The Sports Report: Dodgers rout Padres to set up winner-take-all Game 5

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: The opening statement came two batters into the game, Mookie Betts hitting a ball to Chula Vista, the stunned stadium enveloping him in the sweetest of silence.

The follow-up statement came soon thereafter, Shohei Ohtani driving a ball down the right-field line at about 1,000 mph, the silence turning to shock.

The closing argument appeared shortly after that, Will Smith blasting another weak pitch over the center-field fence, one dugout dancing, the other one sulking — game over.

Three innings, one message, powerfully delivered Wednesday from the Dodgers to the suddenly harried and humbled San Diego Padres:

This is not 2022. This is not happening again. This is not going to be easy. This is going the distance.

The Padres want to steal this National League Division series again? This time they’re going to have to do it in a winner-take-all game at Dodger Stadium.

Buckle up. Batten down. The fifth and final game in this brawl will take place Friday night at Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers creating the drama with a desperation 8-0 victory at Petco Park on Wednesday night.

It was the largest shutout win in Dodgers playoff history. It gave life to the possibility of one of the greatest postseason series wins in Dodgers history.

“See … you … Fri-day!” a resilient band of Dodgers fans chanted at Petco and, indeed, it should be something to see.

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Dodgers show no panic and dominate Padres to force a decisive NLDS Game 5

Reinvigorated Mookie Betts provides the spark in Dodgers’ blowout win over Padres

Dodgers want their fans fired up for Game 5. ‘Bring the energy, but be smart about it.’

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Division Series
All times Pacific

National League
No. 1 Dodgers vs. No. 4 San Diego
at Dodgers 7, San Diego 5 (box score)
San Diego 10, at Dodgers 2 (box score)
at San Diego 6, Dodgers 5 (box score)
Dodgers 8, at San Diego 0 (box score)
Friday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox

No. 2 Philadelphia vs. No. 6 NY Mets
New York 6, at Philadelphia 2
at Philadelphia 7, New York 6
at New York 7, Philadelphia 2
at New York 4, Philadelphia 1

American League

No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Detroit
at Cleveland 7, Detroit 0
Detroit 3, at Cleveland 0
at Detroit 3, Cleveland 0
Thursday at Detroit, 3 p.m., TNT
*Saturday at Cleveland, 1:30 p.m., TBS

No. 1 NY Yankees vs. No. 5 Kansas City
at New York 6, Kansas City 5
Kansas City 4, at New York 2
New York 3, at Kansas City 2
Thursday at Kansas City, 5 p.m., TBS
*Saturday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS

*-if necessary

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: He was a record-breaking quarterback at Oregon. A first-round draft pick to an AFC West team mired in mediocrity. He’s playing for a coach in his first year with the franchise.

Bo Nix knows Justin Herbert’s path.

“He’s one of those guys you look up to playing at Oregon,” Nix, the Denver Broncos quarterback, told reporters Wednesday before the former Oregon Ducks stars face each other in a critical AFC West game Sunday in Denver.

Before becoming the Chargers’ No. 5 pick, Herbert capped off a decorated Oregon career with a Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl victory in 2019. The same year, Nix was the first true freshman in Auburn history to start a season-opener. He faced Herbert’s Ducks, throwing the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left.

Nix transferred to Oregon after three years at Auburn and played with Herbert’s younger brother Patrick, a tight end. In 2023, Nix was a Heisman finalist, threw for a school-record 4,508 yards in 2023 and set the single-season NCAA record for completion percentage at 77.4%.

The whole time, Herbert watched from afar.

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LAKERS

LeBron James tries on the Lakers’ City Edition uniform for the 2024-2025 season.

(Los Angeles Lakers)

From Chuck Schilken: Bronny James thinks they’re “pretty nice.”

Max Christie says they’re “super cool.”

D’Angelo Russell declared them his “favorite.”

The Lakers revealed their 2024-2025 City Edition uniforms Tuesday, with a video that features several players — the ones mentioned above, as well as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves — sporting the new duds and reacting to them.

“Definitely a representation of the Lakers and the city, that’s for sure,” LeBron James said of the new uniforms in the video.

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WNBA FINALS

All times Pacific

No. 1 New York vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at New York, noon, ABC
Wed. at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Friday, Oct. 18 at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, Oct. 21 at New York, TBD

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — The Chicago Cardinals play to a 0-0 tie with the Chicago Tigers in their first American Professional Football Association game. The game is held at Cubs Park, later renamed Wrigley Field.

1920 — Cleveland Indians Bill Wambsganns completes an unassisted World Series triple play.

1936 — Ohio State trumpet player John Brungart dots the ‘i’ in “Script Ohio” for the first time during halftime of the Buckeyes’ 6-0 loss to Pittsburgh at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. After Brungart, the honor began to go exclusively to sousaphone players, with exceptions made for well-known fans of the Ohio State program, like John Glenn, Jack Nicklaus and Bob Hope.

1981 — USC’s Marcus Allen rushes for 211 yards, his fifth straight 200-plus rushing game, in a 13-10 loss to Arizona.

1987 — Columbia sets an NCAA record with its 35th straight loss, 38-8 to Princeton.

1998 — New Hampshire’s Jerry Azumah becomes the first back in NCAA Division I-AA history to run for more than 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. He has 165 yards and one touchdown in a 22-13 loss to Richmond.

2004 — New England wins its 19th straight game, setting an NFL record for consecutive wins — counting the playoffs — with a 24-10 victory over Miami.

2011 — NBA Commissioner David Stern cancels the first two weeks of the season after owners and players are unable to reach a new labor deal and end the lockout. Games originally scheduled to be played from Nov. 1 through Nov. 14 are wiped out.

2011 — Anthony Calvillo becomes pro football’s all-time passing leader in spectacular fashion with a 50-yard TD pass to Jamel Richardson that cements the Montreal Alouettes’ 29-19 win over the Toronto Argonauts. Calvillo needed 258 yards to break Damon Allen’s all-time CFL record of 72,381 yards.

2017 — The United States are eliminated from World Cup contention with a shocking 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad scores a pair of first-half goals and the United States will miss the World Cup for the first time since 1986. The 28th-ranked Americans needed merely a tie against 99th-ranked Trinidad, which lost its sixth straight qualifier last week.

2020 — 19 year-old Iga Swiatek of Poland wins her country’s first singles major title as she beats American Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 at the French Open.

Compiled by the Associated Press