Hello, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Charge the defibrillator, Game 5 against the Padres is here.

Wow, Games 3 and 4 sure were exciting, for different reasons. After two years of calling out the Dodgers for their lack of passion and intensity in the postseason, this newsletter has shown plenty of both this season.

Like last time, the recaps of Games 3 and 4 were written as the games were in progress, a stream of consciousness kind of thing.

This is all fun, don’t lose sight of that.

Game 3

—Hey, the Dodgers scored first! Miracles can still happen. Maybe Jurickson Professor missing the catch-on Mookie BettsHomer is a good sign.

—The Padres didn’t score in the first inning? Miracles can still happen.

– Miracles are over. The wheels come off in the second inning. Buehler did his job, though Manny Machado ran across the grass and got in the way Freddie Vrijman‘s throw, preventing a possible double play, and Miguel Rojas made a mental error running to second for the power, causing him to miss another double play.

—Or like Yogi Berra always said, “No one likes Manny Machado.”

—What Machado did by running on the grass was not technically illegal. It is a decision of the referee and cannot be reviewed. It was a smart baseball play. But how far into the infield can a runner go? Maybe he can run and tackle the pitcher when the pitcher fields the ball.

– It reminded me, and many of you, no doubt, of the Reggie Jackson playing in Game 4 of the 1978 World Series, where he leaned his hip into a pitch Bill Russellsending the ball into the outfield and preventing a double play. That play was clearly illegal and was not called.

—Freeman discusses the piece here.

– Legal or not, it would have been fun to see Dave Roberts come to the field and argue about it a little. Two reasons: It might light his team on fire a bit, and it would pay off Walker Buhler some extra time to relax.

– If Buehler is having so much trouble hearing, maybe just go back to flashing signs?

—And it’s 6-1. You can’t give a good team like the Padres five or six outs per game.

—Buehler has lost the ability to put hitters away when he has two strikes on them. Maybe he’ll get that power back, but not now. Those six runs aren’t all on him, but old Buehler isn’t giving up that home run Fernando Tatis.

—As previously mentioned, Teoscar Hernández rises to the moment.

—The team of the past two seasons doesn’t recover as emotionally from a 6-1 deficit on the road.

– Sad to see Rojas in pain on the bench after being removed. He’s a gamer.

—Johannes Smoltz went to the shaky analogy a few too many times.

– Judging by the emails I got right after it happened, that dugout rant from Buehler endeared him to a few Dodger fans all over again.

– That was a solid effort by Buehler. If you recreate the second inning and take away the mistakes made by fielders, he will concede one run. His throwing line looks much worse than what he actually did.

—The strike zone is much wider than in Game 2.

—Freeman gets a hit in the eighth. He’s in a lot of pain. Think about the worst sprained ankle or wrist you’ve ever had. Multiply it by 10. That’s what Freeman is dealing with. If this had happened during the season, he would have been out for six weeks.

—Again, the Dodger bullpen is great. But so does the Padre bullpen.

—The Dodgers were one for 21 after Teoscar’s strike.

—After an exciting first three innings, nothing happened. However, the Dodgers gave the game away. They should be 2-1. Buehler gets the loss, but he didn’t lose it.

Game 4

– Some of you were wondering, so I asked Jack Harris, who was kind enough to answer: When the Dodgers play at Petco Park, some players drive themselves to San Diego, while others take one of the Dodgers’ luxury buses . There are several buses to San Diego with all the necessary personnel and equipment.

—Betts has found his mojo again and has finally decided to hit home runs far enough that no one can catch him.

– That seemed like a complete waste of it Dylan stops. Why start it and then pull it so quickly? He is your ace, if you thought he needed to be drawn quickly, don’t start him at all. Save it for Game 5. If the Padres lose this series, many Padres fans will look back on this decision with some questions.

—The Dodger teams of recent seasons would meekly lose Game 4. This team is structured differently.

—I had nice things to say about Smoltz after Game 1, and he makes some great points. But he never stops talking. It’s okay to have a second or two of dead air.

—Ohtani is the slowest-looking fast player in history.

— Tough break where the ball hit the referee and landed right in front of Machado, allowing him to throw Ohtani home. But it reminds me of an old saying that Yogi Berra coined in the 1950s: “No one likes Manny Machado.”

