For the third time in the past five seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to take on the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series.
The Padres completed their sweep of the Atlanta Braves on Monday to advance to the NLDS, while the Dodgers have been patiently waiting at Dodger Stadium after securing a first-round bye for a third consecutive year.
Finishing the 2024 regular season with a 98-64 record, the Dodgers barely missed out on winning at least 100 games for a fourth straight season. However, they did capture the National League West crown for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons, doing so against these very same Padres during their matchup on Sept. 26.
The Padres actually won the season series against the Dodgers for the first time since the 2010 season, winning eight of the 13 head-to-head matchups this year. This led to a pretty tight race for the NL West title down the stretch, but the Dodgers ultimately finished five games above the Padres in the standings.
Padres vs. Dodgers season review
March 20-21
The two sides were the first to kick off the 2024 MLB regular season with a pair of games taking place in Seoul, South Korea.
The Seoul Series was a highly anticipated matchup for many reasons, but perhaps none bigger than Shohei Ohtani’s first official game as a Dodgers after signing a massive 10-year, $700 million contract.
Southern California native Tyler Glasnow got the Opening Day nod for the Dodgers, showing a little bit of rust but ultimately getting the job done with five innings pitched and limiting the Padres to two runs. The Dodgers mounted a late inning comeback with a four spot in the top of the eighth inning to take the first game of the season.
The fans in Seoul were treated to an offensive explosion in the second game as the Dodgers and Padres combined for 26 runs and 34 hits. Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his highly anticipated debut for the Dodgers, but was ultimately chased out of the game after just one inning. The Padres were able to outlast the Dodgers in the barn burner to split the series.
April 12-14
Now back on home soil, the Dodgers got out to an early 7-3 lead at home as Ohtani, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernández all homered off of Padres starter Michael King. Yamamoto, making the fourth start of his MLB career, had a much better outcome against the Padres offense this time around.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers bullpen squandered the lead in the late innings and the Padres won in extras.
Dodgers rookie Gavin Stone had the first of what became many great starts in 2024, pitching 6.2 innings while only allowing 2 runs in a 5-2 Dodgers win. Betts led the way on offense, going 3-for-5 with two RBI.
In the rubber match, bullpen problems once again reared its ugly head, allowing three runs in the 7th inning to give the Padres a 6-3 lead. It didn’t help that the offense struggled to do anything outside of a three spot of their own in the fourth inning.
March 10-12
Glasnow and King had themselves a pitchers’ duel for the ages as the Dodgers and Padres played their first series of 2024 at Petco Park. Luis Arraez, newly acquired from the Miami Marlins, made quite the first impression on his new team as he delivered a walkout single of off Michael Grove in the ninth inning.
Unheralded offseason signing James Paxton continued to have an impressive start to his 2024 campaign as he shutdown the Padres offense for six innings before handing off to the bullpen. Hernández had one of his many monumental moments in 2024 with a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead that they rode all the way to the end of the game.
The Dodgers were unable to win the series against the Padres as the offense went completely silent against Yu Darvish. Walker Buehler made his second start of 2024 since returning from Tommy John surgery, and it was clear that there was still a lot he had to work through. Buehler allowed three runs over 3.1 innings picthed, with two walks and two strikeouts.
July 30-31
With a comfortable lead in the NL West standings, the Dodgers returned to Petco Park for a quick two-game series with the Padres.
The offense scored five runs in the first inning off of Padres’ starter Matt Waldron and proceeded to disappear for the next nine innings. Despite the offense’s inability to score more runs, the Dodgers still entered the bottom of the ninth with a 5-3 lead.
Blake Treinen, who has been a welcome return to the Dodgers roster in 2024, had an uncharacteristic slip-up as he attempted to close out the game. The Padres scored the last three runs of the game with two homers in the ninth and a walk-off single in the 10th.
Clayton Kershaw took the mound for the second time in 2024 after returning from the injured list in late July, but it did not go as well as his first start against the San Francisco Giants.
In fact, it was a historically poor performance by Kershaw’s extremely high standards. An early 7-1 Padres lead proved to be too much with the Dodgers offense being held in check by Dylan Cease and the Padres’ bullpen.
September 24-26
For those keeping track up to this point, the Dodgers have yet to win a series against the Padres so far in 2024. The Padres have won seven of the 10 head-to-head matchups, with two series wins and a two-game sweep.
For the last time in the 2024 regular season, the two teams met at Dodger Stadium with the division crown still up for grabs. For the Dodgers it was simple, win at least two out of the next three games to win the division. At the very least they needed to win one game to continue to control their own destiny.
For the Padres, they would have to pickup another sweep, or at the very minimum, take two games, if they wanted any chance at winning the division.
In the series opener, the Padres tagged Dodgers’ starter Landon Knack for four runs to take a 4-1 lead by the fourth inning. The Dodgers had some opportunities to cut into the deficit throughout the game, but had seven runners left on base.
Their best opportunity to turn the tides was in the ninth with three consecutive hits from Will Smith, Tommy Edman, and Kiké Hernández cut the Padres’ led to just two and set up a two runners on and nobody out situation with the lineup set to flip after Miguel Rojas. That game famously ended with Rojas hitting into a triple play to secure a 4-2 Padres victory.
In the second game of the series, Jack Flaherty made the biggest start of his tenure with the Dodgers since coming over from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline. He limited the Padres to three runs across five innings before handing it off to the Dodgers’ bullpen. Facing a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning, Gavin Lux and Ohtani came through with back-to-back clutch hits to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the sixth inning, Ohtani came through with one more clutch RBI base hit to swing the game back in the Dodgers’ favor. From there a combination of Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, and Michael Kopech preserved the Dodgers’ 4-3 lead and brought LA one step closer to a division title.
In the final game of the season series between these two clubs, the Dodgers did not keep the game quite as close as last night’s en route to crowning themselves as the victors of the NL West. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the seventh inning against the fearsome Padres bullpen, the Dodgers showed off their offensive prowess with seven runs across their final two innings at the plate.
The Dodgers’ bullpen closed out the 7-2 victory as the team shifted their focus to October.
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
