LOS ANGELES -- Yu Darvish tapped the "PS" patch on his uniform and then went to work on the way to an inspired performance.

Yet, try as he might, Darvish's stellar outing in the memory of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler was not enough to overcome the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

With the Padres' offense in a slumber, the Dodgers pulled out a 2-0 victory in the deciding Game 5 of their NL Division Series. Less than a week after destiny seemed to point San Diego toward the next round, the Padres were headed home to ponder what happened and put together a plan for next season.

"Obviously, it's a big game and you're given the ball to pitch in these big games, and for me it was about wanting to do this for Peter Seidler," Darvish said through an interpreter after giving up two home runs among the three hits he allowed in 6 innings. "Unfortunately, the game went on as it did, so there is some disappointment there."

Seidler, who died in November at age 63, would have been proud. Yet, the mood in the Padres' clubhouse after the final game of the season was one of unfulfillment for what could have been.

After a disappointing 2023, the Padres traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and elected not to re-sign NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. Yet they were much improved behind right-hander Dylan Cease, who arrived from the Chicago White Sox.

Rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill fit in perfectly with the offense-minded Padres, and Jurickson Profar had his best season in his 11th year in the big leagues. Fernando Tatis Jr., who sat out all of 2022 because of a wrist injury and a PED suspension, returned to All-Star form this season.

The Padres even got the better of the Dodgers to win the season series but could not finish off the NLDS as they lost the last two games. San Diego did not score over the final 24 innings.

"We didn't hit and score some runs," slugger Manny Machado said. "They did a tremendous job on the other side, on the pitching side. You have to give credit where it's due. We just couldn't string along hits. We had some opportunities, we couldn't [push] through and we fell short."

Tatis hit two home runs in a Game 2 victory and another in a Game 3 win, but he couldn't get the offense past the Dodgers from there.

"It definitely was a special group. I love every single guy in this clubhouse," Tatis said. "Man, I enjoyed my time this year with this group. I'm grateful to every single one of them for how they treated me. Everybody worked with open arms. I definitely love this group."

Darvish spoke quietly in the corner of the clubhouse afterward. He pitched well, but there was one moment he will remember most.

"Touching the patch, it means to feel Peter a little bit closer to you, right?" he said. "That was something that was designed by his daughter, so it holds a lot of meaning."

Rick Pitino came home Friday night.

Nearly three decades after he led Kentucky to the 1996 national championship, Pitino walked onto the floor at Rupp Arena and was cheered loudly by fans during Kentucky's Big Blue Madness event.

Pitino, now the coach at St. John's, wore a Kentucky sweater in his return to campus. He went to Rupp Arena multiple times as an opposing coach with Louisville, but he never enjoyed the warm reception he received Friday night, an opportunity created when Kentucky hired Mark Pope, the captain of that Pitino-coached 1996 squad, in March.

Surrounded by some of his former players, an emotional Pitino needed a moment to gather himself after he grabbed the microphone.

"I am so happy to be back," he said. "I said before I pack it in, in coaching, I want to go back to Camelot for one more time. There is no way I could return better. This is one of the best nights I've had in a long time because I visited all my players. I visited the fans that made me happy for every single day for eight years."

Prior to Friday's reunion, it was a tumultuous journey for Pitino with the Kentucky fan base. In 1997, he received a record 10-year, $70 million deal to coach the Boston Celtics a year after his national title run at Kentucky. But after a turbulent tenure in the NBA, Pitino resigned as Celtics coach and agreed to accept the job at Kentucky's in-state rival Louisville in 2001, following Denny Crum's departure.

At his introductory news conference, Pitino said one of his greatest concerns in taking the Louisville job was the backlash he knew he would receive from Kentucky fans. He was right. Once John Calipari arrived as Wildcats coach in 2009, the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry regained its fiery edge.

In 2012, ahead of Louisville's matchup against Kentucky in the Final Four, Pitino called the rivalry "pure hatred." And following a loss to the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in 2015, he was accused of using an obscene gesture toward the crowd. Pitino denied those claims despite video that suggested otherwise.

That bitter history made his return Friday night even more surprising. But Pitino has served as a mentor for Pope since he agreed to replace Calipari, who left for Arkansas after a difficult four-year stretch. And his connection to Pope along with Calipari's lukewarm finish at the school seemed to soften the resentment on both sides.

Pitino told the Kentucky crowd Friday night that Pope will carry Kentucky -- which suffered two first-round exits in the past three NCAA tournaments -- to "greatness."

