LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers return to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2021, winning Game 5 2-0 over the San Diego Padres. Yoshinobu Yamamoto bounced back from his shaky postseason debut to get off to a great start, and the Dodgers’ bullpen was near perfect again.

The Padres didn’t score a run in the final 24 innings of the NLDS, which isn’t usually the secret to winning a World Series.

Both Dodgers runs scored on solo home runs against Yu Darvish, who was otherwise brilliant. Hernándezes Kiké and Teoscar each hit long, wide shots away from him, with Kiké hitting a first-pitch fastball in the second inning and Teoscar hitting a 2-1 slider in the seventh inning.

Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen combined to pitch four perfect innings to end the game, and it appears the Dodgers’ bullpen is peaking at the perfect time.

The Dodgers face the New York Mets for the pennant. Game 1 of the NLCS begins Sunday at 8:15 p.m. ET.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto averaged 96.7 mph with his fastball in five innings. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

Dave Roberts didn’t need a reason to add Kiké Hernández to his lineup on Friday. It was all about how he would incorporate the longtime fan favorite into the mix.

“I just wanted to find a way to get him in there,” Roberts said before the game.

He had good reasons. Hernández did not start in any of the first three games of the series. He didn’t even appear in Game 3. But when Hernández started Game 4, he collected two hits. Given the start of Game 5, he didn’t wait. He crushed the first fastball he saw from Yu Darvish and solidified his reputation in October with his 14th postseason home run, opening the score and sending Dodger Stadium into an absolute frenzy.

Chances are, Hernández had already visualized it. It’s a pregame routine he’s incorporated into his October traditions, dating back to the night before his three-homer game against the Chicago Cubs in the 2017 NLCS helped the Dodgers clinch the pennant.

“These are the games we dream about as kids,” Hernández said in the hours before Game 5. “You have to have the right attitude, the right mentality to come in here and just find a way to dominate.” Day.

“At night I imagine a lot. I go to sleep imagining us pitching against the pitchers the next day; situations, whether offensive or defensive; base operations; and just imagine myself succeeding throughout the game; Big moments, no matter the situation or the moment, just finding ways to get the job done.”

The Padres offense is going cold at the worst possible time

All year long, the Padres, manager Mike Shildt and hitting coach Victor Rodriguez preached a simple goal. Let’s score one more run than the other team, they would say. They were pretty good at it most of the year. They finished the second-best regular season in franchise history with a record of 22-19 in one-run games. In one or two game games they were 40-25. And in the second inning of Game 3 of this NLDS, they combined the offense’s well-known contact ability with the well-known power of Fernando Tatis Jr. and scored all six runs in a 6-5 victory.

But after that textbook performance, the Padres strayed from the formula that had carried them into October. Remarkably, they failed to score in the final 24 innings of the series. Game 4 was a 0-9 victory with the runners in scoring position. In Game 5, they were 0-1, unable to even get past second base, and negating a strong pitching performance from Yu Darvish.

Major credit goes to the Dodgers bullpen and Yamamoto, who finally managed to get upset by the San Diego lineup. But in a year where they had the roster to win it all, the Padres will remember the pain of the most untimely offensive disappointment.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto shows his worth

As much as the Dodgers talked about the possibility Thursday afternoon, there was no reality in which they wouldn’t start their $325 million man in the winner-take-all Game 5. Yamamoto did his part on Friday to show why. His fastball velocity averaged up to 96.7 mph. Although his command was inconsistent at the beginning, it became established. Twice he battled one of the hottest hitters in the world, Fernando Tatis Jr., the second time hitting a crucial inning-ending double play that stopped the Padres’ biggest threat against him.

Just hours after Roberts said the Dodgers were “making a bet on someone playing the game of their life tonight,” Yamamoto delivered five scoreless innings and the Dodgers’ best postseason start since Tyler Anderson in Game 4 of the NLDS Thrown five scoreless innings in 2022.

It was a marked difference from his previous outings against the Padres, including a start in Game 1 when he allowed five runs in three innings, prompting the Dodgers to explore possible pitching tips.

The Dodgers’ starting lineup in October was uncertain, but Yamamoto’s emergence could help change the calculus.

(Top photo by Kiké Hernández: Harry How / Getty Images)