Here’s what you need to know
Dodgers take Game 1 of NLDS, beat Padres 5-3
⚾ Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — FINAL
Dodgers reliever Chris Martin came in for the ninth inning, securing the victory for the Dodgers in the series opener.
He fielded the first out of the inning, a grounder hit softly between the mound and first base by Josh Bell. Martin chased after the ball, scooping it with his glove and tagging first base.
By then, the home crowd started to clear out, with a win in sight.
Martin got his second batter, Wil Myers, to ground out.
Jake Cronenworth made a little more noise for the Padres, getting a single. He never left first base.
Martin got Ha-Seong Kim to fly out, ending the game.
Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol combine for scoreless eighth
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — End of the eighth
Alex Vesia deflected a Jurickson Profar comebacker, headed for his face, with his glove. The ball dropped to the ground in front of Vesia, who paused for only a moment to find the ball, then threw it to first for the out.
Juan Soto then flew out to left, after which Vesia was pulled. He departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Brusdar Graterol came on to finish the eighth. Graterol needed just one pitch, on which he got Manny Machado to fly out.
It rained very briefly, the light drops prompting some fans to use the rally towels as cover. The light precipitation stopped as Padres reliever Nick Martinez kept the Dodgers from reaching base in the eighth.
Dodgers maintain two-run lead over Padres heading into eighth inning
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — End of the seventh
Alex Vesia replaced Evan Phillips to start the seventh inning. Phillips pitched just one inning in relief, walking one batter and striking out one.
Vesia struck out Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim. He gave up a single to Trent Grisham, but departed the mound fired up after striking out Austin Nola. That final call was briefly delayed after home plate umpire Tripp Gibson deferred to first base umpire Chris Segal to confirm the strikeout.
Padres reliever Pierce Johnson, who pitched two clean innings, was replaced by Tim Hill for the seventh. Hill cleared through the Dodgers in order, with Freddie Freeman and Will Smith grounding out and Max Muncy striking out.
Evan Phillips gets into trouble, but Dodgers ensure no further Padres runs score
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — End of the sixth
Evan Phillips walked Juan Soto on seven pitches. Phillips and Max Muncy then stopped and stared at a dribbler Manny Machado hit that stayed fair of the third-base line.
Josh Bell came into the game to pinch-hit for Brandon Drury. Phillips struck out Bell in the eight-pitch at-bat, on a 94 mph cutter.
The strikeout re-energized the Dodger Stadium crowd. The rally towels were fervently waved by the announced crowd of 52,407 as Gavin Lux, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman turned a double play on a Wil Myers ground ball to end the inning.
Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and Trea Turner then went down in order the bottom of the sixth.
Julio UrĂas done after five innings, replaced by Evan Phillips
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — Start of sixth
The Dodgers had no response for the Padres to close out the fifth with reliever Pierce Johnson on the mound. Julio UrĂas’ night was done after five innings of work.
Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips replaced him to start the sixth.
UrĂas gave up three earned runs on four hits, and he struck out six batters. He threw 79 pitches, 58 for strikes.
Padres get on scoreboard in fifth, Wil Myers hits solo home run
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 — Middle of the fifth
Julio UrĂas gave up his first run of the night, a solo home run to Wil Myers — and three runs total — and the Padres found themselves on the scoreboard in the fifth inning.
The Dodgers did call for a review of the home run after the ball ricocheted off the hands of a fan near the outstretched glove of left fielder Trayce Thompson.
The call on the field stood and Myers’ home run was upheld. The fan that wound up with the home run ball ended up throwing it back onto the field.
Jake Cronenworth followed the home run with a single and Ha-Seong Kim hit a double.
After a brief mound visit with UrĂas, Trent Grisham drove in Cronenworth on a groundout.
Kim then scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Nola, beating out the throw to home as Will Smith tried to tag out Kim after making a catch with his bare hand.
Julio UrĂas blanks Padres through four innings
Dodgers 5, Padres 0 — End of the fourth
Julio UrĂas and the Dodgers have not allowed a single Padres run to score over four innings.
