One of the most impressive parts of the 2024 San Diego Padres was their ability to come back late in games. Throughout the regular season they did it time and again, fueling belief they were never truly out of any contest.
In Game 5 of the National League Division Series, they came up one comeback short.
The Padres lost to the Dodgers 2-0 in the winner-take-all affair at Dodger Stadium, bringing an end to one of the most successful seasons in franchise history.
A Padres offense that was one of the most prolific run scoring groups in the league over the regular season and scored 21 runs in the first three games of the series was inexplicably held scoreless over their final 24 innings.
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Kike Hernandez got the scoring started in the 2nd inning with a 428-foot homer to nearly the back rows of the left field bleachers to put the Dodgers on top 1-0. Darvish responded by retiring the next 14 Dodgers he faced, giving his bats every opportunity to take control of the game.
On the other side, however, the Dodgers finally got to see the version of Yoshinobu Yamamoto they paid $325 million for in the off-season.
After breezing through the first two innings Yamamoto gave up 1-out singles to Kyle Higashioka and Luis Arraez, setting the table for Fernando Tatis Jr., who's been arguably the hottest hitter of the entire postseason. Tatis Jr. hit it hard, 101 MPH off the bat, but right to 3rd baseman Max Muncy, who started an inning-ending double play.
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Yamamoto went 5.0 innings and those were the only two hits he allowed. He'd thrown a scant 63 pitches when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, possibly relying on the fact his bullpen threw a shutout against the Padres in Game 4, pulled his starter in favor of Evan Phillips. It worked again.
Phillips blew right through all five batters he faced, finishing with a strikeout of Manny Machado before being lifted with two outs in the 7th inning for Steele Canyon High School alum Alex Vesia ... who proceeded to punch out Jackson Merrill to end the inning.
In a bit of a surprise, Padres manager Mike Shildt let Darvish go back out for the 7th inning, even though he had all of his late-inning bullpen weapons available. Teoscar Hernandez lofted a solo homer to left field to make it 2-0 Dodgers. Darvish allowed just four baserunners through 6.2 innings. He certainly did not deserve to take the loss.
Dodgers pitchers retired 20 consecutive Padres hitters to end the game and the season where San Diego won 93 games, the second-most in franchise history.
