Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers combined on a two-hitter and Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers secured a trip to the National League Championship Series with a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

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

Evan Phillips struck out three in 1 2/3 innings and Alex Vesia got one out before leaving with an injury to start the eighth. Michael Kopech worked one perfect inning and Blake Treinen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

The Dodgers will play the New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Yu Darvish allowed the two home runs and one other hit over six innings with one walk and four strikeouts.

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

The Padres’ big hitters went bust with their season on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as the last 19 San Diego batters were retired.

San Diego went scoreless for the final 24 innings of the series, dropping the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead back home.

Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to square off in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a combined four-hit shutout from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers to hand the Atlanta Braves a potentially costly 9-0 loss on Monday.

Making his second start following a near three-month absence caused by a strained shoulder, Yamamoto scattered four hits and two walks in four innings. The Braves didn't record a hit against Evan Phillips (4-1), Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Brent Honeywell the rest of the way to fall one game back of the New York Mets for the National League's final wild card.

The Mets came through with a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the 10th inning.

Shohei Ohtani knocked in two runs to help Los Angeles split this four-game series and move within a game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's best record. The superstar slugger finished 0 for 4, however, and remained at 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases as he attempts to become MLB's first 50-50 player in a season.

The Dodgers didn't get a hit off Atlanta's Max Fried until the fifth inning but still managed to manufacture a run following a lead-off walk to Miguel Rojas in the third. Rojas advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored when Fried uncorked a wild pitch.

Tommy Edman collected Los Angeles' initial hit with a ground-rule double to begin the fifth and scored on Rojas' single. After a hit batter and a fly ball advanced Rojas to third, he came home on Ohtani's fielder's choice grounder for a 3-0 advantage. 

Fried (9-10) yielded just two hits and struck out seven in six innings despite being touched for three runs.

The Dodgers put the game away with a six-run seventh inning capped by the ex-Brave fan favourite Freeman's opposite-field homer.

After three walks by Atlanta reliever Daysbel Hernandez loaded the bases, Ohtani reached on a fielder's choice that plated Rojas for a 4-0 cushion. Mookie Betts brought in another run with a sacrifice fly and Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single in front of Freeman's blast. 

Brewers trim magic number to two with win over Phillies

William Contreras and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs to back a solid start from Aaron Civale as the Milwaukee Brewers moved closer to capturing the NL Central with a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Brewers' fourth victory in five games reduced their magic number to two to claim their third division title in four years. Milwaukee also closed within three games of the NL-leading Phillies in the standings.

Civale (5-2) scattered seven hits and struck out six while limiting Philadelphia to one run in five-plus innings. Colin Rea closed out the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings to notch his first career MLB save.

Contreras gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead with a third-inning double off Ranger Suarez that brought in Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins, who reached via a walk and single, respectively.

The Brewers extended the margin in the fourth when ex-Phil Rhys Hoskins walked, advanced to third on Sal Frelick's double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ortiz.

Suarez (12-7) lasted five innings and allowed three runs despite giving up just four hits and fanning five.

Brandon Marsh homered in the fifth for the Phillies' lone run off Civale, but Milwaukee scored twice in the sixth to increase their lead further.

Ortiz knocked in Frelick with a triple to put the Brewers up 4-1 before crossing the plate on Brice Turang's single.

Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the seventh when Bryson Stott singled and later scored on Kyle Schwarber's two-out single. The Brewers countered in their half of the inning, however, when Perkins singled and stole two bases before coming home on Gary Sanchez's sac fly.

Manzardo's homer lifts Guardians over Twins

Kyle Manzardo's go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning rallied the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a key four-game series between American League Central contenders.

Cleveland overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn its MLB-leading 40th comeback victory of the season, which increased the Guardians' lead atop the AL Central to five games over Kansas City.

The Royals were handed a 7-6 loss by the charging Detroit Tigers, who closed within 1 1/2 games of struggling Minnesota for the AL's final wild card. The Twins have lost seven of 10 and are 9-18 since Aug. 18.

Minnesota was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Twins reliever Griffin Jax. Two batters later, Manzardo clubbed the first pitch he saw from Jax into the right field seats to put the Guardians ahead.

Emmanuel Clase then retired the side in order in the ninth to record his 46th save, tying a Cleveland franchise season record.

The Twins got all of their runs in the third inning after loading the bases with one out on a Carlos Correa double and two walks issued by Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. Correa scored the game's first run on a passed ball by Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor, and Byron Buxton knocked in two more with a single for a 3-0 advantage.

Minnesota's Pablo Lopez held Cleveland scoreless until the fifth, when he hit Brayan Rocchio with a pitch and allowed a double to Angel Martinez. Andres Gimenez followed with a single to drive in the Guardians' first run.

Lopez issued two walks around a Will Brennan single to allow Cleveland to inch closer in the seventh on Martinez's bases-loaded single which brought in Manzardo.

Martinez finished 3 for 4, while Brennan and Jose Ramirez each had two hits for the Guardians.

Lopez pitched 6 1/3 innings and permitted two runs on eight hits.

The Los Angeles Dodgers landed the prize of the free-agent market Thursday night, reportedly agreeing with Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a record 12-year, $325 million deal.

The deal comes after Yamamoto was posted and made available to MLB teams in November. The Dodgers paid a $50.6 million posting fee to sign Yamamoto, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Yamamoto, 25, is considered a frontline starter and leaves Japan as the most decorated pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history.

He made his debut with Orix Buffaloes at age 18 and went on to record a 1.82 ERA in a seven-year career.

Yamamoto won the pitching Triple Crown last season, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He went 49-16 with a 1.44 ERA and 580 strikeouts over the last three seasons, winning Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young each year.

He is the first player since Ichiro Suzuki to win three straight MVPs in the NPB and only the second pitcher ever to win three, after Hisashi Yamada.

His contract is the largest for a pitcher in MLB history, topping the nine-year, $324 million deal Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees in 2019.

Yamamoto’s record deal comes after the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal, but unlike that contract, Yamamoto’s reportedly does not contain any deferrals. It does have a reported $50 million signing bonus.