Padres eliminate 111-win Dodgers, advance to 1st NLCS in 24 years

Consider that dragon up the freeway slayed.

The San Diego Padres eliminated the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 win Saturday at a rainy and raucous Petco Park, winning their best-of-five National League Division Series 3-1.

San Diego advances to the NLCS for the third time in franchise history and the first since 1998.

Jake Cronenworth's go-ahead single capped a five-run seventh, as the Friars sent 10 men to the plate in the inning while battering the Dodgers' bullpen. Josh Hader closed it out with a perfect ninth.

Joe Musgrove, who grew up rooting for the Padres just a few miles from Petco Park, struck out eight over six innings in his first home playoff start.

"It's about to be a party out here tonight," Musgrove said, according to The Associated Press. "I mean, since I was a little kid we've been getting beat up by the Dodgers. But when it comes down to it and the games matter, this team stepped up, from top to bottom."

Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson flummoxed the Padres, tallying six strikeouts while allowing just two hits over five shutout innings. But manager Dave Roberts elected to remove him after just 86 pitches, a move that proved fatal to the team's season when Tommy Kahnle and Yency Almonte gave up all five runs in the disastrous seventh.

The Padres' victory is one of the most shocking outcomes in postseason history. The 89-win Friars had 22 fewer victories than the Dodgers during the regular season, the second-largest gap in a playoff series upset, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. The only larger gap was the 1906 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, who had 23 fewer wins than the NL pennant-winning Cubs.

For the Dodgers, it's a bitter end to a record-setting campaign. Los Angeles was by far the best team in the majors during the regular season, posting the most wins by a National League club in 113 years and winning its ninth NL West crown in the last 10 years. The Dodgers became the first team ever to win at least 110 games but not play in at least a league championship.

"The shock factor is very high. Disappointment (is) very high. It's crushing," Roberts said, according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

MLB teams with 110-plus wins

L.A. is also the fourth team to lose a playoff series to a team it beat in at least four regular-season series during that season, according to Langs.

The Padres move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League pennant beginning Tuesday in San Diego. It will mark the first time the franchises have met in the postseason.

This NLCS will feature a rare sibling rivalry, as Padres catcher Austin Nola will square off against his younger brother, Phillies ace Aaron Nola. The Nolas are the sixth pair of brothers to meet in a playoff series.

The Padres won their two previous NLCS appearances in 1984 and '98 but have yet to capture a World Series title in 53 years of play. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is making its first trip to the NLCS since 2010.