The drama will again be compressed, with six games in a 10-day span. When the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres get involved, that means plenty of time for tensions to explode.
“I think that the rivalry part is certainly real,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week. “Which brings emotions. I do think it’s one of those things where they’re very hyperfocused on us. But I guess it’s a compliment. Still, we’ve got to match their intensity because they want to beat us more than anything.”
Look no further than three postseason series over the past five years, including last year’s showdown that sparked fireworks between Roberts and his former player, Padres third baseman Manny Machado. Look no further than a few months ago, in June, when Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani each took their respective hit-by-pitches and Roberts and Padres manager Mike Shildt exchanged barbs. After that dustup, Shildt made sure to inform everyone, “I’m not a personal guy. I’m not a grudge guy. But I am a foxhole guy.”
The drama resumes Friday, as the Padres return to Dodger Stadium to kick off the most important stretch of both teams’ seasons. The Padres hold a one-game advantage in the NL West, their latest grasp of a division lead in a season since 2010 and the Dodgers’ latest deficit since 2021. A Dodgers division lead that grew as large as nine games on July 3 has evaporated, with Los Angeles going just 12-21 since.
Mookie Betts and Manny Machado crossed paths during last year’s NLDS, a taut showdown with simmering tension. (Harry How / Getty Images)
Enter, a chance to reset — or a chance for the Dodgers to drop even further.
“It’s big, but it kind of is what it is,” Mookie Betts said. “We can’t make it more than what it is. It’s another series in August. Obviously, we all know it’s big and X, Y and Z, but we can’t make it that way.”
“That’s what we’re playing for,” Tatis Jr. said. “And, you know, we have to take the lead in first place and stay consistent. This is the team to do it. So it’s now a matter of fact, it’s in our hands, how much we want it.”
Padres at Dodgers series viewing guide
| Time (ET) | TV | Stream | Probables |
|---|---|---|---|
|
10:10 p.m., Fri. |
MLBN and MLB.TV (national); |
TBD |
|
|
9:10 p.m., Sat. |
MLBN (national); |
Dylan Cease |
|
|
4:10 p.m., Sun. |
MLBN and MLB.TV (national); |
Yu Darvish |
So the two sides enter the cauldron again. It remains to be seen how many emotions boil over. Last time, it meant Roberts getting ejected from one game and having Shildt charge in his direction in another. The benches cleared. Roberts said he and Shildt have not discussed the war of words that consumed the most recent series between the Dodgers and Padres.
“I never want to make it about me, I really don’t,” Roberts said. “I just took offense to his response towards me. I thought it was directed at me. But I just want to go out and play good baseball. That’s kind of where my head’s at.”
Since July 3, the Dodgers rank 22nd in baseball with a .710 OPS on offense. They rank 16th with a 4.22 ERA. Four of their last five losses have been accompanied by a bullpen collapse.
“We haven’t played up to our potential in any way,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said this week.
The hope is that the stakes — and perhaps the opponent — could help the Dodgers dial back in. Los Angeles took five of seven games against the Padres in June, capping off a month’s worth of games against teams above .500 at the time that solidified the team’s standing.
Well, until now.
“We need to ramp up the intensity,” Roberts said. “We do. Because if we don’t, then I just don’t think it’ll bode well for us.”
Roberts entered this season preaching a mission for a team seeking to be baseball’s first repeat champions in a quarter century: Be the hunter, not the hunted.
That has not played out.
“Obviously, in the standings, you’re literally being the hunted,” Roberts said. “But also, I think that the way we played is not hunting.”
Now, the Dodgers have no other choice. They are looking up at San Diego, something they have never done this late in the year during this run in the regular season.
The Padres took a 2-1 lead in last year’s NLDS, pushing the Dodgers to the brink of elimination.
Los Angeles responded and didn’t allow a run for the rest of the series.
The Dodgers can only hope for something similar this time.
— The Athletic’s Dennis Lin contributed to this story.
(Top photo of Mike Shildt and Teoscar Hernández: Jayne Kamin / Oncea-Imagn Images)