Dodgers score 5 runs in 7th, beat Padres, clinch National League West title – San Diego Union-Tribune

LOS ANGELES — That hasn’t happened while the Padres have been here more times this season than any other season for more than a decade.

But Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” played after Thursday night’s finale.

This time, T-shirts were rolled onto the field in bundles. And with many Padres players remaining in the visitors’ dugout after a 7-2 loss, the Dodgers celebrated their 11th National League West title in 12 years.

“No disappointment,” Manny Machado said. “We had a great season. We’re in the postseason and we’ll see them in a few weeks.”

The Padres beat the Dodgers more often than they lost to them, making things harder for them than in most years. The Padres won eight of their 13 meetings this season. They were 3-3 at Dodger Stadium, a venue where they were 30-67 in the last 11 seasons.

But the end of the story was the same old story.

The decisive win came thanks to a five-run seventh inning, a two-run home run by Will Smith off Padres starter Joe Musgrove that tied the game at 2-2, and then a three-run homer by Tanner Scott on three singles and catcher interference.

The Padres were in third place as of July 19, eight games behind the Dodgers. Since then, they are 41-18 and have won nine of 11 games to move within two games of the Dodgers with Tuesday’s victory.

“Make a good run,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “… fell short. But we carry on.”

Now facing the Diamondbacks in the final three games of the regular season, the Padres only have to focus on defending the NL’s top wild-card spot and the home series that comes with it.

None of the three teams vying for the two available wild card spots played Thursday.

That puts the Padres, who secured a spot in the playoffs on Tuesday, three games ahead of the Mets and Diamondbacks. The Braves are a game behind these teams.

New York and Arizona are the ones that have a chance to overtake the Padres. They can hold off the Diamondbacks with another win, and they need a combination of Mets wins and losses that add up to two to ensure the Mets stay behind them.

“Huge,” Machado said of the upcoming series at Chase Field. “The season is not over yet. We still have three games left against a really good team. You have to win games. We have to win games. So we’re going to go out and play three postseason games.”

Even after losing the last two days, the Padres still won the season series for the first time since 2010. Maybe now it’s finally a rivalry.

“We’re slowly getting closer,” Musgrove said.

But the Dodgers still dominate the West because, despite whatever weaknesses they have, their offense remains a deep and dangerous strength.

Musgrove endured six scoreless innings on Thursday with a 2-0 lead and hadn’t allowed a run in three starts (18 innings) before striking out Muncy and having a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the zone that was hit by Smith on expected The shot was 426 feet to center field.

Scott entered the game with one down and only made it after a single by Kiké Hernández, Andy Pages reached the catcher’s interference, Shohei Ohtani had driven in Hernández with a single and Mookie Betts had driven in Pages and Ohtani with a single.

A two-run home run by Pages ended the scoring.

The Padres had at least one man on in three of the first four innings before taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth thanks to David Peralta’s one-out walk, a ground-rule double by Kyle Higashioka and a groundout to right by Luis Arraez took the lead, bringing in Peralta.

Dodgers starter Walker Buehler finished the inning but was replaced by Evan Phillips to start the sixth inning.

The Padres scored a run against Phillips as singles by Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were followed by a sacrifice bunt by Jackson Merrill and a sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts.

“We have an ultimate goal, right?” Schildt said. “Scratched, scratched and fought. But now we’re refocusing and we have the team to do it. Excited about what’s coming in our front window, not in the rearview mirror. It’s a little disappointing. We’ll shrug it off and we’ll be ready to play in Arizona and we’ll be ready to go for the ultimate goal.”

Originally published: September 26, 2024 at 9:41 p.m