LOS ANGELES — It was touted as the biggest series of the month. It was billed as a potential passing of the torch, with the San Diego Padres threatening to win the National League West for the first time in 19 years. Instead, Sunday’s finale ended in a three-game sweep — and a relatively convincing one, at that.

The Padres president of baseball operations was talking about the good Dylan Cease, the man capable of shutting down teams and throwing no-hitters. That is not who climbed the mound in the first inning Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Mookie Betts hits a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 5-4 on Sunday.

Then Betts rescued the Dodgers with the 394-foot shot to left-center off Robert Suarez. It was the shortstop's 13th homer of the season and just his fifth since June. Betts had 25 in 2022 and 39 in 2023.

With their three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers proved they are deeper and more focused than their budding NL West rivals.

Los Angeles is now two games up in the standings, with a 71-53 record. The Dodgers are on the road for a four game series at Colorado, before these two teams meet up again next weekend, this time in San Diego. The Padres are now 69-55, and will start a four game series against the Giants on Monday.

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Yuki Matsui revealed he doesn't like facing the Los Angeles Dodgers due to the heightened media coverage around him when he face

Nick Pivetta allowed a leadoff homer by Jung Hoo Lee and then settled down to tie his season high with 10 strikeouts in six innings and lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 victory against the San Francisco Giants.

Kevin O’Connor is joined by Wosny Lambre to hand out offseason grades across the Eastern and Western Conferences, and EuroBasket.kev an Wos question if the Warriors’ front office is really all-in on winning a title, celebrate Denver’s upgrade from MPJ to Cam Johnson, and push back on the hype surrounding OKC’s long-term dynasty odds.

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The San Diego Padres were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, but have a chance at redemption beginning Friday as the NL West rivals face off at