The Los Angeles Dodgers withstood an inauspicious beginning to a bullpen game as Julio Urias pitched well and the offense got humming in a 12-3 blow out of San Diego Padres in Game 3 to sweep the National League Division Series.
Announced Thursday morning as the starter, Dustin May only pitched one inning. He regularly hit triple digits with his fastball but wasn’t overly sharp.
After the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Adam Kolarek coming in to pitch backfired. Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham greeted him with consecutive singles to start the bottom of the second, and after an intentional walk to set up a potential inning-ending double play, Kolarek walked the tying run in.
Trent Grisham’s RBI infield single gave San Diego a lead and knocked Kolarek out of the game. Urias inherited a base-loaded jam and struck out Fernando Tatis Jr., propelling him to an impressive appearance.
Urias retired 10 batters in a row until Manny Machado’s leadoff single in the sixth inning. That was followed by a miscue as AJ Pollock came in too aggressively on a line drive that skipped off his glove for a two-base error.
With a pair of runners in scoring position and nobody out, Urias balked a runner in. Urias minimized the damage and by then the Dodgers had built a comfortable lead behind solid contact and timely hits.
Tatis’ throwing error on Corey Seager’s infield single allowed Mookie Betts to score from second base, tying the game in the third inning. Justin Turner’s RBI single put L.A. back ahead, Pollock added to it with a two-run single and Joc Pederson capped off the five-run inning by going the other way to drive in two more.
Will Smith’s RBI single in the fourth inning and Betts’ sacrifice fly in the fifth created more separation. Smith added to his big night with a two-run double down the right-field line in the ninth inning, and Cody Bellinger drove in two on a triple.
Smith finished with a game-high five hits, which set a Dodgers franchise record for most in a postseason game. He entered the game 0-for-11 in the playoffs thus far, though making plenty of hard contact along the way.
Turner breaks Dodgers postseason records
Thursday marked the 59th playoff game Turner played in with the Dodgers, which surpassed Yasiel Puig for the all-time mark in franchise history. Turner’s RBI single was his 64th hit in the postseason, moving him past Steve Garvey for most in Dodgers postseason history.
NLCS schedule
The Dodgers will meet the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, with Game 1 at Globe Life Field set for Monday. L.A. and Atlanta are the only two teams who have yet to lose a game this postseason.
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