The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 2-0 in Game 5 of the National League Division Series Friday night.
Two solo home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández was enough for the Dodgers to advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2021.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto held off the Padres through five scoreless innings. His final stat line featured two strikeouts, two hits, and one walk. It was an ideal start for the 25-year-old right-hander who threw 39 strikes in his 63-pitch outing. The bullpen was tasked with doing the rest, and they did.
Yamamoto opened Game 5 at Dodger Stadium with a 1-2-3 inning on 10 pitches.
Yu Darvish struck out Shohei Ohtani to begin his outing for San Diego. Mookie Betts grounded out, but Freddie Freeman was the first Dodger to get on base with a single. The inning ended with Teoscar Hernández hit a pop fly to Padres first baseman Luis Arraez.
Manny Machado showed warning track power to start the second inning, but the ball was caught by Betts. Although Yamamoto walked Xander Bogaerts in the second inning, David Peralta grounded out to secure the final out. Through 24 pitches, Yamamoto earned two shutout innings.
Darvish walked Max Muncy in the bottom of the second. Will Smith then hit a ground ball to Manny Machado, which resulted in a double play. After the disappointing play, Kiké Hernández hit a 428-foot bomb to put the Dodgers on the board. Los Angeles now had a 1-0 lead over the Padres.
With Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arraez both on base in the top of the third, Yamamoto faced Fernando Tatis Jr. It was the first threat the right-hander had to overcome in the matchup. Yamamoto got Tatis to ground out giving the Dodgers a huge double play to end the inning.
Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts both grounded out in the bottom of the third. Shohei Ohtani hit a pop fly to Manny Machado. Ohtani is 0 for 12 with no runners on in this series.
Both lineups were practically silent in the fourth inning. Yamamoto and Darvish both had 1-2-3 innings. The Dodgers lead 1-0.
Yamamoto made his exit after the fifth inning. The right-hander did everything the Dodgers hoped he would do. Yamamoto managed to hold off a dangerous San Diego lineup through five scoreless innings. Evan Phillips replaced the starter at the mound.
Aside from the Hernández solo homer, Darvish managed to hold off the rest of star-studded Los Angeles lineup through five innings.
Phillips struck out Higashioka to open the sixth frame. Arraez grounded out and Tatis lined out to Teoscar Hernández.
Darvish persisted through the sixth inning. Edman, Betts, and Ohtani couldn’t get anything off of the San Diego right-hander. Darvish kept Ohtani at 0 for 3 in Game 5. Darvish retired 13 straight batters since the Kiké Hernández home run.
Phillips retired Jurickson Profar and Machado before he was replaced by Alex Vesia on the bump with two outs in the top of the seventh. Vesia struck out Padres rookie Jackson Merrill for the final out.
The Padres chose to keep Darvish on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Teoscar Hernández took advantage of that and hit a solo home run to put the Dodgers up 2-0.
Michael Kopech replaced Vesia in the eighth after the reliever exited the game with an apparent injury. Nevertheless, Kopech retired the side to set up Blake Treinen for the final three outs of Game 5.
Gavin Lux and Edman both grounded out in the bottom of the eighth. Tanner Scott struck out Shohei Ohtani to earn the final out.
Treinen came out for the Game 5 save. Freeman wasn’t at first for the final inning. Muncy replaced him, while Kiké Hernández went to third.
The final out of the game came from a ground ball from none other than Tatis. Game over, Dodgers head to the NLCS to face the New York Mets Sunday.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!
Local News
