Padres Will Advance Tonight

Dodgers vs. Padres, 9:08 ET

Going into Tuesday, we had a total of eight games complete in the Divisional Round for the Major League Baseball playoffs, and every team had exactly one win. Today, we have two series that could end and another two that will put two teams in position to win. The drama of it all keeps everything exciting and intriguing. There might be no series in this round that is more exciting than the Dodgers and the Padres and we get Game 4 tonight in San Diego.

The Dodgers have their backs against the wall. A team that consistently wins 90+ games shouldn't feel a ton of pressure, but they don't look like the better team in this series. Mookie Betts still looks like the dominant All-Star he is, but Shohei Ohtani in his first taste of the playoffs has been neutralized a bit in the past two games. After going 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs in his first game against the Padres, he has gone just 1-for-8 against them. The biggest problem is that the Dodgers are uncertain at best with where their pitching is going to come from. The team doesn't have a ton of great arms in the rotation due to health and other concerns. Could they put Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound again on short rest? Sure, but I don't know if they want to. I think this is more likely to be a bullpen game, but either way the Dodgers haven't made a decision on who is pitching. However, due to how the Padres are playing, it might not matter who is on the hill.

MIAMI, FL - SEPTEMBER 17:  Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers is greeted by teammate Mookie Betts #50 after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The Padres are my team to win the World Series, I put that out before the playoffs started, and I continue to believe they are the team to beat this season. The first game they seemed a bit overmatched against the Dodgers and after Los Angeles jumped out to a big lead, the Padres never could quite come back. In the next game, the crowd was against them, and the game started with Jurickson Profar robbing a home run. Then the Padres offense came to life with a Fernando Tatis homer. After a series of events that led to the Padres meeting in the dugout, they blasted a bunch of homers and took the game. The Dodgers started yesterday's game with a Betts homer - this time Profar and no Padre player could get to it. Then the Padres responded in the bottom of the second with six runs, including another Tatis homer, his third of the series. The Dodgers didn't give up, hitting a grand slam in the top of the third, but that was all the scoring for the game and the Padres won 6-5, taking a lead in the series. Tonight the Padres send out Dylan Cease to the mound. Cease was very good this season, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He did struggle in Game 1 of the series, allowing five earned runs in 3.1 innings against the Dodgers in his first start. Overall, he faced the Dodgers two times this season. In one home start, he allowed one earned run over 5.2 innings. As long as he isn't pitching against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, he seems to be fine. 

I don't think this series heads back to Los Angeles. I think we are likely seeing the end of the Dodgers season here. There just simply are not enough pitchers in the Dodgers staff to win the game for them. The Padres are playing with a ton of confidence and have arguably been the best team for the entire second half of the season. I'm going to take the Padres at -135 in this one and hope they can be the first to move on to the next round. 

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