On Sunday night, following the San Diego Padres blowout victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. was asked to describe his relationship with the fans at Dodger Stadium.
“Wild,” he said smiling.
Little did he know that adjective would also be apropos to describe the pivotal Game 3 of the series at Petco Park on Tuesday evening.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a grand slam, but the Dodgers comeback fell short in a wild 6-5 loss to the Padres in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. The Dodgers now trail the best-of-five series two games to one.
Ironically, Game 3 began in an almost identical way as Game 2, when Mookie Betts hit another deep fly ball to left field that saw Jurickson Profar leap into the stands to rob him of a home run.
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The start of Game 2 vs. Game 3 for Mookie Betts pic.twitter.com/H3w2LE6JGr
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 9, 2024
Betts, believing he had been robbed again, began trotting back to the dugout after rounding first base. However, the ball had bounced off of Profar’s glove and into the seats for a solo homer that gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, and snapped Betts 0-for-22 postseason streak at the plate.
MOOKIE WOULD NOT BE DENIED THIS TIME! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/BpM2Ylug3S
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
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"Last game he robbed it and acted like he didn’t catch it, and so I thought it was the same thing, but I was fortunate it actually went over," said Betts of the home run. "We lost, so there is no personal goals out there right now."
Things turned from wild to weird when everything went sideways for the Dodgers in the bottom of the second inning.
Manny Machado led off with a single up the middle. Jackson Merrill hit a groundball innocently to first base that Freddie Freeman threw to second to start the double play.
However, Machado ran inside the base path, blocking the throw second and the ball went into left field.
“I thought me made a last second move inside the line," said Dodgers' shortstop Miguel Rojas. "I’m pretty clear that the rules say that you have to establish a lane and he was running on the dirt until the last second when he ran towards the grass aggressively. I felt he obstructed and that we would have gotten the out and probably the double play, but the umpire wasn’t looking at the runner, he was looking at second base and he said he didn’t see what was going on.”
One play later, a routine double-play ball was hit to short, but Rojas opted to run to the bag instead of toss it to second. When the dust settled, all runners were safe and the game was tied at 1-1.
"I made a bad decision there for the play and my health," said Rojas who left the game the following That play happens to me a bunch of times in my career and 99 percent of the time I get the runner. Today was probably the only time I didn’t get the runner at second base. I felt that was the best way to get two outs there. I didn’t know the whole thing was going to happen after, but getting one out there was probably the best decision.”
Everybody is safe!!! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/QxT8vJQ1sh
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
Former Dodger, David Peralta followed with a two-run double and the Padres took a 3-1 lead.
David Peralta! @Padres lead! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/jqH3YH7Wj0
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
Three batters and more bad defense later, Tatis Jr. blasted a two-run shot off the scoreboard in left field and faster than a cheetah on it’s lunch break San Diego had staked a 6-1 lead.
"I just blacked out, started screaming at my dugout, just the energy through the roof, especially that type of inning that we built after two outs," said Tatis Jr. of his two-run blast and the six runs San Diego scored in the second inning.
NANDO! PANDEMONIUM!!! #NLDS pic.twitter.com/mEWBVBqMrc
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
"There was a bunch of mayhem and then I made a bad 0-2 pitch and give up the homer to Tatis," said Dodgers' starter Walker Buehler of the six-run second inning. "You can’t give up six runs in an inning in the playoffs and expect to win. At the end of the day I put us in a really bad spot, and even though we fought back, the spot was too big.”
That might have been all she wrote for the Boys in Blue in past postseasons, after all they didn’t put up more than a gentle whimper after falling behind all three games in last season’s NLDS sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But that team did not have Shohei Ohtani or Teoscar Hernandez on it.
The Dodgers new sluggers put up plenty of fight in the top half of the following inning.
After a leadoff single by Rojas, Ohtani followed with a single to center, and Betts made it three straight to load the bases for Hernandez, who played the role of hero for Los Angeles.
TEOSCAR HERNÁNDEZ GRAND SLAM!
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2024
WHAT IS GOING ON????? #NLDS pic.twitter.com/urE1xfJIQD
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Hernandez’s homer silenced the stunned crowd and turned a five-run lead into a one-run barn-burner with one swing. Suddenly, the Dodgers had new life, and a reinvigorated Walker Buehler went back out to the mound and dominated.
“Obviously that was a really good hit by Teo, and it really brought us back into the game and I was very impressed by him in that moment," said Ohtani through a translator of the Dodgers four-run response in the top-half of the third. "We made a lot of mistakes on our part that cost us some runs, but we were able to fight back. The key tomorrow is to make sure the momentum is on our side.”
Buehler and the Dodgers’ bullpen did their best to keep the game a one-run lead, but the Padres’ bullpen was even better, keeping the score where it was, squashing all hopes of another Los Angeles comeback.
The Dodgers went a combined 1-for-21 after the grand slam, and are now 1-52 when trailing by five runs or more.
For the third straight postseason, the Dodgers find themselves in familiar territory: facing elimination in a hostile environment, with their backs against the wall and their season on the brink.
We can write all the cliches we want, but the calculus is simple: win or your season is over.
“We have to win or go home. That’s the only thing to think about," said Rojas."
Game 4 of the best-of-five NLDS series is Wednesday night at Petco Park with first pitch scheduled for 6:08PM PT.
