In the San Diego Padres’ first playoff home game with fans since 2006, the hosts thrilled the crowd as the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1. With a win in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, the Padres lead 2-1 in the best-of-five series. That means the Padres are just one win away from eliminating the Dodgers, which won a franchise-record 111 games in the regular season.
Padres starter Blake Snell knocked out a 5 1/3 inning single ball, and the San Diego bullpen continued to zero on the board. On offense, Trent Grisham hit his third home run of the 2022 playoffs.
The winner of this series will advance to the NLCS to face the winners of the Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves NLDS.
Now, to the point about Game 3.
Tony Gonsolin can’t give Dodgers much
Gonsorin missed more than a month with a forearm injury, only to return in time for a brief start against the Rockies in October. 3. In Game 3 on Friday night, he wasn’t himself. The commanding ability is severely lacking, and Gonsolin’s fastball speed has dropped a little or so (as he did the last time he started against Colorado). He had 31 pitches in the first inning, and Dave Roberts was moved to warm up Andrew Heaney in the first inning. It could have gotten worse the second time around, but Gonsolin was able to escape disaster, in part because Jurickson Profar’s bunt attempt went awry.
Roberts planned about 75 pitches for Gonsolin in Game 3, but he could only hold on to 42 pitches and 1 1/3 innings. During that time, he allowed four hits, one run, one strikeout and one walk. Through the first two games of this series, the Dodgers had eight relief appearances and eight saves. Even after a rest day before Game 3 and a first-round bye, the Los Angeles Pens are racking up some recent miles. That trend continued on Friday.
The priest’s bullpen has been nailed
In the first two games of this series, the San Diego bullpen has the following numbers: 9 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 9 SO, 4 BB. Then in a crucial third inning, the same pen was tasked with keeping a one-point lead with 11 outs — including Nick Martinez in the sixth inning who inherited a scoring position runner . The San Diego Relief rose to the challenge again and did so in MLB’s best offense. Numbers now updated for NLDS: 13 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 15 SO, 4 BB.
Trent Grisham continues his postseason fireworks
Pad center fielder and numbers. No. 8 hitter Trent Grisham had a pretty rough regular season, but his performance in the wild-card series beating the Mets was excellent as he played in three games. Hit two home runs in the game. Through the first two games of the NLDS against the Dodgers, Grisham didn’t do much, but he rediscovered his first-round rush in the fourth inning of Game 3:
Andrew Heaney’s one came off the bat at 109.8 mph and flew 389 feet. The third home run in the 2022 playoffs — just six games into play — makes Grisham an elite franchise:
At the very least, he has at least two games left to tie or break Jim Leritz’s record. Bottom line, the Padres probably wouldn’t be where they are without Grisham’s October power surge.
Dodgers struggle with runners again in scoring position
Friday night’s Dodgers were empty for the second straight game in a RISP situation. In Game 3, they went 0 for 9 with RISP, meaning they are now 0 points in their last 19 games. Suffice it to say, the Dodgers are very different from this series.
History in favor of priests
Not surprisingly, the Padres are 2-1 in the best-of-five series. In the best-of-five-inning history of a league division series, a team has gone 2-1 67 times in a series, and 49 of those 2-1 teams have gone on to win the series. Put another way, only 26.9% of the teams that trailed 2-1 in the LDS came back to win the said LDS.
The first step in challenging odds and history for the Dodgers is Saturday’s Game 4. Tyler Anderson heads to Los Angeles to face Joe Musgrove, with Game 1 scheduled to return to Peco Park in San Diego at 9:07pm ET.