Plaschke: Dodgers go from biggest winners to largest losers with time-ending reduction to Padres

They have flopped right before, plenty of great summers cruelly melted into autumn ashes.

But they’ve by no means blown it like this.

They have been humiliated before, a lot of memorable summer season marches ruined by staggering Oct stumbles.

But they’ve by no means been humiliated like this.

Scarcely a week after location a franchise record with 111 typical-year victories, the major winners in Dodgers history have blundered into a vastly different moniker.

The Biggest Losers.

On a rare wet Saturday night at San Diego’s Petco Park, an even stranger occasion occurred — the sight of the San Diego Padres dancing throughout the industry after sucker punching the Dodgers into next year.

Minor brother has knocked out massive brother. The nail has spiked the hammer. The shadow has eclipsed the sun.

In a 5-3 comeback victory, the Padres clinched the very best-of-five National League Division Sequence 3 games to just one when sending the Dodgers to the darkest corners of their legacy.

This is the most important disappointment in Dodger record. This is the most important upset in Dodger background. In strictly a baseball perception, this is arguably the least expensive position in Dodger record.

The Dodgers gained extra standard-time games than all but a few groups in big league heritage, yet their postseason lasted all of four evenings. The Dodgers received 22 additional video games than the Padres all through the very long summer time, nevertheless they could beat them only as soon as in 4 October attempts.

Based mostly on difference in normal-season successful share, this was the second-biggest upset in postseason background, and the major in 116 yrs. In other terms, chants of “Beat L.A” and the sight of hundreds of flapping yellow towels will are living in Dodger lore permanently.

This is poor. This is genuinely negative.

San Diego Padres gamers rejoice just after defeating the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLDS to advance to the National League Championship Series.

(Wally Skalij / VFAB)

It ended worse than one could quite possibly imagine as an array of relievers from the Dodgers’ revolving bullpen blew a 3- direct by allowing for 5 Padres runs in the seventh inning right after cruising starter Tyler Anderson was pulled after five. The go-ahead hit was a two-operate single by Jake Cronenworth after baserunner Juan Soto was permitted to stroll into scoring placement at 2nd foundation.

This painfully punctuates the narrative scripted by the Dodgers’ postseason failures in the course of their earlier 10 many years of regular-season domination. This is the finest case in point of why several admirers have been not able to love the 6 months of successful without having waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And this time that shoe belongs to the San Diego freaking Padres?

10 postseason appearances, nine postseason failures, however none really like this a person.

This is even worse than Clayton Kershaw’s meltdowns towards the St. Louis Cardinals. This is worse than Corey Seager failing to go over third foundation in opposition to the New York Mets.

This is worse than currently being overrun by the Chicago Cubs. This is even worse than Howie Kendrick’s grand slam for the Washington Nationals. This is even worse than the front office’s pitching mismanagement against the Atlanta Braves.

This is even even worse than getting cheated by the Houston Astros in 2017 and getting whipped by the Boston Purple Sox in 2018 simply because, well, at minimum both of all those defeats had been in the Earth Collection. In each individual of all those a long time, at least they gained two playoff rounds.

This time, even with the best run differential in baseball in 83 yrs, the Dodgers could not even acquire two playoff online games.

And to believe, this was going to be the year the tale at last transformed. This was heading to be the season they would prevail over the stigma of possessing received just a person shortened-season championship all through these very last 10 yrs. This was the season they ended up going to win a World Sequence after a entire period for the very first time in 34 many years.

This was a Dodgers crew so loaded that in March, supervisor Dave Roberts assured a Environment Sequence championship on “The Dan Patrick Show.”

“We are winning the Planet Series this year,” he explained to Patrick. “Put it on document.”

Place individuals words and phrases in the trash, along with every single other perception about this supposedly biggest of Dodger groups. Ultimately confronted with the kind of playoff force that was lacking throughout their steamrolling summer, the Dodgers cracked in opposition to a Padres workforce actively playing its greatest baseball with absolutely nothing to lose.

The starry Dodgers batting order led by the Significant 3 of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman? The Padres pitching spun them into the floor.

The once-feared Dodger rotation led by Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw? The Padres knocked all-around Kershaw and then took edge of a slim employees that wasn’t created to compensate for the decline of ace Walker Buehler and harm-weakened Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May possibly.

The experienced Dodger fielding? A botched grounder by Trea Turner basically price them Game 2, and they by no means appeared really sharp once more.

As with each individual recent postseason failure, Dodger followers will now participate in the blame recreation, and after once again it will all tumble on the shoulders of supervisor Dave Roberts, who built numerous questionable pitching moves in Activity 4, from removing Tyler Anderson as well before long, to inserting Alex Vesia to confront Cronenworth just after reliever Yency Almonte experienced already thrown a single pitch, to disregarding his finest reliever Evan Phillips right until it was far too late.

Meanwhile, the Padres progress to the National League Championship Sequence in a fight that will emphasize a renewed franchise that has certainly fought its way out of the huge blue shadow.

“I imagine it’s about time that we start out chatting about San Diego as a activity city,” former Padre pitcher Jake Peavy explained. “We’ve misplaced the Chargers. This is the only video game in town. The Padre supporters are definitely displaying out, from Del Mar on down … it feels excellent. It feels electric powered.”

As for the Dodgers, nicely, for the ninth time in 10 yrs, they’ve turned out the lights early on a possibly dazzling postseason.

But it’s in no way felt this dim.