The San Diego Padres are one win away from an NLDS series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who entered the MLB postseason as World Series title favorites.
The Padres held off the Dodgers 2-1 in Game 3 of the NLDS in front of an electric crowd at Petco Park. Along with winning the game 2-1, the Padres took a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five NLDS.
It was the first postseason baseball game in San Diego with fans in the stadium since 2006.
The Padres took a 1-0 lead on a Jake Cronenworth RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.
Trent Grisham continued his hot stretch by crushing a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Grisham has an MLB-best three home runs already this postseason.
San Diego starting pitcher Blake Snell allowed one earned run over 5 1/3 innings pitched, and the Padres’ relievers followed with 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Josh Hader after San Diego acquired the closer at the trade deadline in a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he was nasty in Game 3, consistently firing 99-100 mph fastballs. He blew a 99 mph fastball past Trayce Thompson to close out the San Diego victory.
Game 4 is on Saturday night at Petco Park, with Joe Musgrove starting for San Diego and Tyler Anderson starting for Los Angeles. The Padres want to do everything in their power to end the series in Game 4 instead of needing to win a Game 5 on Sunday in Los Angeles.
If the Padres win the series, they will advance to the NLCS for the first time since 1998.
Just about two and a half decades since the Padres have celebrated a postseason win in front of their fans pic.twitter.com/N93hsLqLCr
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 15, 2022
In the regular season, the Dodgers (111 wins) won the NL West by 22 games over the Padres (89 wins).
Here’s a look at how the baseball world is reacting to the Padres’ Game 3 win over the Dodgers:
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.