Dodgers and Padres are all tied up 

The San Diego Padres posted the best record in baseball since the All-Star break. In the second half of the season, the Padres went 43-20. The Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t too far behind, coming up with the second-best mark since the season intermission. 

There was much ado after the Dodgers won the first game of the National League Division Series. In Game 2 of the NLDS, the Padres showed they are a premier threat to the Dodgers’ chances of advancing to the National League Championship Series. 

San Diego unleashed a home run barrage that stole the thunder from the Boys in Blue. The Dodgers, behind Shohei Ohtani, slipped by the Padres with a 7-5 win in Game 1. In Game 2, the Padres posted a decisive 10-2 win at Dodger Stadium. 

Unlimited aura. pic.twitter.com/kLHbE6gD3H

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 7, 2024

“They just played a better baseball game than we did tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The Padres hit six home runs in the game with two dingers coming from Fernando Tatis. Tatis blasted home runs in the first and ninth innings for San Diego. With the series now tied at 1-1, the playing field for the two teams now shifts to Petco Park in downtown San Diego. 

After losing Game 1, the Padres were placed in a must-win scenario in Game. Tatis talked about his and the team’s approach to the second game of the series.  

“Just our mindset. How we are coming out of the gate with our foot on the pedal since the beginning. That’s one thing that we have been doing since the entire year,” Tatis said. “So we’re definitely not changing that and we’re just adding more pressure. And that’s what we’re capable of as a group. And we’re going to keep with that mentality.”

Starting the NLDS with a W. pic.twitter.com/ojZrNE4oUx

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 6, 2024

The first two games of the series might be a bad omen for the Dodgers. That’s because both starting pitchers were chased out of their respective games. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was bounced from the mound in Game 1 after giving up five hits and five runs in just three innings. 

In Game 2, Jack Flaherty lasted a little longer than his teammate, pitching five and one-third innings and giving up five hits and four runs. The Padres are tied with the Dodgers largely because of the strong pitching by Yu Darvish. Darvish pitched seven innings and only surrendered three hits.

Shohei Ohtani (0-4), Mookie Betts (0-4), and Freddie Freeman (0-2) combined to go 0-10 in the game. In a postgame press conference, Darvish talked about facing Ohtani without having to deal with other players on base.     

 “I think it was important,” Darvish remarked. “I felt like I had really good concentration on the mound, just going batter by batter, and just great focus. And I did get in trouble a little bit in the second inning, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty good night.”

Top Image Caption: LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 06: San Diego Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts (2) celebrates hitting a home run during game two of the National League Division Series game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 6, 2024 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)