Tatis homers again as the Padres beat the Dodgers 6-5 for a 2-1 NLDS lead

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr.'s towering two-run home run highlighted a six-run second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to beat Shohei Ohtani and the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in a tense NL Division Series.

The Padres moved within one victory of eliminating the Dodgers in the NLDS for the second time in three seasons. Game 4 is Wednesday night at Petco Park, which was packed with a rally towel-waving record crowd of 47,744.

The fans roared as Robert Suarez struck out Gavin Lux on a full-count pitch to complete a four-out save.

Tatis said he feeds off the crowd's energy.

“I feel like I take it to another level; my mindset, my body. Everything is through the roof,” Tatis said.

“He likes it,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He’s one of the many guys on our team that appreciates and enjoys bright lights and embraces it. He just wants to go play and perform.”

Tatis' impressive homer gave the Padres a 6-1 lead, but Teoscar Hernández hit a grand slam with one out in the third off Michael King to bring the Dodgers within a run.

Mookie Betts also homered for the Dodgers to break an 0-for-22 playoff slump, but apparently thought left fielder Jurickson Profar had robbed him like he did in Sunday night's 10-2 Padres win at Dodger Stadium, when tempers flared on the field and in the stands. Betts rounded first and headed toward the dugout before teammates and even King motioned that it was a homer.

Tatis' shot into the left-field seats was his third of the series, leaving him one shy of the NLDS record held by Carlos Beltran (2004, Houston) and Nick Castellanos (2023, Philadelphia). Tatis had two of San Diego's six homers Sunday night. The flamboyant Tatis stood for a few seconds and watched the ball sail out of the yard, flipped his bat and gestured toward the dugout before beginning his trot.

“When I hit it I just blacked out, started screaming at my dugout. Energy through the roof,” the dreadlocked Dominican said.

“I made a bad 0-2 pitch and he does what he does,” said losing pitcher Walker Buehler.

In five playoff games, Tatis is 10 of 18 (.556) with a 1.969 OPS, four homers and no strikeouts.

King got his second win in as many playoff starts after allowing five runs and five hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and one walk. He was coming off a gem in the opening game of the Wild Card Series against Atlanta, when he became the first pitcher in history to have 12 strikeouts with no runs and no walks in a postseason debut in San Diego's 4-0 win.

The Dodgers are on the brink of losing in the NLDS for the third straight season.

“I like how we fought after we came back after that six-run inning,” Freddie Freeman said. “I know Dodgers fans don’t want to hear about fighting and stuff but I think the positive is Mookie got some hits today and things are looking good.”

Betts gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first after some confusion.

He lofted a flyball to the left-field corner with one out in the first inning at almost the same distance as he did in Dodger Stadium on Sunday night, when Profar leaped and reached into the crowd to make the catch. After Profar landed, he trolled the fans by staring at them and bouncing up and down several times before throwing the ball to the infield.

Profar leaped again Tuesday night but couldn’t bring it back, with the ball ticking off his glove and into the crowd. Betts rounded first and turned toward the dugout before he got to second. Betts’ teammates in the dugout, including Max Muncy, motioned for him to keep going and King gestured with his right arm that it was fair.

Betts resumed his trot after his first playoff hit since Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS against San Diego, which the Padres won in four games.

San Diego's second-inning outburst came against Buehler, who was making his first playoff start since Game 6 of the NLCS against Atlanta. Buehler missed the 2023 season after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery in August 2022.

The first five Padres batters reached and scored. Xander Bogaerts drove in a run on a fielder's choice and David Peralta hit a two-run double. Kyle Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly two batters before Tatis homered with two outs.

Manny Machado hit a leadoff single and ended up on third after first baseman Freeman fielded Jackson Merrill's grounder and hit Machado on the left shoulder while throwing to second from his knees.

Buehler also went five innings, allowing six runs and seven hits with no strikeouts and one walk.

“You can’t give up six runs in an inning in the playoffs and expect to win,” Buehler said. “I put us in a really bad spot and we fought back, but the spot was too big.”

The Dodgers opened the third by loading the bases on consecutive singles by Miguel Rojas, Ohtani and Betts before Hernández hit a towering shot to straightaway center.

Ohtani went 1 for 4 and struck out twice. He hit a three-run homer in the Dodgers' Game 1 victory but has been a nonfactor in the two losses, going 1 for 8 and fanning four times.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: SS Miguel Rojas came out of the game in the top of the third. ... Freeman was back in the lineup after coming out after five innings on Sunday night with discomfort in his sprained right ankle. He was lifted for a pinch-runner after limping to first on an eighth-inning single.

UP NEXT

Manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers will go with a bullpen game on Wednesday night. The Padres will start RHP Dylan Cease on short rest.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández gets sunflowers seeds to the face after hitting a grand slam during the third inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández connects for a grand slam during the third inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández reacts as he rounds third base after his grand slam during the third inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler throws to a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., left, follows through on his two-run home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, center, and home plate umpire Cory Blaser watch during the second inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. hops around third base after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., right, celebrates his two-run home run with Jurickson Profar during the second inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., left, follows through on his two-run home run as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, center, and home plate umpire Cory Blaser watch during the second inning in Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”

An image taken from a video shows police officers arresting a suspect after car drove into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (TNN/DPA via AP)

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)