Dodgers rely on pitching to beat Padres in Game 5 and reach NLCS

LOS ANGELES – Yoshinobu Yamamoto defeated Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup between Japanese-born starters and the Los Angeles Dodgers got home runs from Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday night and advance to the League to National League Championship Series.

Yamamoto allowed two hits in five innings for the Dodgers before being ejected after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals, who were meeting in a Division Series for the third time in five years.

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers will play the wild card New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.

It is the Dodgers' 16th NLCS appearance in franchise history, the second-most of any team since the round began in 1969.

The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since appearing in the 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after the season was split in half following a players' strike. With the majors' best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.

The Padres' big hitters were busted, their season hanging in the balance. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as Los Angeles pitchers retired their final 19 batters.

The Padres' two hits were the second fewest in a winner-take-all game ever. The only team to score fewer hits (1) was the 2022 Mets in the wild card round against the Padres.

San Diego went scoreless in the final 24 innings of the series and lost the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead at home.

Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born pitchers to face each other in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto became the fifth rookie in Dodgers history to start a winner-take-all game.

Yamamoto handed the ball off to an outstanding bullpen that carried the Dodgers throughout the regular season as their starters were hit hard by injuries. Evan Phillips got five outs and struck out Profar and Machado in the seventh before Alex Vesia struck out rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Vesia was preparing for the round of 16 when he withdrew due to injury. Michael Kopech came off the bench and pitched a perfect inning before Blake Treinen got three quick outs for his second save of the series.

Tatis grounded out when Kiké Hernández made the play after moving from center field to third base for the ninth.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.