—The Dodgers are through four innings and have already used Ryan Brasier, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech And Alex Vesia. Someone left will have to pitch more than one inning, but who? And do they trust? Landon Knack, Ben Casparius or Edgardo Henriquez pitch?

—Alex Vesia walked a tightrope in the fifth inning. But Kyle Higashioka swung at a bad pitch for strike three and Luis Arraez broke his bat. Sometimes the baseball gods smile on you.

—The Dodgers have had opportunities to add insurance runs. Hopefully it doesn’t come back to haunt them.

—Another solid bunt from Tommy Edmanan old-school player and a great trade deadline pickup.

-And the Dodgers are adding some insurance runs. They must have hacked into this newsletter and read what I wrote in two lines.

– Weird segment about Hurricane Milton. It was basically, ‘Hey, sorry about that hurricane. Now back to the match.”

—8-0 final. The biggest shutout win in Dodgers postseason history, which is pretty incredible considering their long postseason history.

—The Dodger bullpen was great.

– I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have bet on a Dodger routine in this game. I was thinking about a narrow victory or a defeat for Padre. But Dylan Cease’s use remains a mystery.

– But actually, I knew Game 4 was in the bag when I looked at the box of pears my wife brought from the store and saw that the box said, “Distributed by Scully Packing Company.”

—My prediction remains: Dodgers in five.

Game 5

So it comes down to tonight. The Dodgers announced this late Thursday Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 5. That’s an interesting pick, considering Yamamoto is 0-1 against the Padres this season, with a 13.00 ERA in three starts (including Game 1). In nine innings, he gave up 13 hits, 13 runs and four walks, while striking out nine.

All things considered, I would have gone along Jack Flahertybut as I always like to emphasize, the decisions I make on the bench have a 100% success rate.

Of course it worked so well in Game 4, maybe the Dodgers just had to play bullpen games the rest of the way.

You have to assume that Flaherty, or someone in the bullpen, will be ready to move quickly if Yamamoto gets into trouble. If he tips his pitches again, things could get ugly quickly. So remove it quickly if necessary.

Plus, Rojas probably won’t play in Game 5 (but Freeman will). That means Edman moves to short and leaves downtown Kike Hernández, Chris Taylor or Andy Pages. I would go for Hernández.

Yu Darvish goes for the Padres. He is 5-5 with a 2.27 ERA in 15 career starts against the Dodgers. Maybe they can pick up some of those slick baseball players that Darvish complained about after Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.

If you’re going to the game, get there early and enjoy the atmosphere. I hope you’re not around the more drunk fans during the game. Boo, don’t worry, just don’t throw things. Be as loud as the Padres fans.

This is how October baseball should be. Two great teams in a decisive match. This feels more like a championship series than a division series.

If the Dodgers win, enjoy the joy. If they lose, be disappointed and tip your hat to the Padres. Whatever happens, the sun will rise on Saturday and it will be time to turn the page.

If the Dodgers win, the next newsletter will be Sunday prior to Game 1 against the Mets. If they lose, it’s Monday and we talk about the season. So I’ll close with this: I hope to see you on Sunday.

The Dodgers NLDS schedule

Saturday: Dodgers 7, San Diego 5. WP-Ryan Brasier. LP-Adrián Morejón. Save-Blake Trains. (box score)
Sunday: San Diego 10, Dodgers 2. WP-Yu Darvish. LP – Jack Flaherty. (box score)
Tuesday: at San Diego 6, Dodgers 5. WP-Michael King. LP Walker Buehler. Save – Robert Suarez. (box score)
Dodgers 8, at San Diego 0. WP-Evan Phillips. LP-Dylan stop. (box score)
Friday: San Diego (Yu Darvish) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto), 5:08 p.m., Fox

*-if necessary

In case you missed it

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts winner-take-all NLDS Game 5 for Dodgers

Shaikin: Dodgers want fans to get excited for Game 5. ‘Bring the energy, but be smart with it.’

Hernández: Don’t think about it too much, Dodgers. Game 5 should be another bullpen game

Plaschke: Dodger up! Desperate Dodgers dump Padres and return to Dodger Stadium for Game 5

Shaikin: Shohei Ohtani was supposed to solve the Dodgers’ postseason woes. So why didn’t he?

Bullpen tasked with saving battered and bruised Dodgers in Game 4

Dodgers’ Walker Buehler robbed of luxury watch at Santa Anita Park 10 days before the start of Game 3

And finally

‘He did it! Hobbs did it!” Watch and listen here.