Padres now one win away from knocking Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani out of playoffs
SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr.’s towering two-run home run highlighted a six-run second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to beat Shohei Ohtani and the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in a tense NL Division Series.The Padres moved within one victory of eliminating the Dodgers in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons.Game 4 is Wednesday night at Petco Park, which was packed with a rally towel-waving record crowd of 47,744.The fans roared as Robert Suarez struck out Gavin Lux on a full-count pitch to complete a four-out save.Tatis’ impressive homer gave the Padres a 6-1 lead, but Teoscar Hernández hit a grand slam with one out in the third off Michael King to bring the Dodgers within a run.Mookie Betts also homered for the Dodgers to break an 0-for-22 playoff slump, but apparently thought left fielder Jurickson Profar had robbed him like he did in Sunday night’s 10-2 Padres win at Dodger Stadium, when tempers flared on the field and in the stands.
Betts rounded first and headed toward the dugout before teammates and even King motioned that 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 and watched the ball sail out of the yard, flipped his bat and gestured toward the dugout before beginning his trot.King, who was part of the Juan Soto trade, got his second win in as many playoff starts after allowing five runs and five hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and one walk.He was coming off a gem in the opening game of the Wild Card Series against Atlanta, when he became the first pitcher in history to have 12 strikeouts with no runs and no walks in a postseason debut in San Diego’s 4-0 win.
Betts gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first after some co...