"And now we get to root for ... someone that that name Kentucky is what he's all about," Pitino said. "It's not about Pope. It's not about Pope. You'll never hear him say [that]. The most selfless, humble, young man I've ever coached in my lifetime. One of the great, great examples of what Kentucky basketball is all about. Mark Pope is going to lead you to greatness in every sense of the word. Thank you all very much."

LOS ANGELES -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup of Japanese-born starters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers got home runs from Enrique Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Friday and advance to the National League Championship Series.

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

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers will play the wild-card New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.

"We're ready for the next level, and obviously the Mets are playing great baseball," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

It will be the 16th NLCS appearance for the Dodgers in franchise history, the second most by any team since the round began in 1969.

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 and return to the NLCS for the first time since 2021, when they lost to the Atlanta Braves in six games.

"We went through a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. We fight, we fight and keep going," Dodgers star Mookie Betts said. "All season everybody says the Dodgers are winning the World Series, the Dodgers are winning the World Series. And we get to this series, and all of a sudden we're the underdog."

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 Los Angeles pitchers retired their last 19 batters.

The Padres' two hits tied the second fewest in a winner-take-all game. The only team to have fewer hits (1) was the 2022 Mets in the wild-card round against the Padres.

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

"I think stunning is appropriate," Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

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.

Yamamoto handed the ball to a stellar bullpen that carried the Dodgers during the regular season when their starters were hit hard by injuries. Evan Phillips got five outs, fanning Profar and Machado in the seventh before Alex Vesia whiffed rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Vesia was warming up for the eighth when he exited with an injury. Michael Kopech came on and worked a perfect inning before Blake Treinen got three quick outs for his third career postseason save and second of the series.

With that, the NL West champs spilled out of the dugout for hugs and then headed back into their clubhouse for another celebration.

"Anytime you're smelling like champagne, it means you're doing something good," Betts said.

Darvish, the 38-year-old childhood idol of Ohtani, gave up an early home run to Enrique Hernández, then set down 14 in a row. Teoscar Hernández's homer chased Darvish in the seventh and made it 2-0.

The Padres and Dodgers combined to retire 26 consecutive batters -- the longest streak in a single game in postseason history.

Darvish gave up two runs and three hits in 6 innings, struck out four and walked one. He dropped to 0-5 in elimination games -- four of them quality starts.

"I thought Yu was magnificent again. Had them off balance. Couple of swings got him. Other than that, he was really good," Shildt said.

Darvish and Ohtani teamed to help win last year's World Baseball Classic for Japan, but they were rivals Friday. Ohtani struck out three times, including twice against Darvish in a game watched on Saturday morning in Japan.

Ohtani hit a tying three-run homer in Game 1, his playoff debut, but was mostly quiet the rest of the series after becoming the first player in major league history to reach 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.

The teams combined to score 43 runs in the first five games of the series, but the winner-take-all finale was a tense pitching affair in front of a sellout crowd of 53,183 that included Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and a Hollywood contingent of Brad Pitt, Rob Lowe, Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Kimmel.

The wild-card Padres ended the series by not scoring since the second inning of Game 3. They became the first team to lead 2-1 in a best-of-five series and fail to score in the final two games.

Yamamoto successfully covered first base three times after inducing grounders, making it easier on All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who started after missing Game 4 with a sprained right ankle.

The Dodgers led 1-0 on the drive by Enrique Hernández with two outs in the second. It was the 14th career postseason homer for Hernández, who was brought back to the Dodgers this season to make an impact in October.

Los Angeles staved off elimination in San Diego with an 8-0 victory in Game 4 to force the deciding game back home, where fans tossing balls and trash on the field caused a 12-minute delay in a Game 2 loss. The public-address announcer warned fans in the middle of the fifth Friday not to throw objects or go on the field.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Paul George's scoring touch was on display in his preseason debut with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.

George made 8 of 15 shots and scored a team-high 23 points in a 121-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

George logged 26 minutes, hit four 3-pointers and added six rebounds and two assists.

His exhibition debut continued a stretch of new faces in new places during this preseason, along with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns in New York, Chris Paul in San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento and Klay Thompson in Dallas.

The 76ers -- who signed George to a four-year, $212 million contract as a free agent this summer -- are his fourth team, after seven years with Indiana, two with Oklahoma City and the past five as part of the LA Clippers. He's a nine-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection and has averaged 20.8 points over his first 14 NBA seasons.

The game in Iowa was a homecoming for 76ers coach Nick Nurse. An Iowa native, he coached Minnesota's G League team when it was Iowa and is the previous head coach at NAIA member Grand View University, located in Des Moines. Nurse was the youngest college coach in the country when he took that job at 23.

