Would you like it differently? After four heated matchups in the National League Division Series, the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers meet Friday night in a win-or-go-home Game 5 at Dodger Stadium.

Which side will have the last laugh in the intense rivalry in the NL West? What will the final decide? And what drama will unfold in Los Angeles this time?

We’ve got you covered with pre-match predictions, live updates and analysis, followed by our takeaways after the final pitch.

Live updates

San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:08 p.m

Pitching Match: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.31 ERA)

Setups

Evaders

Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Mookie Betts (R) RF
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Teoscar Hernandez (R) LF
Max Muncy (L) 3B
Will Smith (R) C
Kike Hernandez (right) CF
Gavin Lux (L) 2B
Tommy Edman (S) SS

Fathers

Luis Arraez (Z) 1B
Fernando Tatis Jr. (D) RF
Jurickson Profar (A) LF
Manny Machado (D) 3B
Jackson Merrill (Z) CF
Xander Bogaerts (D) SS
David Peralta (Z) DH
Jake Cronenworth (Z) 2B
Kyle Higashioka (D) C

Pre-game predictions

What’s the key to Game 5 for the Padres?

Bradford Doolittle: The Padres must be careful not to get too big in their collective approach at the plate. What made San Diego’s offense so dynamic during the season was its ability to score in a variety of ways. Against the Dodgers, 62% of the Padres’ runs came on long balls. That’s fine if the ball leaves the field, and the Padres have won two games in this series that way. But it’s been a balanced attack that has gotten the Padres this far, and if the game remains close and low-scoring, they need to remember who they are and not dig in on their heels on every shot.

Alden González: Luis Arráez starts attacking. He is their leadoff hitter and in many ways a tone setter for their offense, but he has struggled through the first four games of this series, with three hits in 18 at-bats. Considering how good Fernando Tatis Jr. behind him, and the presence of Manny Machado two batters later, Arráez reaching base multiple times could play a major role in getting the lineup going again after it was shut down in Game 4. The Padres scored early points and bringing out the crowd at Dodger Stadium will be critical to achieving a Game 5 victory in a hostile environment. Arráez, perhaps more than anyone else, holds these keys.

David Schoenfield: Yu Darvish takes the game to the bullpen with the lead. He did that in Game 2 when he allowed just one run in seven innings, a performance that led manager Mike Shildt to make the questionable decision to start Dylan on short rest in Game 4 – because he wanted Darvish to start Game 5. Fans no doubt remember Darvish’s two poor performances in the 2017 World Series — when the Astros stole signs, of course, even though his Game 7 appearance took place at Dodger Stadium — but Darvish has been pretty good in the postseason since then ( 2.56 ERA in six starts, three of which came in seven innings). He succeeded in Game 2 despite only causing seven swings and misses, so Shildt will want to see if Darvish misses bats early. If not, it might be wise to move to his bullpen sooner rather than later.

What’s the key to Game 5 for the Dodgers?

Gonzalez: Yoshinobu Yamamoto is effective. The Dodgers were still unsure of their Game 5 pitching plans Thursday afternoon, just hours before finally announcing Yamamoto as their starting pitcher. It was significant. Yamamoto made his Dodgers debut against the Padres and was charged with five runs in one inning from South Korea on March 21. He then made his postseason debut against them and was charged with five runs in three innings in Game 1, in which the Dodgers think he gave up pitches. Simply put, the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history has to be better.

Doolittle: It’s imperative that they keep the score close early. It seems that when things have gone wrong for the Dodgers in decisive playoff games, it’s often because one pitcher falters early. They’ll watch a reminder of that history in Game 5 with Darvish on the mound for San Diego. The Dodgers can’t get up early because as much as their offense can come from behind, you don’t want to be playing catch up in the middle innings against this San Diego bullpen.

Schoenfield: I’m not going to get too cute here: Shohei Ohtani. Especially if Freddie Freeman is no longer able to go, the Dodgers will need Ohtani to put a pitch – or two – in the outfield seats.

This series was full of drama. Predict what we’ll all be talking about after the finale:

Doolittle: That awkward moment in Game 5. I don’t know when it will happen or if Machado actually did anything to contribute to it, but it’s coming. It’s a great rivalry and hypnotic to see two teams going at it with such genuine disdain. Let’s keep the fans out of it this time.

Gonzalez: That Major League Baseball should be back in the playoffs, making this a best-of-seven series and the winner, be it the Dodgers or the Padres, suddenly the favorite to win it all. These are the two best teams left, even if the Padres don’t have Joe Musgrove and the Dodgers are perpetually unsure about Freeman.

Schoenfield: Freeman comes off the bench to deliver a crucial pinch-hit, two-run single.

And finally, which team will face the Mets in the NL Championship Series?

Doolittle: Looking back a month before the regular season ended, I was telling people that it was very difficult to look at how these teams stacked up now and come up with a good reason to pick the Dodgers to beat the Padres. I stand by that. Darvish was excellent in his first outing, the Padres bullpen is deep and dynamic, and I fully expect Machado and Tatis to enjoy a high-leverage moment or two in this game.

Schoenfield: Oddly enough, despite the Dodgers winning the division, it now feels like all the pressure is on the Padres – especially considering their, shall we say, bravado on display in Game 2. The Padres were unable to do that in a series to channel. however, they got the win in Game 4, and now they need their bats to do the talking. The Dodgers were expected to advance in recent years but ultimately collapse. But this team has Ohtani. The Dodgers move on.