ARLINGTON, Texas — Family members (quarantining with their respective teams) were invited to attend the National League Division Series games at Globe Life Field this week, set up in special seating areas at field level just past the dugouts.
The San Diego Padres’ family area was the more raucous. They brought Thundersticks to Game 1 and at least one vuvuzela to Game 2.
The Dodgers’ family section, by contrast, exuded more of a “been there, done that” vibe for most of the series.
Their significant others on the field for the Dodgers treated it like a business trip, taking care of theirs by collecting 14 hits – including a postseason record-tying five by Will Smith – in a 12-3 dismissal of the Padres on Thursday night, sweeping their best-of-five NLDS.
T-shirts and hats were passed out and a team photo was taken on the field. But the celebration was once again fairly tame – as it was after the division-clinching victory and last week’s Wild Card Series sweep.
“We did our job today. Move on to the next round,” Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock said. “We’re all excited. We’re happy. We’re going to celebrate together. But we did what we wanted to do. We did what we were supposed to do. Obviously, we’re going to celebrate that. But we expected it.”
The Dodgers will face the Atlanta Braves in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series beginning Monday (still at Globe Life Field). It is the Dodgers’ fifth trip to the NLCS in the past eight seasons – the Braves’ first since 2001. But both arrive undefeated in the postseason, the Dodgers having outscored the Milwaukee Brewers and Padres 30-11 in their five wins. The Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins by a total score of 24-5, pitching shutouts in four of their five games (the first time a team has done that to start the postseason since 1905).
“Everyone’s gone above and beyond,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of a team that has dominated during baseball’s pandemic season. “This is a unique year. It’s sort of, in a unique way, galvanized us. We have a lot of work still to do. But I’m really proud of everyone.”
The Padres faced the Dodgers with two arms tied behind their backs – injured starters Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger (who lasted just two innings in Game 1). Bullpen games were a way of life for them during their brief postseason visit. They used nine pitchers to shut out the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of their Wild Card Series.
They used 11 (an MLB record for any postseason game) with far less success Thursday.
What the Padres did out of desperation, the Dodgers did out of design Thursday.
With five starting pitchers to choose from – two who hadn’t even pitched in the series yet (Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin) – they gave the ball to Dustin May for Game 3. Then they took it away after just three batters and 16 pitches (five of which registered 100 or 101 mph). Adam Kolarek came in for the second inning, aimed at a left-handed stretch of the Padres’ lineup.
“It was kind of read-and-react,” Roberts said of using May as an opener after using him for two innings in relief in Game 1. “I just felt that Dustin had one, two innings, maybe three at the most. I felt like there was a good run after that for Kolarek and then having Julio (Urias) behind him it just kind of went that way. There was nothing really scripted like that. We just had guys lined up and good lanes for them.”
The strategy looked like another instance of the Dodgers’ sophisticated front office overthinking a pitching strategy in October, getting in their own way, when the Padres scored twice off Kolarek – albeit with soft contact and a pair of walks – in the second inning to take an early lead.
The merits of the strategy got stronger when Urias came in and struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. with the bases loaded. It got stronger when the Dodgers sent nine batters to the plate in the third inning and scored five times. It looked positively brilliant when Urias retired the first 10 batters he faced.
“You could talk about the play of the game was the first hitter that he faced,” Roberts said. “It was a bases-loaded situation. He punches Tatis. That could have been a different game. Right there, that just flipped the game.”
It was Urias’ second appearance as a “bulk” innings reliever in this postseason and he has allowed just one unearned run and four hits over eight innings – the equivalent of one outstanding start, spread out over two games like a sandwich maker running out of mustard.
By the time Urias gave up his only hit to the Padres, it was the sixth inning and the Dodgers had collected 11 hits of their own while building an 8-2 lead.
Smith had three singles and two doubles in the game, driving in three runs. It was only the ninth five-hit game in postseason history, the first since Albert Pujols had five hits (including three home runs) in Game 3 of the 2011 World Series across the street at the abandoned Ballpark in Arlington.“I go one at-bat at a time,” said Smith, who started the postseason 0 for 11 despite some solid contact. “As long as I’m finding good quality at-bats, good quality contact I’m happy. I never really got down on myself for not having any hits. Each new at-bat I could help the team win. But, yeah, it was nice to get some hits tonight.”
Cody Bellinger had two hits and three RBIs, including two on a triple. Pollock had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice. Mookie Betts was on base three times (a double and two walks) and scored each time. Justin Turner drove in a run with a single, his 64th postseason hit (a Dodgers franchise record).
“Records are cool,” Turner said. “Championships are better.”
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Dodgers take care of business, complete NLDS sweep of Padres - OCRegister
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