Friday marked 20 years to the day since the “4+1” game, one of the greatest comebacks in Dodgers history. It went a little something like this. In the midst of a heated divisional race, the Dodgers were down by four runs to the National League West-rival Padres in the bottom of the ninth. Jeff Kent led off with a homer. J.D. Drew made it back-to-back long balls. Russell Martin went yard to make it a one-run game. Then Marlon Anderson added a blast of his own to tie things up. The game went to extras, with the Padres tacking on a run in the top of the 10th … only for Nomar Garciaparra to respond with a two-run blast in the bottom of the frame to give L.A. a most improbable come-from-behind win. How did the 2026 Dodgers celebrate the occasion? By hitting a leadoff homer -- and then four homers in the eighth inning -- en route to an 8-2 win over the Giants. Oh, and they did it all without four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani in the lineup. “It's a high-floor talent level,” manager Dave Roberts said of his offense. “I just like the way we're taking better team at-bats, and making up for not having Shohei in there. Obviously we're a better team with him, but it is nice to see that there hasn't been a dropoff with him not in the lineup.” With the victory, the Dodgers (94-60) remained four games ahead of the Braves (90-64) for second-best record in the National League, keeping them in line for a first-round postseason bye with eight games left to play. They stayed two games back of the Brewers (96-58) for best record in the NL (and MLB). If L.A. doesn’t catch Milwaukee in the standings, it will need to finish at least one win better than Atlanta, which holds the tiebreaker between the two teams by virtue of winning the season series. Now, about those homers.
