Dodgers sweep Padres as Betts delivers late blow and depth shows in win at Dodger Stadium
The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, delivering a sweep at Dodger Stadium and widening their grip on the NL West as six weeks remain in the regular season. It was a game that underscored how the Dodgers have steadied themselves as they get healthier, with Mookie Betts again providing a clutch moment to seal the win.
Betts supplied the decisive moment, launching a game-winning home run in the eighth inning off Robert Suárez. He’s been a force lately, batting .341 with a .923 OPS over his last 11 games, a stretch that has him back to being the kind of player Dodgers fans expect from him at his best.
The Dodgers have significant depth to lean on. After a season that featured injury questions, the trio of Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow worked efficiently enough to join Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a rotation that could make Los Angeles’ postseason staff deeper than many expected. The team looks healthier and more resilient as the run toward the playoffs intensifies.
The Padres, meanwhile, are navigating a tricky stretch of injuries and uneven performances. Michael King was sidelined with knee inflammation and placed on the injured list just before his scheduled start, forcing the bullpen to cover more innings. Yu Darvish, who turned 39 on Saturday, allowed four runs in the first inning of his start before settling in, while Dylan Cease followed two promising outings with a rough 3⅓ innings on Saturday, walking six and surrendering five runs (three earned).
One bright spot for San Diego was Ramón Laureano, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a homer, continuing a recent stretch of strong production, particularly at the bottom of the lineup. Laureano’s presence has given the Padres a lift as they try to produce more offense from the lower part of the order, a unit that had been producing inconsistently through July and August.
Fernando Tatis Jr. also contributed, finishing 1-for-5 with a double. His on-base percentage (.416 since June 29) ranks among the top in the NL in that stretch, and his discipline at the plate remains a talking point as he adjusts his approach, even if the home run numbers haven’t followed in that period. Tatis has explained that he’s prioritizing getting on base and limiting groundballs, even if it means fewer homers at times.
The Padres entered the series with a strong hold on the National League’s second wild-card spot, and FanGraphs pegs their postseason chances around 97.1%. They also own what many see as one of the easier remaining schedules in the league, second only to the Dodgers in terms of relative pace. Those numbers matter in a tight race, especially with the season series between the two clubs now in the Dodgers’ favor.
In the series context, the Dodgers’ power was represented by a clear difference in homers. Los Angeles has hit 185 homers this season, the second-most in the majors, while San Diego has 105, the second-fewest. The Padres have been more dependent on non-homer production for their scoring, a trend highlighted by their 29.7% of runs coming from homers—the Padres trail the league in that metric, and the Dodgers sit higher at 45.8%.
Xander Bogaerts noted that while both teams manufactured hits in the series, the Dodgers were more efficient with big swings when it mattered. The Padres outhit Los Angeles on Sunday (10-6) and again on Saturday (6-5), but the key hits went the Dodgers’ way, and they did so with a mix of timely power and strong bullpen work.
Manager Mike Shildt emphasized that the club’s confidence remains intact, pointing to Manny Machado’s presence and potential, even as the results have not always aligned with his expectations at the plate. He also highlighted the improvement in the bottom of the order, describing Laureano’s hot stretch as timely and valuable as the team looks to rotate its lineup for better balance.
The game also featured a handful of notable notes: Betts’ eighth-inning homer, Suárez’s relief appearance in the eighth, and a broader sense that the Dodgers’ healthy roster could help them navigate a demanding closing stretch. Look-ahead plans include Cortes starting against the Giants, with Nick Pivetta and Cease on the horizon for Padres rotations in the coming days, while the Padres still expect Michael King to return by month’s end.
Bottom line: The Dodgers reinforced their home-field advantage and playoff-readiness by taking the series against the Padres, while San Diego remains in good position in the wild-card race but must avoid letting injuries and uneven results derail what could still be a deep October run. The two teams’ paths will cross again this season, with October still within reach for both sides.
Summary: Dodgers pull off a late-inning win to complete a sweep, Betts stays hot and delivers, and a healthier Dodgers rotation looms as a major postseason obstacle for the Padres, who remain firmly in wild-card contention despite injuries and some inconsistent performances. The rest of September will test both teams’ depth and resilience as they push toward October.