Virgil van Dijk said he was "angry" with the decision to give him the first of two yellow cards as he was sent off for the first time in his Netherlands career in Friday's 1-1 Nations League draw with Hungary.

The Liverpool defender received two yellow cards in three minutes late in the second half, the first for dissent and the second a foul which was a straightforward booking.

That first card, for protesting after Donyell Malen was brought down as he surged towards goal with the Dutch trailing their hosts 1-0, left Van Dijk particularly frustrated.

"[The red card] is a bummer, should not have happened. But I'm especially angry about the first," Van Dijk told ESPN Netherlands.

"They say the captain is the only one who can talk to the referee. I walk up to him. Up tempo, but not in a nasty way, not at all. Very respectful. Because I felt it was a breakaway player, he did not go for the ball at all. If even the captain can not say anything ... then it gets difficult."

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman was also left perplexed by his captain's first booking.

"That moment was frustrating," Koeman told the NOS. "I don't understand it. I think we agreed that a captain can protest to a referee.

"That foul [on Malen] was good for a red card. There was no intention at all to play the ball. That Virgil then takes that second card is not convenient. He knows that himself."

Koeman confirmed he will not add to his squad for Monday's visit to Germany, who head Nations League Group A3 with seven points from three matches, two more points than the Netherlands.

It makes it a vital fixture in which the Dutch could rise to the top of the pool, or conversely be cut five points adrift with two games to play.

Koeman was left with a "reasonable feeling" after the draw in Budapest in which his side trailed to a first-half goal from Roland Sallai, but equalised late on through Denzel Dumfries, a goal that came after Van Dijk's red card.

"We didn't surrender, we went to play one-on-one and made the equaliser," he added. "Then they [Hungary] created some dangerous situations, but we defended well. That way you leave with a reasonable feeling."

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.

Ole Miss plans to address complaints about fake injuries with players and has been in contact with the SEC and national coordinator for football officiating Steve Shaw about the issue.

In a statement released Friday, Ole Miss acknowledged that its team has received attention in the national discussion around "feigned injuries" during games this season. The team said that it has "provided relevant medical information" for Shaw to review and will answer questions about recent incidents in games.

"We have also updated the SEC office, and our head coach will communicate with our coaches and players to ensure we conduct ourselves properly and are compliant in this matter," the statement reads.

A number of Ole Miss players remained briefly down on the field after plays during last week's game at South Carolina, raising suspicion that the Rebels were trying to stifle momentum for the South Carolina offense in a 27-3 Ole Miss win. Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer, asked about the incidents, said he hoped Ole Miss players who went down were OK, while adding, "I got my own problems. We just got our butts kicked 27-3. But it's fascinating to me to see how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down or makes a big play."

Beamer added: "The timing on some of the injuries -- it's a really bad look for college football."

LSU coach Brian Kelly, whose team hosts No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday night, referred to the SEC sportsmanship policy about fake injuries.

"If there was any faking of injuries in a deliberate action, the SEC would take action on that," Kelly said this week. "I can leave that up to the SEC and let them evaluate that. ... The [game] officials shouldn't be involved in it. That's not their purview, they got to officiate a game. They can't decide who is injured or who is not injured."

In 2022, the NCAA announced that teams would be able to report "questionable scenarios" to the national coordinator of officiating for review, who then would communicate with conference offices for potential action.

After that shock victory over the world champions to start their stint in Canada, Scott Bemand's side came into the game as notional favourites and certainly looked set to justify that tag in the early stages.

Dominating territory and possession through the opening minutes, the only source of frustration for Ireland will have been their failure to make that advantage count.

Predictably, they were made to pay for their profligacy when, after what was her side's first real period of pressure, USA prop Rogers marked her 50th cap with a try from close range.

Player of the match Erin King responded to level matters but, with the last play of the half, Rogers' memorable day got even better with her second score.

If there was one note for caution for the Eagles as they celebrated into half-time, it was their eight penalties conceded in the opening 40 minutes.

Ultimately, it was their ill-discipline that would prove their undoing with Tahlia Brody, Rachel Ehrecke and Rachel Johnson all sent to the sin-bin in the space of 12 second-half minutes.

Brody was the first to go with her transgression, catching the ball in an offside position, also bringing about the penalty try that levelled the game just after the hour mark.

Replacement Ehrecke followed soon after and it was against 13 players that Ireland hooker Moloney was able to maul her way across the whitewash to give her side the lead.

In the final minutes, Johnson was shown a yellow for a high tackle to again reduce the Americans to 13 and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe made Ireland's numerical advantage count when rounding off the day's scoring with a try in the corner.