Padres Ready for Anyone Dodgers Throw at Them in High Stakes NLDS Game 5

Padres manager Mike Shildt refused Thursday to be ruffled by the Dodgers’ caginess regarding their starter for Friday’s winner-take-all Game 5 in the National League Division Series.

“Somebody will show up and we’ll be ready for him,” he said.

Instead, Shildt, in his first year managing the Padres, put his cards on the table by naming starter Yu Darvish. He compared his team’s approach to an NFL Hall of Fame coach’s.

“We’re more like Vince Lombardi — power sweep, here it is, Yu Darvish is going to start, here’s our lineup,” Shildt said. “This is who we are and we’re going to compete and execute. If we do that, we’ll shake hands and pop champagne.”

Darvish is a veteran of playoff elimination games – he’s taken the mound four times in the contests, but he’s gone 0-4. That includes the Padres’ 2022 NL Championship Series loss to the Phillies and Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, when he made the start for L.A. at Dodger Stadium against the Houston Astros.

Yet, while speaking to reporters through interpreter Shingo Horie on Thursday, he was serene.

“Maybe it is the experience that I have accumulated up until today that’s making me feel calm right now,” Darvish, 38, told MLB.com.

Xander Bogaerts wants the offense to give Darvish a lift.

“I feel like if we can give him a little comfort early on, it would be nice.” the shortstop told MLB.com.

The Padres and Dodgers have split the NLDS games on their home field. The Friars opened the series with a 7-5 road loss then routed L.A. in Game 2 before turning to Petco Park for Game 3. They won it 6-5, but the Dodgers staved off elimination Wednesday before an eager Petco crowd, winning a bullpen game 8-0.

The Friars went 8-5 against the Dodgers in the regular season, including a split of the season-opening two-game series in South Korea. They had a 3-3 record at Dodger Stadium.

The stakes may be high for both teams – they are aiming to face the New York Mets in the NLCS beginning Sunday – but the Japanese contingent, Darvish and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, are eager to compete against each other.

Dodger manager Dave Roberts said Yamamoto “will be a part of” Game 5 even if he doesn’t start.

Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton that he wants Yoshinobu, his good friend, to be “able to see Darvish potentially.” As a child, Darvish was one of the superstar’s favorite players.

Darvish conceded too, that facing off with Yamamoto would be special.

“Just for us to be able to go out there and pitch on the same day, a playoff game, I think it means a lot,” he said.

Game 5 starts at 5:08 p.m., airing on Fox 5 San Diego.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.