There have been 37 winner-take-all Game 5s in Division Series history since the best-of-five series was added to the postseason docket in 1995, when MLB expanded to allow a Wild Card team from each league. The 2024 postseason gifted us with two of them; the Dodgers bested the Padres in

LOS ANGELES -- Another offseason and another free agency for Jurickson Profar. Only this time, Profar will hit free agency as an All-Star -- a proven middle-of-the-order threat, coming off the best season of his career. He still hopes he ends up in the same place. "I'm a free agent

LOS ANGELES -- During the regular season, the Padres put together one of the best offenses in franchise history. Through their first five postseason games, they scored 30 runs. Then San Diego's lineup went dormant at the worst possible time, and the season ended with back-to-back shutout losses. The Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- The nickname Mr. October is already taken. But Kiké Hernández has similarly proved himself to be a force that opposing teams do not want to reckon with under the bright lights of the postseason.

LOS ANGELES -- As the Dodgers faced elimination in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, Kiké Hernández felt he needed to share a message. Hernández, who has never been shy of speaking up during hitters' meetings, wanted to keep this one short and simple. “You want me to

LOS ANGELES -- Jackson Merrill was the last one off the railing. Game 5 of the National League Division Series was over. So was the Padres’ season -- in agonizing fashion. Beyond the mound, the Dodgers celebrated. The Padres -- empty-handed after a season-ending 2-0 loss on Friday night --

LOS ANGELES -- The Padres gave Yoshinobu Yamamoto a rude introduction to the big leagues in Seoul, then to postseason baseball in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

LOS ANGELES -- Michael King threw his scheduled bullpen session on Friday afternoon before Game 5 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium. That doesn’t necessarily mean King would be unavailable to pitch Friday night, with sources saying “everyone is available” to pitch in the winner-take-all Game 5

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers wanted to keep their pitching options open heading into Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Padres on Friday night. They made their choice late Thursday night. With their season on the line at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles will start right-hander Yoshinobu

There is nothing quite like a winner-take-all Game 5, except for maybe a winner-take-all Game 7. Well, we’re getting the former on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. This Padres-Dodgers NLDS has been tense, taut and chippy: We’ve had players yelling at each other, fans not always acting their best, mammoth

LOS ANGELES -- When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts got on the podium for his press conference on Thursday, all the attention was on whether he was going to announce a pitching plan for Friday's National League Division Series Game 5. It wasn't revealed until much later. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whom the

LOS ANGELES -- What’s at stake in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Friday night? Oh, just about everything. Most importantly, a spot in the NLCS awaits the winner. But there are Southern California bragging rights at stake, too. The Dodgers are looking for a payoff on

LOS ANGELES -- The Padres haven't scored a run in 15 innings. Over the course of a long season, that's barely a blip. You'd simply wait for it to revert to normalcy -- and eventually it would. (Before those 14 innings, after all, the Padres had scored 16 runs in

LOS ANGELES -- It's now up to you, Yu. The Padres will happily give the ball to Yu Darvish in the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers lined up their National League Division Series rotation with an eye on giving them options for a potential Game 5. After looking back on their first four games against the Padres, they could alter those early plans. Having forced a return to Dodger Stadium by

SAN DIEGO -- When the Padres approached Dylan Cease on Monday with the idea of starting Game 4 of the National League Division Series on short rest, Cease made it clear he was all for it. He had a request though. “I’ve told them,” Cease said on Tuesday night, “I

SAN DIEGO -- After the Dodgers' swift exit from the 2023 postseason, a three-game sweep at the hands of the D-backs in the National League Division Series, much was made of the lack of production from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the two former MVPs at the top of the

SAN DIEGO -- It hasn’t always looked pretty for the Dodgers. Over the last couple of years, their relationship with the postseason has been complicated, filled with more disappointments than lasting memories. But as the Dodgers faced elimination in the National League Division Series for a third consecutive season, they

SAN DIEGO -- Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has been battling a badly sprained right ankle, was scratched from L.A.'s lineup for Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Padres.

Four games! Four games! One of the many, many reasons it’s terrific that we’ll have no sweeps in any of the Division Series -- after having three of them in the Wild Card Series -- is that it sets up a glorious day like Wednesday, when we have four baseball

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres are going for a knockout. Right-hander Dylan Cease will take the ball on short rest for Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night, manager Mike Shildt announced in the aftermath of the Padres’ 6-5 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night

SAN DIEGO -- There had been so much off-the-field noise in the previous 48 hours -- so much bickering over which baseballs had been thrown in whose direction and how hard -- that Mike Shildt sat at the podium in the Petco Park auditorium on Tuesday afternoon and made it

SAN DIEGO -- A packed house of Padres fans at Petco Park chanted "Beat L.A." at the top of their lungs during Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday night. Several players heeded that call during a huge 6-5 victory over the Dodgers to take a 2-1

SAN DIEGO -- With the Dodgers in danger of being eliminated from the postseason in the National League Division Series for the third consecutive year, manager Dave Roberts is considering the pitching plan for Game 4 an "all hands on deck" effort.

SAN DIEGO -- After a second consecutive early exit in October, the Dodgers spent all winter trying to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. Led by Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers spent over $1 billion in contracts in the offseason, putting together one of the best rosters in the sport. The