Yamamoto and Ohtani are in to potentially lead a bye-clinching win

Imagine losing by seven to your division rival only to see them bring in, the following game, their best hitter and pitcher of the past two seasons, both of them championship-winning campaigns. Well, that’s exactly the situation the Padres find themselves in, facing a Dodgers team that’s one win away from securing a top-2 seed and a bye straight into the NLDS—a Dodgers team with Shohei Ohtani on his way back from the injured list and Yoshinobu Yamamoto putting the finishing touch on yet another splendiferous campaign.

Rewind one year in the calendar and try to imagine a scenario in which it’d be reasonable to claim Yoshinobu Yamamoto might have a hard time as the following act to a bullpen game. Because that’s where we’re at as Yamamoto readies to face a Padres lineup that was shut out by the Dodgers’ bullpen—perhaps one final dominant performance from this unit in the regular season that has flourished despite some major setbacks.

Shutting out any offense isn’t an easy task; doing it against one that had scored seven or more runs in each of their past five games—regardless of the quality of pitching they faced during that period—is all the more impressive from this team’s bullpen. The bar has been set very high, but Yamamoto would not have it any other way, coming off three straight outings completing seven innings and also with a brilliant track record against the Padres this season—a team that, after tonight’s game, he’ll have faced more than any other (4 starts) in the 2026 campaign, so far holding them to just three runs in 20 innings.

As far as Ohtani’s return, instead of focusing on how the lineup will look with the reigning back-to-back NL MVP and who bats where, now is the time to enjoy Mookie Betts’ glorious September form—particularly how it helps relieve some pressure from Ohtani and other star hitters on the team. Speaking of great form, Betts has two homers in just 12 career at-bats against tonight’s Padres starter, Robbie Ray.