Dodgers are on to the NLCS! Takeaways and all the action from NLDS Game 5
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Give credit to the Dodgers for showing … resiliency. That hasn’t exactly been their forte in recent postseasons, but they entered this series with a banged-up pitching staff, facing a Padres team that was red hot and brimming with, shall we say, expectations that it would knock off its hated rival. Freddie Freeman was hurt and ineffective, the Padres danced in Game 2, Shohei Ohtani didn’t do much after a home run in Game 1 and the Dodgers had no starting pitcher for Game 4. Yet, they won the series to advance to the NLCS.
Dave Roberts — the often maligned manager — pulled out a master game plan in Game 4, using eight different relievers, and then rode Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the bullpen to another shutout in Game 5. Pitching still rules in the postseason — even if you don’t always know where it’s going to come from. As for the Padres, maybe there’s a reason they’ve yet to win an NL West title during this Dodgers reign of dominance: They’re still not as good. — David Schoenfield