Juan Soto lined out to Cody Bellinger in center, then UrĂas struck out his last two batters — Manny Machado and Brandon Drury — of the inning.
Between batters, the FS1 broadcast continued to pan to Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, in attendance at Dodger Stadium for Game 1 of the NLDS.
Freddie Freeman reached base on a six-pitch walk. He was left stranded Will Smith popped out and Max Muncy struckout. Trea Turner struckout for the first Dodger out of the inning.
Dodgers bully Padres some more, score three in third
Dodgers 5, Padres 0 — End of the third
Trea Turner’s second at-bat of the game drew some hopeful gasps as the 3-and-2 slider he hit flew mere feet from the center field wall. The hit resulted in a double.
Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger and catcher Austin Nola had trouble with their pitch com devices, causing a brief delay of the game.
Then Will Smith hit an RBI double to score Turner.
Clevinger walked Max Muncy on five pitches, prompting a mound visit for Clevinger with Justin Turner at the plate and just one out.
Turner struck out swinging, but Gavin Lux hit an RBI double to end Clevinger’s night.
Padres reliever Steven Wilson replaced Clevinger with two outs. Clevinger’s final line after 2 2/3 innings included six hits, four earned runs including the first inning homer, two batters walked and three struckout.
Wilson loaded the bases after walking Trayce Thompson on six pitches, then appeared to hit Cody Bellinger in the hand. The Padres challenged the call, but after review, it was overturned.
Bellinger ended up reaching first with another Dodgers run scoring after Padres first baseman Wil Myers could not catch or make a play on the grounder Bellinger hit toward him.
Mookie Betts flew out to center, ending the inning.
Julio UrĂas continues dominance, strikes out three more
Dodgers 2, Padres 0 — Middle of third
Julio UrĂas’ dominance over the Padres continued as he logged two more strikeouts — to his first two batters of the third, Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham — on the night.
His third batter of the inning, Austin Nola, hit a double to the left field corner. UrĂas didn’t give Nola a chance to advance, striking out his fourth batter of the game, Jurickson Profar.
Julio UrĂas gets his first strikeout of the night
Dodgers 2, Padres 0 — End of the second
Julio UrĂas got his first strikeout of the night in the second inning, with a 2-and-2 four-seam fastball to Brandon Drury.
He got through the minimum batters again after Wil Myers and Jake Cronenworth both flew out to left.
Trayce Thompson, Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts went down in order, grounding out, striking out and flying out.
Dodgers still lead 2-0.
Julio UrĂas delivers scoreless first; Trea Turner hits first postseason homer as a Dodger
Dodgers 2, Padres 0 — End of the first inning
Julio UrĂas, whose introductory song was played live by Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuellar, has lived up to expectations so far. UrĂas needed just 12 pitches to get out of the first.
UrĂas got Jurickson Profar to easily groundout on six pitches. Profar fouled one of those to the Dodgers dugout railing. Juan Soto also grounded out. Manny Machado got more boos from the Dodger crowd before the stadium announcer even said his name for his at-bat. The booing was accompanied by a “Manny sucks” chant.
Trea Turner sent the third pitch to him into the night for the first run of the game and an early Dodgers lead. It was Turner’s first postseason home run with the Dodgers.
Turner’s hit, off of Padres’ starter Mike Clevinger, electrified the home crowd, with more “Let’s go Dodgers” cheers ringing out.
Will Smith reached on a double that dribbled down the left field line. Max Muncy drove Smith in on a RBI single to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
Justin Turner walked to put two Dodgers on base.
Turner and Muncy were left stranded after Gavin Lux lined out.
Pregame festivities get Dodger Stadium crowd hyped
Like any typical Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuellar serenaded fans as both teams continued to prepare on the field for Game 1 of the NLDS. This was anything but a typical Tuesday at Dodger stadium.
A mix of boos and deafening cheers rang about as the live video feed at the stadium panned between Dodgers and Padres players, a trend that continued when both starting lineups were announced. A significantly louder boo was aimed at Padres third baseman Manny Machado.
