October Comes Early for Dodgers and Padres

A weekend series between N.L. West titans didn’t disappoint. But San Diego, after years of playing second (or third or fourth) fiddle, has a lot to prove.

SAN DIEGO — In April there is no red, white and blue bunting hanging anywhere quite yet, but you could have fooled San Diego’s most enthusiastic baseball fans over the weekend. They streamed into the Gaslamp Quarter and Petco Park clothed in brown and mustard, limited only by their imaginations. Baseball’s most anticipated rivalry in 2021 — the dominating, blue-blooded Los Angeles Dodgers and the class-climbing, blue-collar San Diego Padres — began with a 12-inning bang on Friday; continued with a thriller on Saturday that culminated in a diving, fully extended, game-saving catch in center field by the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts; and played through the Padres’ stirring three-run eighth to avoid a sweep on Sunday. The clubs move north to Dodger Stadium for four more games beginning on Thursday and, if the rest of their 16 games play out as the weekend’s did, it is going to be some kind of fun.