The Padres earned a 2-1 lead in the NLDS with a 6-5 win over the Dodgers at Petco Park on Tuesday night, giving them two opportunities to win a game and advance to the NLCS to face the winner of the Phillies-Mets series. The game began with a moment of deja vu, as Mookie Betts hit a deep fly ball to left field that cleared the fence. Jurickson Profar leaped up, reached into the crowd and got his glove on the ball, but wasn't able to rob Betts of a home run this time after doing just that in Game 2. But the Padres put together a massive 2nd inning to flip the game on its head. Manny Machado scored from third on a fielder's choice from Xander Bogaerts to tie the game at 1. But the Dodgers weren't able to record an out on the play, as Jackson Merrill beat the throw to second base, giving the Padres an opportunity to put together a big rally. David Peralta immediately capitalized, ripping a 2-run double to give the Padres a 3-1 lead. Kyle Higashioka brought Peralta home on a sac-fly, but the exclamation point of the inning happened when Fernando Tatis Jr. blasted a 2-run moon shot accentuated with a massive bat flip that sent Petco Park into a frenzy and capped off a 6-run inning.
What looked like a potential rout in front of a frenzied crowd was short-lived, as the Dodgers loaded the bases in the very next half inning, and Teoscar Hernandez brought them all home with a grand slam off of Michael King to make it a 6-5 game. But the Padres pitching staff did what they've done all year long, and settled in, retiring the next 16 consecutive hitters following Hernandez's grand slam.
Clinging to a 1-run lead, Tanner Scott came in to face the top of the Dodgers lineup in the 8th, and struck out Shohei Ohtani looking to ignite the crowd. After retiring Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman hit a single up the middle, and was removed for a pinch-runner after hobbling to first base. Mike Shildt then opted to bring in Robert Suarez for a 4-out save attempt. Suarez put his recent struggles behind him, and got the final out of the 8th inning, and then pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to put the Padres up 2-1 in the series. After the game, Mike Shildt announced that Dylan Cease would start Game 4 on Wednesday night, lining up Yu Darvish to potentially start Game 5 if necessary on Friday.
You can watch the Padres Postgame Show below, with full highlights from the game and Mike Shildt's postgame press conference:
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