Dodgers pitcher Julio UrĂas made his way out to center field in a hoodie to stretch. A camera panned to him and the crowd accumulating cheered for the pitcher leading the home team off.
The pregame Dodger hype video, of course, gave way to the first round of rally towel waving around the stadium, fans obliging only too gladly at the “get loud” signs.
Dodger flags waved over both dugouts at the announcement of the team, from its coaches to its players. Fireworks launched from center field as the Dodgers starters were announced.
Opera singer Augie Castagnola sang the national anthem, complete with more fireworks and a “Let’s Go Dodgers” chant that erupted when Castagnola finished.
Former Dodgers Steve Sax and Eric Karros threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The Dodgers also played a video in tribute to Vin Scully, who died this summer, concluding the pregame festivities with a clip of Scully delivering his signature phrase, “It’s time for Dodger baseball.”
Talk through it: Dodgers stars share the secrets of their success at the plate
The most important 15 minutes of the day happen hours before first pitch.
That’s when, home or road, day or night, opposing ace or patchwork bullpen game awaiting them on the mound, every member of the Dodgers lineup will gather in the batting cages near their clubhouse.
They’ll sit in a group, study-session style.
And they’ll start to talk — about that game’s pitcher, about their plan of attack and about how to raise the bar for baseball’s best offense a little higher.
Hitters’ meetings like this are standard around baseball, a daily staple of life in the majors.
After bumpy start, Freddie Freeman finally feels at home with Dodgers
There are some days Freddie Freeman’s commute is simple.
He’ll take the 405 Freeway to the 110 Freeway, cruise into the far-left fast-track lane and arrive at Dodger Stadium from his house in Orange County in well under an hour.
Then there are days like Monday.
“I started on the 73,” Freeman said. “Then, I went to the 405, I went to the 605, to the 105, to the 710, to the 5, to the 101.”
He stopped for a breath, and a laugh.
“Today was every freeway you could possibly take,” he said. “But I actually did it all right. It was only like an hour, 10 minutes today, which is fine.”
10 eye surgeries by age 10. How Julio UrĂas beat the odds to become the Dodgers’ ace
CULIACĂN, Mexico — Carlos UrĂas has a routine before watching every one of his son’s starts: He plugs in a Virgen de Guadalupe light fixture hanging in the hallway just off the living room and prays.
La Virgen was bright on a recent Sunday morning, colorfully illuminating the dim white space. A few minutes after 10, before Julio UrĂas took the mound 2,000 miles away in Miami, Carlos approached her. He took off his Dodgers cap, whispered some words and offered the sign of the cross.
“God has been good,” he said. “I have a lot to be thankful for up there.”
Julio CĂ©sar UrĂas hasn’t spent a summer here in a decade. Not since the boy with the bad left eye and gifted left arm signed with the Dodgers to continue a life already with more bright moments and dark days than most of his peers will ever experience.
The 26-year-old left-hander is a former hotshot prospect who made his big league debut as a teenager, struggled to find his footing with the Dodgers, underwent major shoulder surgery, served a 20-game suspension after being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, and returned to fulfill the outsized on-field expectations that originally awaited him.
Yes, Dodgers’ Julio UrĂas is in the Cy Young race. Here’s why
We have heard enough about how Aaron Judge is the only rightful candidate for the American League most valuable player award. He’s not.
We also have heard enough about how Sandy Alcantara is the only rightful candidate for National League Cy Young award.
He’s not. What the Julio?
The Cy Young could be fairly won by Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves, Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks, or Carlos Rodon of the San Francisco Giants. But with Alcantara, the Miami Marlins’ ace, and Julio UrĂas as the likely top two, the NL Cy Young voting race offers an intriguing case study — not only in how we evaluate pitchers, but in how teams deploy them.
UrĂas, the Dodgers’ star, won 20 games last year. He finished seventh in Cy Young voting.
Haunting memories of last year are driving Max Muncy this postseason
All of October last year, Max Muncy’s mind worked in a typical meticulous way.
