Beginning on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, for just the second time in franchise history, the Los Angeles Dodgers will play the San Diego Padres in the postseason.
While the first National League Division Series matchup saw a three-game sweep by L.A. in 2020, the teams now face off with San Diego riding some momentum after eliminating the New York Mets.
In a season that saw the Dodgers set a franchise record of 111 regular-season wins and clinch the NL West title in just the 141st game, they also dominated the Padres this year winning 14 of the 19 head-to-head matchups across five series.
Despite San Diego compiling close to a 90-win season (89-73), the Dodgers handily won the NL West division for the ninth time in 10 seasons over the second-place Padres by 22 games.
Padres vs. Dodgers season review
April 22-24
With the first series taking place in San Diego, the Dodgers wasted no time in establishing a tone for the season by taking two of the first three games on the road and outscoring the Friars 18 to six.
In the opener, Julio Urías earned his first of the season as he allowed just one run across five innings of work. The Dodgers provided plenty of run support, including Mookie Betts hitting two home runs off of Nick Martinez.
Things then broke Padres’ way the next night, as Austin Nola hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to plate the winning run off of Justin Bruihl in the 10th inning.
In the rubber match, Clayton Kershaw was dominant, allowing just one earned run across five innings. Despite their bleak offense the night prior, the Dodgers exploded for 10 runs as Freddie Freeman and Cody Bellinger combined for three home runs in the win.
June 30-July 3
Mitch White delivered a strong outing in the series opener at Dodger Stadium, allowing just one earned run across 4.2 innings. Meanwhile, Justin Turner took Joe Musgrove deep for two home runs as part of a 3-for-3 night at the plate, leading to a 3-1 Dodgers win.
Despite White’s strong performance, Evan Phillips was credited with the win thanks to his 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
In the second game of the series, Tony Gonsolin and Blake Snell both had strong outings. Gonsolin pitched 7.2 innings of one-run baseball while Snell held the Dodgers to one run in five innings and striking out 12.
Later in the game, however, with both starters out, the Dodgers got to Craig Stammen on a Bellinger home run and Freeman RBI double propelled them to a 7-2 win.
The next day, as Tyler Anderson took the mound and delivered an outing that saw just one earned run against him in 6.1 innings. L.A. was quick to get to Padres starter Yu Darvish as Freeman, Turner and Will Smith each homered off the right-hander in the first inning.
The Dodgers would go on to plate five earned runs against Darvish, leading them to a 7-2 victory.
Looking for a dominant four-game sweep, Kershaw took the mound in the Sunday matinee and was brilliant. However, his seven scoreless innings were squandered by Craig Kimbrel as the Padres rallied for four runs in the ninth inning.
August 5-7
Back in Los Angeles for the second series matchup in a row, the Dodgers continued their dominance by sweeping all three games.
Gonsolin delivered a scoreless five-inning performance which earned him his 13th victory of the season. He was backed by Bellinger, Chris Taylor and Hanser Alberto each chipping in with two RBI.
In the second game, despite San Diego leading 3-2 after a back-and-forth start, a fifth-inning home run by Max Muncy off of Mike Clevinger gave all the momentum to the Dodgers. In addition to Muncy, Smith also homered as they both collected three RBI on the night.
In the series finale, four runs were all the Dodgers needed as their pitching kept San Diego scoreless to capture a sweep. Anderson was dominant on the mound, keeping the Padres off the scoreboard for seven innings while another Bellinger home run and two RBI from Freeman led the offense.
September 2-4
Almost exactly one month later, and with the Dodgers leading the NL West by 17 games, the Padres once again headed to Dodger Stadium for a four-game series.
With Los Angeles cruising towards another division title, the series opener saw Darvish dominate with seven innings of shutout baseball while striking out nine.
In just his third start since returning from injury, Dustin May allowed six earned runs across five innings as the Padres won 7-1.
They bounced back behind Urías logging six innings with just a solo home run to Manny Machado allowed.
The Dodgers tattooed Manaea yet again for eight earned runs in just 4.1 innings, and finished the night with four home runs in the comfortable win.
Looking to increase their division lead to 20 games despite San Diego leading by one through three innings, L.A.’s offense was able to come to life in the bottom of the fourth against Clevinger thanks to a Smith homer run, Bellinger bases-loaded walk, and Trea Turner two-run double.
The Padres fought back to get within a run, but Trayce Thompson provided late insurance with a homer.
September 9-11
Just one week later as the series shifted to Petco Park, the Dodgers took to the road looking to spoil the Padres’ Wild Card run as they had the division title captured.
Offenses were headlined by home runs from Trent Grisham and Thompson, and the game went into extra innings. After the Dodgers failed to score in the top of the 10th, Jake Cronenworth delivered a walk-off hit.
The Dodgers rallied against Snell the next night and Freeman hit a late home run in the 8-4 final.
In the series’ final game, the Dodgers’ offense was highlighted by four multi-hit games from Trea Turner, Betts, Justin Turner and Freeman.
While Musgrove struggled to keep the L.A. lineup quiet, Andrew Heaney allowed just one earned run across five innings.
September 27-29
With one week to go until the postseason and the Dodgers’ focus on remaining healthy while preparing for the playoffs, the late-season matchup lacked fireworks.
As Anderson and Snell delivered strong outings on the mound, the Padres got out to an early lead thanks to Wil Myers’ RBI single.
Rallying in the sixth inning, an infield hit from Max Muncy and a single from Taylor plated the tying runs for the Dodgers.
Tied at three and heading to the bottom of the 10th inning, the game was in Kimbrel’s hands but he walked Jorge Alfaro with the bases loaded to force in the winning run.
Down one in the series, the starters from both sides were phenomenal as Urías and Musgrove combined for 11 innings of scoreless baseball.
Looking for their record-setting 107th regular season win of the season, a 10th-inning sacrifice fly from Freeman would be the only run the Dodgers would score in the game, and it was all they needed. Tommy Kahnle converted his first save with the Dodgers.
Just before the calendar turned to October and in tuneup mode, the teams met for their final regular-season matchup on September 29. Using Brusdar Graterol as an opener, L.A. was propelled to a 5-2 win behind a Smith home run and Miguel Vargas’ three-RBI performance.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
