The Los Angeles Dodgers handily beat the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, taking home the series victory.
The Dodgers only allowed five hits against the Padres, with an overall strong showing from the pitching staff, while the offense totaled 10 hits.
Los Angeles won their game on Tuesday with a little bit of luck in the ninth inning, scoring with some help from Padres relief pitcher Mason Miller.
On Wednesday, the reigning champions sent a message that even with some slumps and injuries, the Dodgers are a better team than the Padres.
Shohei Ohtani was the star of the show for the Dodgers, hitting a lead-off home run on the first pitch of the game and then pitching 5 scoreless innings.
After battling through a slump at the start of May, Ohtani is truly out of his slump, and he is hitting like one of the best players in the majors.
As a pitcher, the Japanese sensation was not at his best. He allowed three hits, two walks, and only got four strikeouts.
At his best, Ohtani is getting a higher amount of strikeouts and keeping his pitch count low enough to go six innings at least.
However, he got into too many hitters’ counts and ran into trouble, but like a great pitcher who isn’t sharp one night, Ohtani kept runs off the board.
The Dodgers’ bullpen continues to dominate
The strongest part of the Dodgers team has been the pitching staff, on both sides. Even when starters aren’t at their best, the relief arms tend to pick up the team more often than not.
Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Kyle Hurt, and Will Klein all came in on back-to-back days and delivered scoreless baseball, with only two hits and no walks allowed between the four of them.
The bullpen was a total weakness for the Dodgers in 2025, but more than a quarter of the way through 2026, they are a clear strength and don’t even have all of their best arms healthy.
Relievers end up being just as important as the starters in the postseason, and if Dave Roberts can count on a handful of pitchers to come in during clutch moments, the Dodgers have a great chance of repeating.