Padres bring the Dodgers to the brink of elimination with victory

The soap opera that is the National League Division Series actually played Game 3 on Tuesday.

Predictably, it was a doozy.

The Padres defeated the Dodgers 6-5 to take a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five format.

“It's good to get two, but it doesn't matter until we get three,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “This team remains grounded and focused and I am confident that will continue.”

The Dodgers struck first, although Mookie Betts needed convincing.

One game after left fielder Jurickson Profar robbed a collapsing Betts of a home run, he appeared to do so again as he lay sprawled in the seats in left field.

But this time Betts' blast failed on Profar's glove, although Betts was so confident that Profar caught him that he made a left turn before reaching second base.

That 1-0 lead lasted about as long as it takes to beat a margarita — salt or not.

The Padres came roaring back in the second with a six-pack of runs as they struggled and struck out Dodgers starter Walker Buehler. The key in this frame was a potential double-play ball from Freddie Freeman that bounced off Manny Machado's shoulder.

It was a smart move by Machado, as he timed his deflection into Freeman's throwing path toward second base at the exact moment he released the ball from his knees.

“He was at least three feet off the grass, but that’s a great play from him,” Freeman said. “We would have done the same thing.

“That’s what we’re taught. Everything was done correctly. I threw from that angle and he made a great play.”

That fueled an inning that featured scratch hits and a crushing two-run home run from Fernando Tatis Jr.

“He is one of the many people on our team who appreciates the bright lights, enjoys them and embraces them,” Shildt said. “He just wants to play and perform.”

Buehler said he became careless at 0-2, which cost him and LA dearly.

“He does what he does,” Buehler said of Tatis.

And Buehler did what he shouldn't do.

“You can’t give up six runs in an inning in the playoffs and expect to win,” he said. “At the end of the day I put us in a really bad position and we fought back, but the position was too big.”

No stage seems to be too big for Tatis.

“I don’t know when I’ll hit it,” said Tatis, who hit four home runs with no strikeouts in the postseason. “I just passed out, started screaming at my dugout, just the energy going through the roof, especially that type of inning we put together after two outs.”

All of this sent the Friar faithful into a frenzy as Petco Park, filled to the brim with a record crowd of 47,744 spectators chanting “Beat LA,” shook to its foundations. The Padres had secured a 6-1 lead and the big brother Dodgers were feeling the heat.

But they didn't wither.

Instead, LA ended up on fourth down in the third inning thanks to a stunning grand slam from Teoscar Hernandez. In a series that features great theatrics from batters going deep. Hernandez was in no hurry to load the bases and sank his shot with all his might.

Suddenly it was 6-5 and what seemed like a route evaporated as quickly as any respect the Padres had for the Dodgers.

But after all the fireworks, after the decibel meter downtown reached new heights, and after all the huffing and puffing in the first innings, the middle part of the game was devoid of many highlights.

Instead, it became a battle of the bullpens, with the Padres' Michael King and Buehler each exiting after five innings.

Going to the bullpen was a risky move, especially for the Dodgers as they are expected to use most of their relievers in Game 4 due to a lack of starting pitching.

But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who caused a stir when he accused Machado of throwing a ball to him in Game 2, didn't have much of a choice.

LA had something going against San Diego's third reliever, Tanner Scott, when Freeman, hampered by a sprained ankle, lined a single up the middle.

Freeman was elevated for pinch-runner Chris Taylor and Scott gave way to Robert Suarez to face Hernandez.

Suarez struggled down the stretch but was exhausted when the Padres needed him most. He fired up Hernandez with a 100-mile-per-hour four-seamer that sent the locals into a frenzy, the first of his four-out saves.

“Suarez was excellent,” Shildt said. “I liked the changes. If he can continue to do that, it makes a very effective guy even more effective.”

That excitement only grew when Tom Delonge, lead singer of Blink-182, led the gathering with “All The Small Things,” which has become a Padres anthem.

The big thing?

The Padres are 27 outs from a trip to the National League Championship Series.