Despite the San Diego Padres making a rally in the fifth inning, the Dodgers secured a 5-3 victory in game one of the National League Divisional Series (NLDS).
The Dodgers reached the scoreboard early with shortstop Trea Turner hitting a homerun over left field in the first inning. Third basemen Max Muncy scored an RBI single three batters later.
During the third inning, catcher Will Smith, second baseman Gavin Lux, and center fielder Cody Bellinger secured one RBI each. Padres starting pitcher Mike Clevinger was subbed out for Steven Wilson after the Dodgers earned their fourth run.
“I thought [Turner] did a fantastic job tonight of not chasing and getting him in the strike zone and when he got in the strike zone, he put some really good swings together,” said Dodgers general manager Dave Roberts. “I thought Will Smith did a really nice job tonight and I thought [Muncy] took great at bats.”
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Pitcher Julio Urías started for the Dodgers and ultimately became the winning pitcher with six strikeouts in five innings.
“Gotta give a lot of credit to our offense today, they did a good job,” Urías said. “Battling, getting those runs early, and putting us in a good spot.”
He did not allow a hit until the third inning and did not allow a run until Padres first basemen Wil Myers slugged a homer to start the fifth inning.
Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urías was the winning pitcher against the San Diego Padres in game 1 of NLDS. In five innings, he struck out five batters. pic.twitter.com/jE3jYofzAd
— Amanda Scurlock (@Amandtastic) October 12, 2022
“They just did a nice job of building an inning right there,” Roberts said. “I just thought that the breaking ball just started not to be as sharp … the last ball that [Urías] flew out just didn’t have the life to it.”
That home run gave the Padres a spark on offense as consecutive batters began to reach bases. Centerfielder Trent Grisham and catcher Austin Nola made sacrifice hits for RBIs.
“It’s five-nothing, all of a sudden, it’s five-three and our guys came in and shut it down,” said Padres general manager Bob Melvin. “No moral victories, but the later part of the game was better than the first part.”
The defense of both teams then intensified; as Dodgers batters struggled to reach bases, the team made a double play at the top of the 6th inning. Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia struck out three Padres in the seventh and eighth innings.
“I was able to get ahead, I think that was the biggest key,” Vesia said. “Put him away with a slider and then use my change-up once or twice tonight.”
Dodgers’ veteran pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Padres pitcher Yu Darvish will start in game two of the NLDS on October 12 at 5:37 P.M. in Dodgers Stadium.