He would watch at-bats and think about how he would attack the pitcher. He would see a leverage situation and imagine how he would alter his approach. He would sit in the Dodgers dugout and long for the chance to walk to the plate.
But then, Muncy would look down at the giant metal brace keeping his tattered elbow in place, think about the catastrophic injury that had ended his year on the last day of the regular season and reluctantly resign himself to his inactive role on the bench.
“It didn’t matter,” he said. “I wasn’t part of it.”
The â€Adorable Little Padres?’ Dodger fans should know there is plenty to hate
There is one significant problem with this feisty, frothing, fearsome rivalry between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
It’s not a rivalry.
A rivalry requires dueling emotions from two teams, two fan bases, two cities … and this involves only one.
The Padres fans deplore the Dodgers. The Dodgers fans shrug.
The Padres fans see the Dodgers and immediately break into passionate boos. The Dodgers fans see the Padres and immediately think, hey, we should plan our next weekend trip to Del Mar!
San Diego thinks Los Angeles is evil. Los Angeles thinks San Diego is cute.
Padres’ Trent Grisham hopes consistent faith carries on against Dodgers in NLDS
It’s a common refrain as September turns to October and playoff-bound major leaguers transition from regular-season to postseason mode: “You can’t just turn it on this time of year.”
Unless you’re Trent Grisham, who must have missed that memo.
The San Diego Padres center fielder had a brutal end to an awful regular season, batting .107 with a .345 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, one homer and four RBIs in September and early October to cap a year in which he hit .184 with a .626 OPS, 17 homers and 53 RBIs.
The left-handed-hitting Grisham struggled so much down the stretch that he started only six times in 15 games before the Padres clinched a playoff spot Oct. 3, yielding the bulk of the playing time in center field to rookie Jose Azocar. Grisham reached base only eight times in his final 55 plate appearances.
How the Dodgers’ mariachis have become a very L.A. tradition
A crowd gathered between Sections 308 and 310 in the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Anticipation hummed. It was 6:19 p.m. last Tuesday and the show was about to start.
Not the show with Mookie Betts and Justin Turner and Freddie Freeman. The one with the eight-piece mariachi — seven men and a woman — wearing white charros with Dodger blue moños, or bow ties, for a dash of color that gives the ballpark a feel unlike any other in Major League Baseball.
Every Tuesday this season, the Dodgers have hosted a mariachi to play before and during games. Most times, the featured group was Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar, and they’ll return this week for the first playoff game against the San Diego Padres.
Dodgers roundtable: After 111 wins, can they get the 11 most-important ones?
It’s been a magical season for the Dodgers, their franchise-record 111 wins earning them home-field advantage throughout the postseason, which for them begins Tuesday night against the winner of the New York Mets-San Diego Padres wild-card series. That best-of-three series, with all games slated for Citi Field, begins Friday.
Win all their games at Dodger Stadium and Dave Roberts’ team will be champions for the second time in three seasons.
In a roundtable discussion moderated by Times baseball editor Hans Tesselaar, Times reporters Jack Harris, Jorge Castillo, Mike DiGiovanna and Bill Shaikin discuss the Dodgers’ chances as they pursue an eighth title in their history.
Dave Roberts explains decision to start Trayce Thompson in left field
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was Trayce Thompson’s at-bat quality that sold him on starting in left field for Game 1 of the team’s division series with the San Diego Padres.
Chris Taylor is available for the Dodgers, as is Joey Gallo.
Roberts explained that although Taylor is ready, he has not logged many at-bats lately.
“Definitely going to be viable here in this series,” Roberts said. “But right now I just feel good with Trayce and just the at-bat quality.”
Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Padres in the NLDS
Oh, you again? Or would that be, Yu again?
The Dodgers will face a familiar and sometimes feisty foe in the National League Division Series after the San Diego Padres and Joe Musgrove sent the 101-win New York Mets home for the winter with a 6-0 victory in the decisive third game of their wild-card series at Citi Field on Sunday night.
