The Los Angeles Dodgers began their 2024 World Series journey with a National League Division Series showdown against the San Diego Padres for the second time in the last three years.
The Padres entered the matchup with all of the momentum on their side as they posted an MLB-best 43-20 record during the second half and won eight of 13 games against the Dodgers in the regular season.
L.A. was also missing several key contributors due to injury and seemingly had their backs against the wall. However, they ultimately prevailed by eliminating the Padres and advancing to the NL Championship Series.
During an appearance on the “On Base With Mookie Betts” podcast, Evan Phillips said the Dodgers were extra motivated to defeat the Padres:
“I feel like we were just so dialed in that series. I don’t want to say ‘it was personal,’ like literally personal, but there was some aspect about it. … So there was definitely an added level we all tapped into a little bit. Each guy, top to bottom on the roster.”
Phillips’ comments were in response to Betts saying the NLDS felt personal to the Dodgers after being eliminated by the Padres two years earlier.
The Dodgers won an MLB-best 111 games during the 2022 season but were defeated by the Padres in the NLDS. Joe Musgrove said at the time that the victory was a changing of the tide in the NL West.
San Diego appeared to be on their way to knocking out the Dodgers this year as well, but L.A. overcame a 2-1 deficit to turn the tables on their NL West rival.
The Dodgers did so on the backs of their pitching staff, which threw 24 scoreless innings against the Padres to end the NLDS.
Mookie Betts: 2024 Padres ‘way more talented’ than Dodgers
Betts said on the same episode of his podcast that the 2024 Padres were more talented than the Dodgers.
San Diego’s roster included multiple All-Stars such as Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arrarez, as well as rookie standout Jackson Merrill.
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