Yamamoto defeated Darvish in a historic matchup as the Dodgers beat the Padres 2-0 and reached the NLCS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto defeated Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup between Japanese-born starters and the Los Angeles Dodgers got home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday and moved on to the National League Championship Series.

Yamamoto allowed two hits in five innings for the Dodgers before being ejected after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals, who were meeting in a Division Series for the third time in five years.

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers will play the wild card New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.

“We're ready for the next level and obviously the Mets are playing great baseball,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since appearing in the 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after the season was split in half following a players' strike.

With the majors' best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.

“We went through a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and downs. We fight, we fight and keep going,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. “All season long everyone says the Dodgers win the World Series, the Dodgers win the World Series. And when we get to this series, all of a sudden we’re the underdogs.”

The Padres' big hitters were busted, their season hanging in the balance. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as Los Angeles pitchers retired their final 19 batters.

The powerful San Diego team went scoreless in the final 24 innings of the series and lost the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead at home.

“I think breathtaking is appropriate,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born pitchers to face each other in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto became the fifth rookie in Dodgers history to start a winner-take-all game.

Yamamoto handed the ball off to an outstanding bullpen that carried the Dodgers throughout the regular season as their starters were hit hard by injuries. Evan Phillips got five outs and struck out Profar and Machado in the seventh before Alex Vesia struck out rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Vesia was preparing for the round of 16 when he withdrew due to injury. Michael Kopech came off the bench and pitched a perfect inning before Blake Treinen got three quick outs for his third career postseason save and second of the series.

With that, the NL West champions streamed out of the dugout, hugged each other and then went back into their club uniforms to celebrate again.

“Every time you smell champagne, it means you’re doing something good,” Betts said.

Tatis grounded out when Kiké Hernández made the play after moving from center field to third base for the ninth.

Darvish, Ohtani's 38-year-old childhood idol, gave up an early home run against Kiké Hernández and then struck out 14 straight. Teoscar Hernández's home run chased Darvish in the seventh, making it 2-0.

The Padres and Dodgers combined to retire 26 batters in a row, the longest streak in a single game in postseason history.

Darvish gave up two runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking one. He fell to 0-5 in elimination games – four of which were good starts.

“I thought Yu was great again. Had thrown her off balance. A few blows got him. Otherwise he was really good,” said Sheldt.

Darvish and Ohtani teamed up to help Japan win the World Baseball Classic last year, but on Friday they were rivals. Ohtani struck out three times, including twice against Darvish in a game watched Saturday morning in Japan.

Ohtani hit a tie-breaking three-run home run in Game 1, his playoff debut, but remained largely quiet for the rest of the series after becoming the first player in major league history to hit 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season Bases reached.

The teams combined to score 43 runs in the first five games of the series, but the winner-take-all finale was a thrilling pitching affair in front of a sellout crowd of 53,183 that included the Los Angeles Lakers superstar , LeBron James, and a Hollywood contingent included Brad Pitt, Rob Lowe, Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Kimmel.

The wild-card Padres finished the series by not scoring since the second inning of Game 3. They became the first team to lead 2-1 in a best-of-five series and not score in their final two games.

Yamamoto successfully covered first base three times after inducing grounders, making things easier for All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who entered the game after missing Game 4 with a sprained right ankle.

The Dodgers led 1-0 after Kiké Hernández's drive with two outs in the second. It was the 14th postseason home run of his career for Hernández, who was brought back to the Dodgers this season to make an impact in October.

Los Angeles staved off elimination in San Diego with an 8-0 win in Game 4, forcing the deciding game at home where fans throwing balls and trash onto the field led to a 12-minute delay in the Game 2 loss led. The announcer warned fans midway through the fifth Friday not to throw objects or enter the field.

NEXT

The Dodgers are heading to the NLCS for the 16th time overall and first since 2021, when they lost to Atlanta in six games. Los Angeles lost 4-2 to the Mets in the regular season.

The Padres enter the offseason with a lot of promise for next year. They challenged the Dodgers for the NL West title until the final days of the regular season.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB