Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts make mockery of Padres' risky Dylan Cease choice

Mookie Betts' slump might've defined the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into Game 3 on the road in San Diego, but that loss was filled with so many varieties of drama that, by the end, very few recalled that Betts' early homer had snapped his personal history in half.

In case the good news got lost in the shuffle, Betts opted to remind Padres fans early in Game 4 on Wednesday, immediately punishing Mike Shildt's bravado.

After Robert Suarez recorded the final out of Game 3, Shildt decided that Dylan Cease would start on short rest for the first time in his life, rather than a rested Martín Pérez with a lower ceiling. Cease admitted he didn't know what to expect, but would give it a go.

Betts did. For the second consecutive first inning, he launched a home run to set the tone for the Dodgers. This time, they made the imprint of the first salvo stick around a little longer.

Dodgers rally early behind Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani off Dylan Cease

Cease's Game 1 start was rough, and involved Shohei Ohtani punching back from a 3-0 hole with an iconic three-run home run that seemed like it might set this series on a different trajectory than 2022's edition.

Somehow, the Padres regained all the momentum in the world, capped by a Game 3 without controversy, where the bullpen held Los Angeles silent after Teoscar Hernández's grand slam.

And, somehow, they undid it all by tabbing Cease to try it again on unfamiliar terms. Ohtani got him again in the second inning with a two-out single, extending his historically absurd streak with RISP. Betts did, too, tacking on to make it 3-0 early. A familiar lead, and San Diego hopes that they're the ones to erase it this time.

Still, they opened the door, and whatever happens from here is largely due to Schildt's attempt at creativity. Any observer, impartial or diehard Dodgers fan, would've declared LA dead coming off of Game 3's bizarre late flatlining. It just ... didn't seem like they cared as much as they should.

Shildt and the Padres, conversely, might've cared a little too much, and a hostile environment may now await them in Game 5.