On October 14, 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers got to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2021, defeating the San Diego Padres 4-0 on a blowout on Sunday night Dodgers southpaw pitcher Dustin May has more postseason innings than any other Major Leaguer.
Clayton Kershaw was more like what the fantasy ace should be as he set down the entire San Diego team on ten pitches, seven of them being scoreless. He gave three hits, a total of 8 Ks, and zero bases on balls to perform as one of the best pitchers in this generation. On that basis the Dodgers will advance to the NLCS, Los Angeles received two shutout innings from the bullpen of Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips as they shut out the San Diego Padres 3-0.
“I was just out there doing what I could do to help my team and the defense was outstanding behind me today and I have to thank the guys hitting for being superb,” Kershaw said. Mookie Betts then put the Dodgers on the score sheets in the third inning with a two-run double-off. Freddie Freeman made it 2-0 in the fifth with an RBI single, and Will Smith hit a solo homer in the seventh that was just enough to get out of the park should want it going to the dugout.
The Padres were quiet at the plate throughout the series and Sunday was no exception. The Padres left with five hits and were never able to advance a runner to third base. Padres starter Blake Snell was taken through five innings but lost as he gave up three runs on six hits. For the third game in a row, this shiny Padres’ top offense, featuring playing cards like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto, was silenced by the Dodgers’ pitching.
It means the Dodgers move ahead into the NLCS to face either the Atlanta Braves or Philadelphia Phillies. This was a return to form for Los Angeles, obviously, the team that has World Series aspirations, having not gotten its players to the Fall Classic the past several seasons.
For the Padres, the pitiful season that was soon to end was one in which they felt sorry that they had fallen well short of their expectations going into the postseason, coming off of a very strong 2023 season.
