The opening statement came two batters into the game, Mookie Betting hitting a ball to Chula Vista, the stunned stadium enveloping him in the sweetest of silences.
The follow-up statement came shortly after, Shohei Ohtani driving a ball down the right field line at about 1,000 mph, the silence turned to shock.
The final argument appeared shortly after, Will Smith threw another weak pitch over the center field fence, one dugout dancing and the other sulking: game over.
Three entries, one message, powerfully delivered Wednesday from the Dodgers to the suddenly harassed and humiliated San Diego Fathers:
This is not 2022. This will not happen again. This won’t be easy. This goes to the end.
Do the Padres want to steal this NL Division series again? This time they’ll have to do it in a winner-take-all game at Dodger Stadium.
Fasten your seatbelt. Ribbon. The fifth and final game of this fight will take place on Friday night in Chavez Ravine, and the Dodgers will desperately create drama. 8-0 victory at Petco Park on Wednesday night.
It was the largest shutout victory in Dodgers playoff history. He gave life to the possibility of one of the biggest postseason series wins in Dodgers history.
“See you…you…Friday!” a resilient group of Dodger fans chanted at Petco and, indeed, it should be something to see.
It will be the biggest playoff elimination game at Dodger Stadium since Chris Taylor won the wild card contest with a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021.
Read more: The Dodgers show no panic and dominate the Padres to force a decisive Game 5 of the NLDS
But this seems bigger than that. This is Dodger Stadium vs. Machado, Shohei vs. Tatis, polishers vs. showcases, the real highway series.
“When you get to the postseason, it’s a street fight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s about people, players, and your desire has to be more than your opponent. And for me, seeing our guys go through what they’ve been through and respond the way they’ve really excited me for Game 5.”
These are the two best teams left in the playoffs. Because the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the other National League division series, the winner of this game will likely be the favorite not only to advance to the World Series but also to win it.
It’s only fitting that this neighborhood showdown, which was swept and stunned by the Padres in four games two years ago, would come down to one game, one night, a little more drama.
The first game of the series featured a monster first hit from home run hit Ohtani. The second game was full of boastful Padres mocking bottle-throwing fans. When Game 3 came to San Diego, the Dodgers initially didn’t come with it, not showing for most of a lackluster loss.
This set up Wednesday’s Game 4, a contest the Dodgers entered without two key players injured: Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas, and were forced to navigate without a starter and with the entire bullpen.
All this, and there was a statistic that teams that lead a five-game series 2-1 at home win the series 82% of the time.
Turns out the Dodgers had the Padres right where they wanted them.
During pre-game workouts they were so relaxed that they played mini golf in the clubhouse.
“I think it was a lot lighter than people think,” Mookie Betts said. “We were not tense. We were having fun, laughing, joking. “We knew what we were about to do.”
Once the game started, they were relaxed and ready to go, the best example being Betts, who has two home runs and three RBIs in his last two playoff games after having no home runs and one RBI in his nine. previous.
“We have a lot of fighters and a lot of wrestlers,” Betts said. “We knew this was not going to be easy. Nothing is easy. So you just have to take the cards you are dealt and play them. And that’s what we’ve been doing.”
The lineup rotated smartly and freely, especially against Padres starter Dylan Cease, scoring three runs in 1⅔ inning after the Dodgers predicted they could hit him on short rest.
“One of the things we think is that he is not 100% rested, we are going to put him to work,” Teoscar Hernández said before the game.
The aggressiveness also returned, with Michael Kopech unapologetically throwing inside to a crushed Fernando Tatis Jr.
Then there was, of course, the brilliant work of the bullpen, eight Dodgers pitchers who combined to limit the Padres to five singles and two extra-base hits. The Padres haven’t scored in 15 innings since the second inning of Game 3, and they have to be thinking about that Friday when they’ll surely face some of these Dodgers relievers again.
“Obviously the energy makes it a little different, but it’s the same job,” said Kopech, who pitched a one-hit inning. “If we have to go out and play our roles a little differently than usual, at the end of the day we will be going out. So to be able to do that at a time as important as this for us is important.”
It seemed the only thing that could stop the Dodgers that night was third base umpire Mark Ripperger.
With two outs in the fourth, Ohtani boldly accelerated around third base with a hard grounder just inside the third base line. He could have stolen a run, except the ball bounced off Ripperger and was eventually scooped up by Manny Machado, who threw out Ohtani at the plate.
Cameras later captured Ohtani yelling at Ripperger in a rare display of anger.
A day after being on the brink of elimination, the Dodgers showed they could be emotionally prepared to deal with their intense little brothers.
To prove it, both they and their fans have one more opportunity, one more moment, one more game.
Dodger up.
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
