The Dodgers, in turn, beat the Padres to stay alive

Something not so funny happened to the San Diego Padres on their way to the National League Championship. They faced a Los Angeles Dodgers team that once again demonstrated its strength.

The Dodgers defeated the Padres 8-0 in the NL Division Series on Wednesday after losing two straight games. Instead of their season falling apart, the Dodgers have risen again.

This leads to Game 5 at Dodger Stadium on Friday, which is all about the winner. The winner will face the visiting New York Mets on Sunday, with a trip to the World Series on the line.

The Padres looked like champs since they lost the opening game of this series.

While the Dodgers struggled to get a pitch, put together a lineup due to injuries and battle the curse of the last two Octobers when they lost in their opening rounds, San Diego was on the rise.

But they've hit one rough patch after another, a record crowd of 47,773, and suddenly their clear path to the NLCS shows a blip or two of speed.

Mookie Betts spoiled the deciding party early when he went deep for the second straight game, hit a solo home run in the first and ended up being one that left left fielder Jurickson Profar unable to put on a glove.

“I just want to do my part,” Betts said. “I’m not trying to win the game for us. We have a lot of people who can win games for us.”

The Dodgers would add two more runs in the second inning, chasing starter Dylan Cease. Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI single just past first baseman Luis Arraez and Betts came through again with a run-scoring hit for a 3-0 lead.

Padres manager Mike Shildt rolled the dice when he started Cease on three days' rest, and snake eyes ensued. Cease needed 38 pitches to record five outs, with an inconsistent performance that followed his implosion in a Game 1 loss to the Dodgers.

“They just gave him good swings,” Sheldt said. “The guy throws 100 miles an hour. If you tell me I can get a guy with a good slider to throw 100, I’ll take that guy every time.”

This series is over and many felt the same about the Dodgers. But before the Padres could punch their ticket to the NLCS, they took a haymaker from LA

Max Muncy, who gets booed more at Petco Park than anyone not named Dave Roberts, opened the third period with a brace. He didn't stay at second long as Will Smith hit a home run to dead center, a 432-foot shot that exploded off his bat at 108.7 mph, and there were high-fives in the Dodgers dugout with a 5-0 lead.

The Dodgers' pitching plans were in a tough spot, forcing them to use replacements for a bullpen game. Right-hander Ryan Brasier was the starter, but he only faced one batter in the second inning as LA's bullpen opened early and often.

The Padres appeared to be hampered by the many arms they had to figure out. However, they had a crucial chance in the fifth round when the core team stepped up, but they couldn't take advantage of anything.

David Peralta hit a single and Jake Cronenworth walked with no outs. But Alex Vesia fanned Kyle Higashioka and sent Arraez flying. Vesia gave way to Evan Phillips and he retired Fernando Tatis Jr. with a fly to center field.

The Dodgers would score a few more runs, but what has to worry the hitless Padres is their lack of pop.

Since their six-run second inning on Tuesday, the Padres' bats have quieted amid the noise of Petco Park, going 15 scoreless after going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

They only managed seven goals against Brasier and seven other substitutes.

“It’s a really difficult track,” Tatis said. “But at the end of the day, it’s baseball. Obviously it’s not the results we want as a group, but man, we’ll just regroup and figure it out.”

These rabid fans were eager to cheer on anything and everything that wore the brown and gold, but San Diego's offense was missing from what could be the Padres' final home game.

Or they could return Sunday to wrestle the Mets and seek their third World Series in franchise history.

But first comes a Friday appointment with a storied franchise and suddenly one that's gaining momentum as it heads north on Interstate 5.

Sounds strange after many wrote off the 98-win Dodgers, but this streak still has miles to go.