Shohei Ohtani's clutch efforts put Dodgers in position to clinch NL West in Padres series finale

The Dodgers' second game against the Padres was a must-win for LA. With the Padres taking the series opener in brutal fashion for the Dodgers, San Diego clung to control of their destiny in the division fight and clinched a postseason berth with an historic triple play.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, dropped their division lead to two games and provoked (deserved) outrage for a botched bunt opportunity.

Jack Flaherty was on the mound for the second game, following a bumpy four-inning start for Landon Knack. Flaherty lasted longer, pitching five innings, and looked pretty good throughout. He got into a jam in the second after a Manny Machado leadoff walk and a Jackson Merrill ground-rule double, watching two runs coming in to score on a Xander Bogaerts single and Jake Cronenworth RBI groundout. Luckily, Flaherty killed the Padres' momentum with two swinging strikeouts to end the inning.

Fernando Tatis Jr. tacked on a homer in the top of the fifth, surprisingly the only ball to leave the park across both slug-heavy lineups.

The Padres were scoring early, but so were the Dodgers, leading to a close back-and-forth game through six. Teoscar Hernández drove one in on a single in the bottom of the first, then Gavin Lux picked up an RBI in the bottom of the fourth.

But Shohei Ohtani, as per usual, was the man of the night. His RBI double to follow Lux and a walk for Miguel Rojas put the Dodgers up by one, and Ohtani was also the one to break the tie after Tatis' solo homer.

Shohei Ohtani drives in two in Dodgers' pivotal win against Padres to cling onto NL West lead

In the bottom of the sixth, Ohtani came up for his fourth plate appearance on the night. He'd already walked, struck out once, and then hit the double in the fourth. There was no better guy to break the tie, and Ohtani bullied fresh Padres reliever Adrian Morejon, working his way back from a 0-2 count to make it 2-2 before hitting a hanging slider hard to drive in Will Smith. That snagged the Dodgers a lead they would never relinquish -- oh, and he also stole his 56th base of the season right after that.

Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, and Michael Kopech were tasked with keeping the lead Ohtani gave them through the last three innings, and the Dodgers were playing it very safe; they even pulled Alex Vesia in the top of the seventh after he allowed a leadoff walk.

Between the three of them, they allowed only one more Padres batter to reach, which came when Kopech gave up a walk to Jake Cronenworth in the top of the ninth. Pinch runner Brandon Lockridge stole second, but he was stranded in scoring position as Donovan Solano struck out swinging for the final out.

No one wants the Dodgers to drop the series finale, but at least there's a little more wiggle room now if they do. The best the Padres can do now is run the table and hope the Dodgers stumble in Colorado, which all odds say certainly won't happen.