LOS ANGELES: Yu Darvish put on a pitching masterclass to shut down Shohei Ohtani as the San Diego Padres thrashed the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 to claim an emphatic series-leveling victory on Sunday. Japanese pitcher Darvish got rid of Dodgers superstar Ohtani three times for no hits in a gem of a display at Dodger Stadium that leaves the Padres in control of the best-of-five National League Division Series.
Darvish, who spent a season with the Dodgers in 2017, completely dominated the Los Angeles club’s vaunted offense through seven innings, conceding just three hits for one run. The Padres bats meanwhile went to town on the Dodgers pitching. Fernando Tatis Jr. set the tone in the first inning, slamming a home run off Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty before David Peralta added a two-run homer in the second inning.
Jackson Merrill’s single scored Tatis to make it 4-1 in the sixth inning. Merrill then bludgeoned a two-run homer in the eighth inning before Xander Bogaerts blasted an insurance run to take the score to 7-1. Kyle Higashioka and Tatis then put the seal on the win in the ninth inning, smashing solo home runs as the Padres bats continued to dominate.
"There was a lot of emotion but we controlled those emotions and we took care of business today,” two-homer hero Tatis said afterwards. "If we keep showing up like this, there’s no limit for us.” Tensions flared in the bottom of the seventh inning as Dodgers fans threw trash onto the outfield, holding up play for several minutes as security intervened.
"It’s a show, and people got a little bit upset because our team went up,” Tatis said. "But this is the playoffs, and this is the environment we’re built for. I enjoy every single bit of it.” The win leaves the Padres in pole position to claim victory as the best-of-five series heads to San Diego for games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Phillies level
In other playoff action on Sunday, Nick Castellanos was the hero as the Philadelphia Phillies bagged a thrilling 7-6 walkoff victory over the New York Mets. Castellanos’ line drive to left field sent shortstop Trea Turner racing over home plate for the winning run in the final act of another epic duel between the two National League divisional rivals at Citizens Bank Park.
"Unbelievable,” Castellanos said. "It was incredible. The series is even, but there’s a lot of baseball left. We have to turn the page and get focused on game three as quickly as possible.” The underdog Mets, who had stunned the Phillies 6-2 in game one on Saturday, once again provided stubborn resistance in an encounter that went back-and-forth.
Mark Vientos crushed a two-run homer in the third inning to put the Mets 2-0 ahead before Pete Alonso bludgeoned a 370-foot home run to right center field to leave the visitors 3-0 up in the top of the sixth. But after going a combined 13 innings without a score over game one and two, the Phillies bats suddenly came alive in the sixth inning. Bryce Harper smashed a two-run homer to make it 3-2 before Castellanos tied it up with a 425-foot moon shot in the same inning. The Mets regained the lead through Brandon Nimmo’s home run in the top of the seventh, only for the Phillies to respond with two runs to make it 5-4 after Bryson Stott’s triple in the bottom of the eighth.
Stott then tacked on a run after J.T Realmuto reached on a fielder’s choice, to leave the Phillies seemingly poised for victory at 6-4 heading into the final inning. However the Mets — who have made a habit of late comebacks throughout their postseason campaign — were not done.
Vientos hit his second homer of the game to score with Francisco Lindor and leave it knotted at 6-6 before Castellanos rescued the Phillies once again. Game three in the best-of-five series takes place in New York on Tuesday. – AFP