The San Diego Padres used strong pitching by Blake Snell, a home run by Trent Grisham and a dominant bullpen to put the Los Angeles Dodgers on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 victory in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Snell allowed just five hits and a run pitching into the sixth inning and Grisham connected for a solo home run as the Padres hosted their first playoff game with fans since 2006.
"There are going to be a lot of hoarse voices coming back tomorrow", said San Diego manager Bob Melvin. "To keep up that pace the whole game, that was pretty cool."
Los Angeles is on the brink of elimination after winning a major-league best 111 games and going 14-5 against their NL West rivals during the regular season.
"The core of this group has been in this position before, and we're going to approach it like the way it is. It's win or go home", said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "We've got to play better baseball. When we do have opportunities to cash in, we've got to take advantage of them."
Padres push Dodgers to the brink with nail-biting Game 3 win
Mookie Betts led off the game with a single, but Snell rebounded to strike out the side.
A double by Juan Soto in the bottom of the first led to an RBI single by Jake Cronenworth off Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin, who had gone 16-1 in the regular season.
Gonsolin was on a 75 pitch limit, but only threw 42 in an 1 2/3 worth of work, allowing one run and four hits.
Grisham led off the bottom of the fourth with his third home run of the playoffs, driving an Andrew Heaney pitch over the right-field wall to extend the lead to 2-0.
The National League West champions loaded the bases in the third before Will Smith popped out.
Los Angeles cut the lead in half in the fifth on the strength of a single by Trayce Thompson, a double by Austin Barnes and a sacrifice fly by Betts that brought home Thompson.
A double by Max Muncy chased Snell and Nick Martinez came on to retire the side. Luis Garcia and Robert Suarez each worked an inning before Josh Hader closed things out in the ninth.
"I think anytime you hold a lineup like that down like we have here, that's hard to do", acknoweldged Melvin. "But we feel like it's a really deep bullpen, a lto of power arms pitching well toward the end of the season, into the postseason, inspired even a little bit more so.
"One hit could potentially throw the game the other way. All our relievers felt that. You don't see 100 mph often, especially out of three guys in a row."
The Dodgers were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
"They're pitching good right now, we're not hitting", said Freddie Freeman. "So we've got to hit tomorrow. The last two games we're not hitting."
Anderson, Musgrove hook up in Game 4
Tyler Anderson will be called on to save Los Angeles' season. The lefty, 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA during the regular season, is making his first playoff start since 2019.
San Diego native Joe Musgrove tries to send the Padres to the NLCS for the first time since 1998. He pitched seven innings of one-hit ball in the clinching game of the Wild Card series against the Mets.