POSTSEASON ROUNDUP
NL Division Series L.A. Dodgers 7, San Francisco 2
LOS ANGELES – Mookie Betts homered and drove in three runs, Will Smith also went deep and the Dodgers forced a decisive Game 5 in their NL Division Series.
The 107-win Giants host the 106-win Dodgers on Thursday night, with the winner advancing to face Atlanta in the NL Championship Series.
San Francisco won the NL West by one game over the Dodgers in an historic race that went down to the final day of the regular season. Now, these storied rivals are set for a winner-take-all showdown.
“I think it’s only fitting,” Los Angeles ace Walker Buehler said.
The wild-card Dodgers managed just five hits during a 1-0 loss in Game 3 – the second time they were shut out in this series – to put the defending World Series champs on the brink of elimination. Los Angeles had that many by the second inning Tuesday and pounded out 12 in all to back a brief but effective outing from Buehler on three days’ rest.
Buehler went to manager Dave Roberts as early as the Dodgers’ 9-2 victory in Game 2 and said he wanted the ball in Game 4 to start on short rest for the first time in his career. The right-hander allowed one run and three hits in 4 1⁄3 innings. He struck out four and walked two on 71 pitches.
“I actually felt great,” Buehler said. “Probably the best I have in the second half of the year. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but for tonight I felt pretty good.”
The Dodgers chased starter Anthony Desclafani in the second. He gave up two runs and five hits and struck out two. The Giants ran through six pitchers by the fifth, leaving them with just three relievers. By the seventh, only backup catcher Curt Casali was available off the bench and he pinch-hit in the eighth.
Last postseason, the Dodgers went 3-0 in elimination games, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat Atlanta in the NLCS.