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Dodgers sweep Padres behind Smith's record 5-hit game

[October 09, 2020] Will Smith had a Dodgers playoff-record five hits and drove in three runs as Los Angeles routed the San Diego Padres 12-3 on Thursday in Arlington, Texas, to complete a three-game sweep in their best-of-five National League Division Series.

The Dodgers will face the Atlanta Braves, who finished a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins earlier Thursday, in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series starting Monday in Arlington.

Smith, who ended the night 5-for-6, also became the first catcher ever with a five-hit game in the postseason and the youngest player with a five-hit playoff game. He is 25 years, 194 days old, about two months younger than Paul Blair was when he went 5-for-6 for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 American League Championship Series.

"That's pretty cool," Smith said when told of his records. "It was just one of those days. You get some pitches to hit ... and they found some holes out there."

Smith entered the night 0-for-11 in the postseason.

"I go one at-bat at a time," he said. "I never got down on myself for not having hits."

Cody Bellinger drove in three runs for Los Angeles, and Joc Pederson capped a five-run third inning with a two-run, opposite-field single.

Julio Urias, who worked five innings of relief, picked up his second win of the playoffs. The left-hander retired the first 10 Padres he faced after entering the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the second with the Dodgers trailing 2-1. He struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to end the threat.

Urias (1-0 in the NLDS) allowed one unearned run on a hit and a walk with six strikeouts.

The Dodgers took the lead for good with their five-run third inning.

Mookie Betts drew a walk from Padres starter Adrian Morejon to open the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Tatis, San Diego's shortstop, then made a diving stop of Corey Seager's infield single behind second base, but he threw the ball wide of first, allowing Betts to score the tying run and Seager to take second.

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Craig Stammen replaced Morejon and gave up a RBI single to Justin Turner, who broke Steve Garvey's franchise playoff record with his 64th career hit. Stammen retired the next two batters but Bellinger drew an intentional walk and raced to third on A.J. Pollock's RBI single that scored Turner. After Pollock stole second, Pederson delivered his two-run single to left.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second off Morejon on a walk by Max Muncy, a double by Smith and a RBI groundout by Bellinger.

The Padres scored twice on the bottom of the second after back-to-back, opposite-field singles by Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham off Dodgers left-hander Adam Kolarek, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Jake Cronenworth and an infield RBI single by Trent Grisham.

"When we got in those positions, that's when it seemed like their guys (bore) down and made some pitches," San Diego manager Jayce Tingler said.

Smith added a RBI single that scored Betts in the fourth. Betts upped the Dodgers' lead to 8-2 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The Dodgers scored four in the top of the ninth off Trevor Rosenthal thanks to a two-run double by Smith and a two-run triple by Bellinger.

Morejon (0-1) was the first of 11 Padres pitchers -- an all-time record for a nine-inning postseason game. The San Diego staff issued nine walks and hit two batters in addition to yielding 14 hits. The Dodgers stranded 13 runners.

"We knew we were short-handed, just not being at full throttle with our pitchers," Tingler said. "They laid it out there, they gave it everything they had, just tonight we came up short."

The Padres managed only six hits off six Dodgers pitchers.

The Dodgers are 5-0 in the playoffs after posing a major-league-best 43-17 mark in the regular season.

--Field Level Media

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