SAN DIEGO — Blake Snell pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning and Trent Grisham homered at a festive Petco Park, helping the San Diego Padres top the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Friday night for a 2-1 lead of their NL Division Series.
San Diego can clinch its first trip to the NL Championship Series since 1998 with another win on Saturday night. Joe Musgrove pitches for his hometown Padres, and Tyler Anderson starts for the NL West champions.
With Snell working 5 1/3 innings and Josh Hader ending a scoreless performance by San Diego’s bullpen, the 111-win Dodgers were pushed to the brink of an enormous disappointment. Los Angeles went 14-5 against San Diego within the regular season, and it has defeated the Padres in nine straight series dating to 2021.
San Diego stranded two runners in each of the primary 4 innings and 10 total. But Jake Cronenworth’s RBI single in the primary and Grisham’s drive to right within the fourth were enough.
The sellout crowd of 45,137 roared when Hader struck out Trayce Thompson swinging for the ultimate out.