Dodgers 9 Padres 4: Three Games Left

The Dodgers avoided the sweep and remained alive in the hunt for home field in the first round of the playoffs.

The Dodgers won their final game against San Diego this season. They finished the season 11-8 against the Padres and won their 91st game of the season. With only three games remaining, there’s still a chance for them to match their highest win total since 2009.

Dodgers Starter

Julio Urias gave up a leadoff double to Manuel Margot. He allowed a pair of walks, but threw three solid innings for the Dodgers.

He was pulled after the fourth with only 58 pitches. If he is named the fourth starter for the postseason, this could very well be how he’s used. It essentially becomes a bullpen game, but if the Dodgers have another starter-turned-reliever throw behind him, that can get the Dodgers six quality innings.

Urias did what neither Jose De Leon or Kenta Maeda could do, which is keep the Padres off the board. Maeda’s a lock for the third starter spot in the postseason, but it’s getting a lot easier to see Urias get a potential game four in the NLDS.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Dodgers handle it if they advance past the DS. Urias is at 122 innings pitched this season between the minors and majors. There’s no hard pitch count for him, but 130 seems like a nice round number. That could mean one postseason start and a bullpen appearance, that could mean two short starts with Brett Anderson/Ross Stripling/Alex Wood working behind him.

It was another tuneup spring training type of start, but Urias showed what he needed to. He looked mostly sharp and got him self in and out of a jam. If this is the last we see of Urias, it’s been an incredible rookie year. Hopefully, he gets a shot in October.

Dodgers Offense

It looked like the same old Dodgers early on, as they got runners on but couldn’t bring them home against a lefty. They finally got to Christian Friedrich in the fifth, thanks to a guy that usually doesn’t start against lefties.

Rob Segedin drilled the first triple of his major league career with one out in the fifth. Joc Pederson followed that up with a double to left-center to bring home Segedin. In true Dodger fashion, Pederson was stranded at second.

Charlie Culberson continued his torrid hitting in the sixth with a leadoff double to right field. He’s absolutely playing himself onto the playoff roster. Justin Turner singled him home, and Yasiel Puig followed that up with a double. After a pair of outs, Segedin drew a walk to load the bases and end Friedrich’s night. Jose Torres threw a wild pitch to score a run, and Pederson followed that up with another loud double to clear the bases and give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead.

They added onto the lead in the seventh with a two-out rally off Leonel Campos. Turner and Puig hit back-to-back singles, and Carlos Ruiz brought them both home with a two-run double.

The Dodgers added even more in the eighth, started off with a Segedin double. Andrew Toles pinch ran and scored on an Andre Ethier single. Toles’ hamstring seemed to cramp up at the end of yesterday’s game, so it was good to see him run and score from second. Andrew Toles and Yasiel Puig are both locks for the playoff roster according to Roberts, so Ethier’s chances seem low.

The game went full on spring training in the ninth, as Toles added an RBI single to drive in Micah Johnson, who collected his first hit as a Dodger.

Dodgers Bullpen

Once again, the Dodger bullpen was busy tonight. Jesse Chavez was first out of the bullpen and had a bit of rotten luck in the fourth. He allowed four straight singles, and none of them were exactly crushed. Two runs scored off those singles, but he got a strike-him-out throw-him-out double play to escape.

Brett Anderson came on in relief for the first time since 2013. He allowed two hits in the fifth and sixth innings, but kept the Padres off the board. He got an out in the seventh, but an Enrique Hernandez error and a single chased him from the game.

Josh Fields inherited Anderson’s mess in the seventh. Fields struck out Dodger killer Hunter Renfroe and got Derek Norris to fly out to end the threat. He’s allowed one earned run in September and and allowed one of the five runners he’s inherited to score, so he could sneak on the postseason roster.

Alex Wood allowed a single in the eighth, but faced the minimum as he induced an inning-ending double play.

Adam Liberatore finished off the game in the ninth. He allowed an unearned run after a Toles error put Margot on second. Jon Jay singled him in to make it 9-3, and a double made it 9-4. Liberatore ended the game with a strikeout.

Other Stuff

The Nationals won earlier today, so their magic number to clinch home field in the NLDS is down to one. Safe to say, the Dodgers will be in DC on October 7th.

Next: Jason's Thank You to Vin Scully

The Dodgers kick off their final series of the regular season tomorrow. They head up to San Francisco, who will likely be a game up on the Cards for the second wild card spot after tonight. How beautiful would it be for the Dodgers to keep the Giants out of the postseason. They have three games together while the Mets travel to Philly and the Cardinals host the Pirates.