Dodgers will start Yamamoto against San Diego's Darvish in winner-take-all Game 5 of NLDS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani will get his wish to see Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto face off against San Diego's Yu Darvish in Game 5 of the National League Division Series.

Darvish will start for the Padres in the winner-take-all game Friday night at Dodger Stadium, where fans tossing balls and trash on the field caused a 12-minute delay in Game 2 last week.

“I’m really excited that he’s going to perhaps be facing Yoshinobu and being able to see Darvish potentially,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

It will be the first matchup of Japanese-born starting pitchers in Major League postseason history.

Ohtani had been anticipating the matchup earlier in the series, when Yoshinobu was slated to start Game 2 against Darvish. But the Dodgers switched Yoshinobu to Game 1 instead.

Darvish gave up one run and three hits — all singles — over seven innings in the Padres' 10-2 win in Game 2. He befuddled Dodgers hitters by using seven different pitches and mixing speeds. He and Yamamoto are good friends, while Darvish was Ohtani's childhood idol.

“Just for us to be able to go out there and pitch on the same day, a playoff game, I think it means a lot," Darvish said through an interpreter.

Darvish was last on the Dodger Stadium mound for an elimination game in the 2017 World Series. He started Game 7 for the Dodgers against the Houston Astros. After just 47 pitches, the Astros led by five runs and went on to win the championship.

“I don't go focus on that time,” Darvish said. “But maybe it is the experience that I have accumulated up until today that’s making me feel calm right now.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't name a starter earlier Thursday, saying only that Yamamoto “will be a part of it.” The team confirmed Yamamoto hours later.

The 26-year-old right-hander has given up a combined 13 earned runs in three starts against the Padres this season. They jumped on Yamamoto for three runs, including a two-run homer by Manny Machado, in the first inning of Game 1.

“It’s just lack of command. When he hasn’t commanded the baseball, he hasn’t been really that good,” Roberts said. “But when he’s convicted and ripping it and attacking hitters with his pitch mix, he’s as good as anyone.”

Yamamoto is the highest paid pitcher in the majors. He signed a $325 million, 12-year deal with the Dodgers in December, having been recruited by Ohtani, who landed his record $700 million, 10-year deal with the team earlier that month.

Yamamoto allowed a season high-tying five runs in Game 1, with seven of the 16 batters he faced reaching base. Roberts mentioned afterward that the rookie may have been tipping his pitches.

“I think we’ve cleaned stuff up,” Roberts said, “and, to their credit, they did a good job scouting and stuff like that. But I think overall, kind of where Yoshinobu is at, I feel really comfortable.”

In a must-win Game 4, the Dodgers used eight relievers to shut out the Padres and win 8-0, setting up Friday's dramatic finale between the heated rivals.

Roberts said the Dodgers will have six or seven relievers available Friday. Jack Flaherty, who put his team in an early hole starting Game 2 before exchanging heated words with Machado, is also in the discussion.

“Somebody will show up and we’ll be ready for him,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

He wasn't ruffled by the Dodgers' caginess while comparing his team's approach to that of a Pro Football Hall of Fame coach known as a straight shooter with a single-minded determination to win.

“We're more like Vince Lombardi — power sweep, here it is, Yu Darvish is going to start, here's our lineup," Shildt said. "This is who we are and we're going to compete and execute. If we do that, we'll shake hands and pop champagne.”

Injured shortstop Miguel Rojas won’t be in the Dodgers’ starting lineup Friday, although he’ll be available to pinch hit. Tommy Edman will start at short. Roberts declined to say who will replace Edman in center.

The Dodgers expect All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, their No. 3 hitter, to be back in the lineup after he was a late scratch for Game 4 with a sprained right ankle. He left Game 2 early for the same reason.

“He’s feeling much better today with treatment,” Roberts said.

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

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado stands on the field during practice ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez has a praying mantis on his hand during practice ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts reacts during practice ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar smiles during practice ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish fields questions ahead of Game 5 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani fields questions ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws on the field ahead of Game 5 of a baseball NL Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) works out ahead of Game 5 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws on the field ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish fields questions ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani fields questions ahead of Game 5 of a baseball National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation that averts a government shutdown heading into Christmas, bringing a final close to days of upheaval in Washington after Congress passed a bipartisan budget plan just past the deadline and rejected Donald Trump's core demand in the negotiations.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., talks with reporters after attending a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House works on a spending bill to avert a shutdown of the Federal Government, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)