Blake Treinen threw his arms in the air. His teammates poured out of the dugout and engulfed him near the mound.
Around them, a collective army of 53,000 fans has grown accustomed to October frustration and heartache.
Not for the last time this fall.
Not after a nearly flawless performance from their milk club on Friday.
With A 2-0 loss The San Diego Padres eliminated their Southern California rivals the Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Division Series and advanced to the NL Championship Series.
Looking at a third straight possible NLDS exit, they came together, shut down the Padres’ powerhouse lineup, and exorcised some rabid recent postseason demons in the process.
In each of the past two years and three of the past five, the Dodgers have failed to produce a moment like Friday.
In 2019, 2022 and 2023, they saw the division-winning, 100-win ballclubs exit the playoffs in the best-of-five division series round.
Even in 2020, when they won the World Series in that stretch, their NLDS victory came in a neutral-site ballpark in front of zero fans.
It was different. It’s catharsis.
“We’re not here to win the NL West,” said outfielder Kike Hernandez. “We came to win the World Series.”
For the first time in three years, they finally completed the first step of that championship quest.
In the Dodgers’ first season series clincher in front of their home crowd since 2013, 53,183 fans had reason to cheer from the start.
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1. Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, center, celebrates with teammates after Friday night’s NLDS Game 5 victory over the Padres at Dodger Stadium. 2. Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto celebrates after being retired in the third inning. 3. Teoscar Hernandez, left, celebrates with Shohei Ohtani after hitting a solo home run. 4. Kike Hernandez celebrates with Mookie Betts of the Dodgers after hitting a solo home run in the second inning. 5. Dodgers reliever Alex Vecia celebrates after striking out Jackson Merrill in the bottom of the seventh inning. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ $325-million offseason signing in the Game 5 start, set the tone with one-two-three innings after tilting his pitches in a three-inning, five-run-clincher in Game 1. At first, then at second was stranded on a two-out walk.
Hernandez delivered the first big blow of the night, driving a first-pitch fastball from Padres starter Yu Darvish into the top of the left-field pavilion in the bottom of the second.
From there, Darvish dominated — until he didn’t.
After retiring 14 consecutive batters following Hernandez’s homer, the Dodgers pulled the veteran right-hander (who had a 2.27 ERA in his regular-season career against his former club and allowed one run over seven innings in a Game 2 San Diego win. ) deep into the seventh again.
On a 2-and-1 count, Teoscar Hernandez got a slider over the plate. After depositing a line-drive solo blast into the left-field seats, he tossed his bat with one arm. The resulting confusion rocked Chavez Ravine.
Dioscar Hernandez celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the Dodgers’ 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the NLDS on Friday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s my first time in a situation like this,” Hernandez, the veteran slugger who signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers this offseason, told the Fox broadcast later in the dugout. “But I like this. That’s what I came here for,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers pitching staff gave the Padres no way, ending the streak with back-to-back shutouts and 24 consecutive scoreless innings.
Yamamoto swung his fastballs with precision and overcame an unhittable flurry of sliders, curveballs and splitters to produce a scoreless five-inning outing that the Dodgers had hoped for, and then some.
Evan Phillips got five outs after that, bumping the ballpark when he left the mound following Manny Machado’s strikeout. .
Alex Vecia had nerves falling out of his neck after hitting Jackson Merrill to end the seventh.
There was a tense moment in the top of the eighth when Vecia — who returned to the mound with a lineup of lefties for the second inning — called a trainer during warmups and left the game with an apparent injury.
Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech celebrates during the eighth inning of the Dodgers’ NLDS Game 5 victory over the Padres on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
That forced Roberts to turn to right-hander Michael Kopech earlier than he would have liked, instead suiting the left-handed Vecia.
It doesn’t matter.
He ended the inning with a 102-mph fastball past Jake Cronenworth. Drienen took care of the ninth, setting up an NLCS meeting with the New York Mets that begins Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
After two years of early October misery, the Dodgers will be deep into the fall game this year.
Eight more wins still separate them from a World Series title.
But in a postseason about redemption, the Dodgers’ victory Friday night provided a long-awaited start.
