LOS ANGELES — Surprise, surprise.
The teams with the best records since the All-Star break — the Padres with 43 wins and the Dodgers with 42 wins — will play a fifth game today to decide who advances to the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
First pitch on FOX is at 5:08 p.m.
The teams’ aces will get the ball, too, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing off against Yu Darvish in the first MLB postseason matchup between Japanese-born pitchers.
“It’s a big deal,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “I mentioned it several days ago back home when asked about this series being able to stand on its own. What I love about this series, beyond the fact we’re going into a really cool Game 5, is the fact that Major League Baseball has done a fantastic job of making this an international game. I grew up, it was America’s game and hot dogs and apple pie and I guess I could put a plug-in for Chevrolet. But now it’s just an international game. Tomorrow the whole country of Japan is going to be watching and rightfully so.
“I think it’s fantastic that our game has those tentacles now.”
Darvish was always going to start this game for the Padres after beating the Dodgers with seven innings of one-run ball.
The Dodgers had to work their way to the Yamamoto decision as he’s allowed 13 runs and 13 hits in nine innings in three head-to-head matchups against the Padres.
Most recently, Yamamoto allowed five runs on five hits and two walks in three innings in Game 1 of the NLDS. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said the team believed they’ve cleaned up some potential tipping that may have led to the Padres’ success.
The Dodgers are coming off an 8-0 win in a bullpen game on Wednesday, but Yamamoto is still getting the ball to at least start the winner-take-all game.
“We don’t have the same as far as bullpen availability as we did, as far as up-downs and all that stuff,” Roberts said Friday afternoon. “So I think that realizing that Yoshinobu is here to be a top-end starter, and this is his time. I feel that we have really viable candidates behind him. But I certainly believe — we all feel good about the decision for him to start.”
As he was on Wednesday, Freddie Freeman (right ankle) is in the Dodgers lineup, while Miguel Rojas (groin) might be limited to a pinch-hit appearance.
Updated lineup:
Ohtani DH
Betts RF
Freeman 1B
Hernández, T. LF
Muncy 3B
Smith C
Hernández, K. CF
Lux 2B
Edman SS
Yamamoto P https://t.co/yB84ZHkkR4— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 11, 2024
Perhaps for now.
Freeman was scratched in Game 4, admitting later that it was a bit of “gamesmanship” as he knew he wasn’t playing Wednesday. On Friday, Roberts again left open the possibility of a change based on how Freeman go through pre-game work.
“Right now he’s in there,” Roberts said. “I feel good about him in there. He’s still going to go through his routine. If he doesn’t go, then we’ll adjust.”
As for the Padres, they are rolling out the same lineup they did on Wednesday, with back-to-back left-handers in David Peralta and Jake Cronenworth in the seven- and eight-holes.
They combined for three of the Padres’ seven hits despite providing a clear lane for Roberts to deploy lefties Anthony Banda and Alex Vesia.
Keep the faith. pic.twitter.com/ir9r9t3xOx
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 11, 2024
The start of a parade of relievers might be a problem regardless of when it starts as the Padres are hitting .363 in 16⅔ innings across six playoff games against starting pitchers and .165 in 34⅓ innings against relievers.
That makes it even more important for Darvish to keep the Padres in the game.
He beat the Dodgers on Sunday, holding Shohei Ohtani hitless in three at-bats and limiting the Dodgers to one run on three hits and two walks in seven innings.
Darvish had a 3.55 ERA and a .719 opponent OPS in five starts since returning to the rotation. Sunday’s start against the Dodgers was his first since throwing seven shutout innings at them in May.
In three regular season starts this season against the Dodgers, Darvish is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA, 12 strikeouts and an 0.89 WHIP over 15⅔ innings.
Betts back on track?
Mookie Betts was hitless in his last five postseason games dating back to the 2022 NLDS when Jurickson Profar reached into the stands on Sunday in Los Angeles to rob him of a first-inning homer, the start of another hitless game that ran his slump to 0-for-20 over six games.
Betts had become a talking point in LA. His own frustration was mounting.
Then Betts hit a ball on Tuesday that glanced off Profar’s attempt to rob him over another first-inning homer, a play that was so close that the slumping Dodgers star veered off the dirt and onto the grass to head to the dugout before finally realizing this ball had indeed gone out.
Then Betts homered again in the first inning in Wednesday’s win over the Dodgers and is suddenly 4-for-9 with three RBIs over the last two games.
While Betts’ pregame work included 300 to 400 swings before Game 3, “I think I just needed to see one fall,” he said, “ … and get a little confidence. I know my team did an amazing job. My teammates did an amazing job trying to … instill confidence in me. I had to turn off all social media because that was all negative, and I had to get some positive vibes in me. And my team did it. And I worked hard and finally saw one fall and I think we’re all right now.”