San Diego Padres fans packed Petco Park and nearby bars to help root for the team. NBC 7’s Omari Fleming shows us the Friar Faithful riding high after the win.
Will history repeat itself?
The San Diego Padres are one win away from doing what they did in 2022: winning three straight over the Los Angeles Dodgers to reach the NLCS, with the clincher at Petco Park.
Mike Shildt's club took Game 3 6-5, taking a 2-1 series lead with consecutive wins.
Game 3 had a poetic beginning. After Jurickson Profar robbed Mookie Betts of a would-be game-tying home run Sunday in the opening frame, Betts snuck one past Profar's glove in left field for a solo home run to put the Dodgers on the board.
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Then things got wild.
The Padres used small ball, savvy baserunning and sloppy defense to get going in the second inning. Xander Bogaerts plated the tying run on a fielder's choice to short, scoring Manny Machado. David Peralta followed with a two-run double that put the home team ahead 3-1. Kyle Higashioka made it 4-1 with a sac fly. Then Fernando Tatis Jr. punctuated the six-run outburst with a two-run blast to left off of Dodgers' starter Walker Buehler.
Tatis now has four homers in five postseason games this October.
The five-run advantage did not last.
Los Angeles started the third with three straight singles off of Michael King. Teoscar Hernandez sent them all across with a one out grand slam, getting the Dodgers within a run.
Things quieted down after that. The Dodgers went the fourth through seventh innings without a baserunner. San Diego likewise went down mostly quietly.
In the late innings the Padres' reinforced bullpen came up huge.
After Jeremiah Estrada took care of the sixth, Jason Adam went 1-2-3 through the bottom of the order in the seventh - avoiding the sight of Shohei Ohtani with a runner on.
Tanner Scott continued his success against the likely National League MVP, striking Ohtani out to start the eight.
Robert Suarez took over with two outs in the eighth inning and got four outs to seal the victory.
The Padres can now finish off another NLDS matchup with the Dodgers on Wednesday. Game 4 at Petco Park begins at 6:08 p.m.
