has evaporated<\/a>, with Los Angeles going just 12-21 since.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2177527455-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mookie Betts and Manny Machado crossed paths during last year\u2019s NLDS, a taut showdown with simmering tension. (Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Enter, a chance to reset \u2014 or a chance for the Dodgers to drop even further.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s big, but it kind of is what it is,\u201d Mookie Betts said. \u201cWe can\u2019t make it more than what it is. It\u2019s another series in August. Obviously, we all know it\u2019s big and X, Y and Z, but we can\u2019t make it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re playing for,\u201d Tatis Jr. said. \u201cAnd, you know, we have to take the lead in first place and stay consistent. This is the team to do it. So it\u2019s now a matter of fact, it\u2019s in our hands, how much we want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the two sides enter the cauldron again. It remains to be seen how many emotions boil over. Last time, it meant Roberts getting ejected from one game and having Shildt charge in his direction in another. The benches cleared. Roberts said he and Shildt have not discussed the war of words that consumed the most recent series between the Dodgers and Padres.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never want to make it about me, I really don\u2019t,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI just took offense to his response towards me. I thought it was directed at me. But I just want to go out and play good baseball. That\u2019s kind of where my head\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since July 3, the Dodgers rank 22nd in baseball with a .710 OPS on offense. They rank 16th with a 4.22 ERA. Four of their last five losses have been accompanied by a bullpen collapse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t played up to our potential in any way,\u201d Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said this week.<\/p>\n
The hope is that the stakes \u2014 and perhaps the opponent \u2014 could help the Dodgers dial back in. Los Angeles took five of seven games against the Padres in June, capping off a month\u2019s worth of games against teams above .500 at the time that solidified the team\u2019s standing.<\/p>\n
Well, until now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to ramp up the intensity,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe do. Because if we don\u2019t, then I just don\u2019t think it\u2019ll bode well for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts entered this season preaching a mission for a team seeking to be baseball\u2019s first repeat champions in a quarter century: Be the hunter, not the hunted.<\/p>\n
That has not played out.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, in the standings, you\u2019re literally being the hunted,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut also, I think that the way we played is not hunting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the Dodgers have no other choice. They are looking up at San Diego, something they have never done this late in the year during this run in the regular season.<\/p>\n
The Padres took a 2-1 lead in last year\u2019s NLDS, pushing the Dodgers to the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles responded and didn\u2019t allow a run for the rest of the series.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers can only hope for something similar this time.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Dennis Lin contributed to this story.<\/strong><\/p>\n(Top photo of Mike Shildt and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez: Jayne Kamin \/ Oncea-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drama will again be compressed, with six games in a 10-day span. When the Los Angeles Dodgers…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2502,1266,1306,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-148117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-san-diego-padres","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115033469564085543","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}