL Championship Series.
“It's a one-game season from here on out,” Jake Kronworth said. “I think this team has done an incredible job all year. If we lose hard, forget it, focus on the next game and make the next one the most important.”
Dylan Seaz's test, starting on short rest, didn't go well, though that had nothing to do with his pitching four days after his previous start.
It's possible the Dodgers found the hard-throwing right-hander as hurt as they were in Saturday's Game 1.
“I liked how the ball was coming out of my hands,” Cease said. “… I felt good there.”
Seaz faced 10 batters, struck out half of them and allowed two runs before walking Brian Hoying and scoring one more.
Suddenly, it was a bullpen game for both teams.
Coming from behind, that didn't go well for the Padres.
“Good relievers and executing their pitches,” Xander Bogaerts said. “Some really tough at-bats tonight. We had to grind for the pitch. They brought that reliever mentality. … They executed perfectly, all of them.
The way the night would go was not at all surprising.
The Dodgers' bullpen ranks among the best in the major leagues, and the mighty Braves' bullpen has largely rendered the Padres bat impotent in the wild-card series.
The Padres scored a lot in their first five playoff games. They just haven't done it much against relief pitchers.
Of their 30 postseason runs, only seven were earned against relief pitchers. Only 13 of their 42 hits were against relievers. More starts against opposing relievers despite 20 at-bats in 25⅓ more innings.
The Padres batted .149 against relievers on Wednesday, including going 0-for-9 in their 10-2 win in Game 3 on Tuesday.
“It's a part of the game,” David Peralta said. “It's the postseason. They have a good bullpen.”
Two Dodgers relievers retired the first five Padres batters Wednesday, and it was 3-0 at the time.
Seaz, who allowed five runs in 3⅓ innings Saturday at Dodger Stadium, made his first start on three days' rest.
Before the game, Shields was adamant about Cease's fitness for the job. He was just as indecisive when deciding to advance from the mound, coming in to fire a 99.6 mph fastball for a strike but almost immediately displaying a lack of command, which usually determines whether he's practically incapacitated or can be waited out. . .
After retiring Shohei Ohtani on a groundout to second base, Ohtani's 10th out in 11 at-bats after starting the series 2-for-3 with a home run, Seaz sent a 2-2 fastball up the middle that cleared the wall in left-center field and Bounce into the Padres' bullpen.
The Dodgers were figuratively in the Padres bullpen after a while. And only momentarily did the 47,773 crowd wave their golden towels and shout for the rest of the night.
Siege started the second innings with an out. He then walked No. 7 hitter Gavin Lucks and gave up a single to Kick Hernandez. With runners on the corners, he struck out Chris Taylor, who fouled off two bunt attempts.
Ohtani, up for the third time in the series with two runners on, got his third hit in that situation, sending a first-pitch single through the right side that scored Lux.
That was it for the Siege, as The Shield came out of the dugout and brought in Brian Hoying.
“I understand right there,” said Cease, who said he expected Wednesday to be a “normal” start. “I gave up some baserunners, so (going deep) wasn't really an option today. … It just depended on the results. Unfortunately, the results weren't there today.”
Hoeing's first pitch was sent by Bates on a soft line through the right side, bringing in Hernandez.
Hoying ended the inning on a comebacker by Teoscar Hernandez.
A pair of two-out hits by the Padres against Dodgers relief pitchers snapped a 14-out streak and led to left-hander Anthony Banda ending an inning later.
But the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the third — on a leadoff double by Max Muncie and a homer by Will Smith — and the Padres stayed down to try to make sure Dodgers manager Dave Roberts got right behind his bullpen.
It worked.
Michael Kopech, who throws 100 mph and usually protects a lead into the eighth or ninth inning, got the third by allowing just a two-out double by Fernando Tatis Jr.
Left-hander Alex Vecia started the fourth, retired Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Bogaerts in order and came back in the fifth.
The two left-handers who started the inning reached base to start the inning — Peralta with his second single and Cronenworth with a walk — before Kyle Higashioka struck out. With Evan Phillips warming up, waiting to face Tatis, Luis Arez flied out to right field.
Phillips ended the inning with a fly ball to center field off Tatis and then got through Machado, Proffer and Merrill on six pitches in the sixth.
For a time, the relievers following Hoeing were extremely effective.
Adrian Morzon got the final two outs of the third, Machado and third base umpire Mark Ripperger got the fourth and got the out in the fifth.
The fourth ended with a hit down the third-base line that deflected off Machador and out of Rippergare's hands, signaling a fair ball in the stretch. That stopped the ball, which Machado picked up and threw home to get Ohtani.
Jeremiah Estrada replaced Morzon, with runners in the fifth and left on first and second with two outs for Alec Jacobs in the sixth. Jacobs got Bates to pop up to first base to end the inning.
An error and a sacrifice bunt by Bogaerts put the Dodgers up 6-0 before Jacobs was replaced by Wandy Peralta, who promptly surrendered a two-run homer to Lux.
Kronenwirth's two-out triple against Daniel Hudson in the seventh, Arayez and Proffer's single against Blake Treinen in the eighth and Bogaerts' single against Landon Knack in the ninth brought the Padres' hit total to seven.
Machado was averse to struggling against relievers.
“It's hit or miss,” he said. “We left the best closers in the games. It's irrelevant, honestly. It really is. We didn't get hits, we didn't get runs across the board, and that was it really. … You have to hit the ball, you have to run. That's the name of the game. We just didn't do it today. They are a good team there. And they've been doing that all year, and when we had a few chances we just didn't execute.”
After the game, the Padres' bags were placed in front of their lockers. They will board a bus shortly after to travel to Los Angeles. They will practice Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
“Put that aside and go out there and get ready for Game 5 and compete,” Machado said. “Like we've been doing all year.”
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