The Padres spoiled what many fans — and national television executives — hoped would be a bicoastal playoff showdown between the Dodgers and Mets by beating up Max Scherzer in Game 1 and riding Musgrove’s dominant start — seven shutout innings, one hit, five strikeouts — in Game 3.
But they’ll face a more formidable challenge in the 111-win Dodgers, who have beaten up on their Southern California rivals for the past 12 years like a big brother bullying a little brother.
Trea Turner hopes to break bad habits and be his old self come playoffs
Four hours before the first pitch, Trea Turner was already at the plate.
Normally, early batting practice isn’t the place you find two-time All-Stars with near .300 batting averages and a hitting title already on their resume.
But for the last several weeks of the regular season, it became a familiar part of Turner’s pregame routine — another indication that, in spite of another solid season for a 29-year-old considered to be one of the game’s best hitters, he hasn’t felt like the best version of himself for much of the year.
“I don’t know,” he said last week, shaking his head moments after another of his early batting practice sessions in an empty Dodger Stadium. “I feel like I haven’t done very much right this year, in my head.”
Turner’s baseline statistics bely such frustration.
Craig Kimbrel off Dodgers’ NLDS roster; Blake Treinen, Dustin May, Miguel Vargas are on
On the morning of their postseason opener Tuesday, the Dodgers released a 26-man National League Division Series roster that contained few surprises.
Outfielder Chris Taylor was included as expected, after overcoming neck stiffness that cost him the final week of the regular season and required a cortisone injection.
Reliever Blake Treinen has a spot in the bullpen despite missing most of the regular season, including the entire last month, with his oft-injured shoulder apparently healthy enough to handle the workload of a best-of-five playoff series that includes only one off day.
Is a World Series title the Dodgers’ only definition of success? It depends who you ask
Clayton Kershaw wasn’t sure how to answer the question.
“Definition of success?” Kershaw repeated. “I mean, do you have to have an answer to that?”
The truth is you don’t. Not everything requires a label. Not everything needs to neatly fit in a box. Not everything is success or failure, good or bad. There’s nuance. There’s context.
But in the world of professional sports, the best teams often don’t receive that benefit of the doubt, especially if those teams have usually come up short of the ultimate objective when it matters most for a decade.
Kershaw has been the centerpiece for the most successful stretch in Dodgers history. They’re about to play in their 10th consecutive postseason. They’ve won the National League West nine of the last 10 seasons. No organization has won more baseball games over the last 10 years.
Dodgers lineup features only one surprise: Trayce Thompson starting in left field
The Dodgers’ Game 1 lineup was pretty much as expected, although featured one surprise.
Even against a right-handed starter in Mike Clevinger, Trayce Thompson will start in left field, getting the nod over Joey Gallo, a lefty, and Chris Taylor, who made the NLDS roster after battling a neck injury during the last week of the regular season. Thompson will bat eighth.
The rest of the Dodgers’ lineup was as expected.
Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are the top four hitters. Max Muncy and Justin Turner will bat fifth and sixth, with Muncy at third and Turner as designated hitter.
Gavin Lux is at second base, batting seventh. Cody Bellinger is in center, rounding out the order in the nine spot.
Here is a full look:
How to watch the Dodgers vs. Padres series; betting lines for Game 1
What you need to know: The Dodgers open their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, a team they beat 14 times in 19 games during the regular season.
The Dodgers, who won the National League West with a franchise-best record of 111-51, had a first-round bye while the Padres (89-73) defeated the New York Mets in three wild-card series games at New York.
Betting lines for Game 1
Dodgers to start Julio UrĂas in Game 1, expect a tough NLDS
When the Dodgers gathered for a team dinner at the Palm steakhouse downtown on Sunday night, the game that would determine their National League Division Series opponent was on the TV.
It just wasn’t the sole center of attention.
After an 111-win season in which they exacted their superiority over almost every other team in the league, the Dodgers insisted they weren’t too caught up in who their first postseason opponent would be.
That didn’t change on Sunday night, when the San Diego Padres knocked off the New York Mets to set up an NL West clash against the Dodgers in this week’s best-of-five NLDS.