Dodgers sweep Padres, will meet Braves in NLCS
The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving on.
L.A. completed a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with a 12-3 win in Game 3 of the NLDS on Thursday, clinching a berth in the National League Championship Series for the fourth time in five years.
It's also the Dodgers' 14th appearance in a League Championship Series, tying them with the St. Louis Cardinals for the most by any franchise, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
Game 3 was a dominant performance from start to finish for the Dodgers, who rode a five-run third inning to victory. Six Dodger pitchers held a powerful Padres offense to just six hits.
Catcher Will Smith led the way for L.A. offensively, setting a team postseason record and tying the all-time mark with five hits. Smith is the ninth player in postseason history to record a five-hit game, and first since Albert Pujols in the 2011 World Series, according to Stathead. He's also the first catcher to join the exclusive club.
Smith also became only the fourth player with at least five hits and three RBIs in a game, joining Pujols, the Yankees' Hideki Matsui (2004), and the Orioles' Paul Blair (1969).
The Dodgers also got multi-hit games from AJ Pollock, Cody Bellinger, and Joc Pederson on Thursday; Bellinger contributed three RBIs of his own. Third baseman Justin Turner singled to become the Dodgers' all-time playoff hits leader with 64, passing Steve Garvey.
"Records are cool. Championships are better," Turner said postgame, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
The Dodgers' sweep continued an outstanding run for Dave Roberts' club. After posting the league's best record during the regular season, they've rolled through the first two rounds of the postseason, sweeping both the Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. L.A. has outscored its opponents 30-11 over five playoff games, and also received tremendous pitching from its entire staff.
Dominant pitching is driving the @Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/9JJqA2iLuz
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 9, 2020
The Padres, meanwhile, broke their own MLB playoff record set earlier this week by using 11 pitchers in Thursday's loss. Although they posted the NL's second-best record and established themselves as legitimate contenders for the future, the young Friars were ultimately undone by injuries to top starters Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet.
The Dodgers will now face the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, beginning Monday. Atlanta completed a sweep of the Miami Marlins in Houston earlier Thursday, and has shut out its opponents in four of its five postseason wins.
This marks the first time the Dodgers and Braves have met for the NL pennant since the franchises played a three-game tiebreaker series in 1959 when the Braves played in Milwaukee. The historic franchises have met three times in the playoffs during the wild-card era, most recently in the 2018 NLDS.