Thursday night was a memorable one for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as they crushed the San Diego Padres, 12-3, to complete the National League Division Series sweep and advance to the NL Championship Series for the fourth time in the last five years.
Not only did they cruise to a win, but a few of their players also set franchise postseason records to cap the night off.
Perhaps the most impressive one was Justin Turner, who recorded his 64th career postseason hit on an RBI single in the third inning. That passed franchise icon Steve Garvey for the most playoff hits as a member of the Dodgers.
Turner’s success in October is well-documented as he always seems to be the one coming up with big hits when his team needs it. The most notable came in Game 2 of the 2017 NLCS when he hit a walk-off home run against the Chicago Cubs.
It was the first walk-off homer for the Dodgers since Kirk Gibson’s famous blast in the World Series in 1988. Gibson and Turner are the only Dodgers to ever hit a walk-off home run in the postseason.
Turner also broke a Dodgers franchise record simply by taking the field, as it marked his 59th career postseason game played with the team. The previous all-time mark was held by Yasiel Puig, who surpassed Andre Ethier in 2018.
Will Smith sets record for most hits in game
One of the other franchise records that was broken in Game 3 was by Will Smith, who went 5-for-6, marking the first five-hit game in Dodgers postseason history.
Smith had been hitting the ball hard all series but had nothing to show for in going into Game 3. He made sure to change that, earning two doubles and three singles while driving in three runs.
The organization has been high on Smith as their catcher of the future for years now, and he has shown why ever since being called up in 2019.
Urias sets postseason relief record
Julio Urias didn’t get the start for the Dodgers in Game 3, but he was their bulk reliever, tossing five exceptional innings out of the bullpen.
Urias allowed just one hit and an unearned run in his outing, striking out six while walking one to earn his first career postseason win. The six strikeouts were able the most by a relief pitcher in Dodgers playoff history, capping off what was an exceptional night all around.
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