Although the Los Angeles Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series, there were several moments that easily could’ve altered the course of their success.
Chief among them was when the Dodgers trailed the San Diego Padres in the 2024 National League Division Series. On the brink of elimination, the Dodgers turned to a bullpen game in Game 4 because of not having enough healthy starting pitchers available. Furthermore, Freddie Freeman didn’t play because of his ailing sprained right ankle and a ribcage injury that wasn’t revealed until the offseason.
During a recent appearance on the “On Base with Mookie Betts” podcast, Max Muncy picked that as the one series he felt some doubt over whether or not the Dodgers would win.
“I mean, probably the Padres in ’24. After we went down 2-1, Freddie’s out, we’re going bullpen game. I think that’s an easy one,” Muncy said. “You show up to the field and you find out Freddie is not playing, it’s an elimination game, we don’t have a starting pitcher.
Although the deck was seemingly stacked against the Dodgers, Muncy did allow for the circumstances possibly helping take some pressure off the team.
“In all honesty, that mindset kind of helped us because we were just like, ‘Alright, well, we have nothing else to lose,'” Muncy recalled.
The Dodgers staved off elimination at Petco Park and then won Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. They proceeded to eliminate the New York Mets in six games to capture the pennant and needed five games to defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Padres vs. Dodgers postseason history
The 2024 NLDS marked the third time the Padres and Dodgers played in the postseason. Their first October matchup occurred in the 2020 NLDS, which the Dodgers swept. San Diego then extracted some revenge by upsetting the 111-win Dodgers team in the 2022 NLDS.
In terms of the regular season, the Dodgers have won the season series against the Padres in all but one year since 2011. The lone exception came in 2024, when the Padres won eight of 13 head-to-head matchups. Of course, the Dodgers ultimately atoned for that with their NLDS win.
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