One night after the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Wild Card Series, the San Diego Padres joined them in the National League Division Series by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in their first-round matchup.
The best-of-five NLDS between the Dodgers and Padres will be played entirely at Globe Life Park. As the No. 1 seed in the NL and with the best record in baseball, the Dodgers will be designated home team in Games 1 and 2, and if necessary a Game 5.
Of course, this year there was essentially no benefit to the Dodgers going 43-17. They did get to host the Wild Card Series at Dodger Stadium — but so did every other club that finished in the top four in playoff standings for their respective league.
The Dodgers faced an undermanned Milwaukee Brewers team that on top of other absences, lost Ryan Braun during Game 1. L.A. then rode Clayton Kershaw and timely hits from Austin Barnes and Mookie Betts to a Game 2 win.
The Padres were in a similar position as the Brewers, facing the Cardinals without Mike Clevinger and Dineslon Lamet. San Diego fell into an early deficit in each of the first two games but rallied Thursday to force a winner-take-all scenario at Petco Park.
They completed the series comeback by relying on a bullpen game — using nine relief pitchers in a 4-0 win Friday.
This marks the first time the Dodgers and Padres have faced one another in the postseason. L.A. won 6 of 10 head-to-head meetings this year, including taking two of three in San Diego last month.
The Dodgers entered the Dallas bubble on Friday evening, as players reunited with family members for the chartered flight. Dodgers ownership had been paying for family of players and coaches to quarantine separately from the team during the final week of the regular season and into the playoffs.
Padres vs. Dodgers NLDS schedule (start times TBA)
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 6, MLB Network or FS1
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 7, MLB Network or FS1
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 8, MLB Network or FS1
Game 4*: Friday, Oct. 9, FS1
Game 5*: Saturday, Oct. 10, FS1
*if necessary
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