LOS ANGELES: The San Diego Padres sent the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of postseason elimination with a 6-5 victory in a roller-coaster Major League Baseball playoff clash on Tuesday.

A wild game at an electric Petco Park saw Los Angeles take a first-inning lead through a Mookie Betts solo home run before the Padres punished multiple Dodgers fielding blunders to erupt for six runs in the second inning.

The Dodgers recovered from that second inning disaster to get within one run after Teoscar Hernandez blasted a towering grand slam off Padres starter Michael King to make it 6-5 in the top of the third.

But after that early frenzy of scoring, the Padres pitching unit took over and closed out a win, which gives them the chance to seal victory in the best-of-five National League Division Series in Game 4 on Wednesday.

The Padres, who blitzed the Dodgers 10-2 in an ill-tempered game two on Sunday, once again turned on the offensive power early on.

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run home run off Walker Buehler completed a second inning catastrophe for the Dodgers, who squandered the opportunity to take early outs through fielding mistakes from Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani — the home run hero of his team’s Game 1 victory — once again struggled to make an impression on the Padres pitching, finishing with just one hit from four at bats.

“Just amazing. What can I say? It’s a beautiful time to be here,” an elated Tatis said after the win.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, so it’s one step at a time. We’re showing up — we’re going hard from the first pitch, and that’s the energy that we need.”

In Tuesday’s other playoff game, Pete Alonso led an offensive onslaught and Sean Manaea produced a gem as the New York Mets took a 2-1 series lead against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 7-2 win at Citi Field.

Alonso blasted a second-inning home run to open the scoring while Manaea shut down the Phillies bats through seven scoreless innings.

The result means New York, who finished in third place behind Philadelphia and Atlanta in the regular season, can book an improbable trip to the National League Championship Series with victory in Game 4 on Wednesday.

Philadelphia had yanked back the series momentum with a thrilling win in Game 2 on Sunday after being stunned in Game 1 a day earlier.

But the Mets reclaimed the initiative in clinical fashion on Tuesday thanks to the first playoff victory of Manaea’s career.

The win was especially sweet for Manaea, who had been battered for five runs in less than two innings by the Phillies during a nightmare playoff performance in 2022.

With Manaea dominant, the Mets batting jumped on Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola.

Alonso got things going with a 385-foot blast to right field in the second before Jesse Winker doubled the lead with the second homer of the game to make it 2-0 in the fourth.

Nola was hooked after giving up two walks to help the Mets load the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Reliever Orion Kerkering came in to staunch the bleeding but shipped a two-out single to Starling Marte which allowed Alonso and Brandon Nimmo to cross home plate for a 4-0 lead.

The Mets tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh after Jose Iglesias singled to score Harrison Baden and Nimmo, making the score 6-0.

Philadelphia finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning after singles from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, but the Mets extended their lead in the eighth before closer Ryne Stanek wrapped up the win.

CHICAGO: The Chicago Fire have hired former US national team coach Gregg Berhalter to be the club’s new head coach and director of football.

Berhalter was dismissed as US coach in July, shortly after the team was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America. It was his second stint with the national team.

He replaces current Fire coach Frank Klopas, who will step down after the team’s final regular-season game on Oct. 19 to assume a new role as the team’s vice president of football.

Berhalter becomes the 10th head coach in the Fire’s history. He will oversee Chicago’s sporting operations, including the senior team, Fire FC II, and the Chicago Fire Academy.

“Chicago is an incredible city, built on communities of hard-working and passionate people who truly love soccer. I look forward to working alongside our staff and players to transform the Fire into a world-class organization that all our fans and the city can be proud of and will support,” he said in a statement.

Berhalter, 51, was the first American to coach the national team after playing for the team at a World Cup. He was originally hired to coach the US in December 2018 after stints with Sweden’s Hammarby (2011-13) and the Columbus Crew (2013-18).

“I’m confident that under his guidance, we will build on the foundation that has been laid over the past five years and be an organization that Chicago will be proud of and reflects the values of our city. I expect that Gregg will create a competitive culture and return our club to its winning ways,” Fire owner Joe Mansueto said in a statement.

Berhalter led the US to a 44-17-13 record during his tenure, taking the team to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His contract expired following the World Cup but he was rehired in June 2023.

Earlier that year, US Soccer investigated a decades-old domestic violence allegation that was brought to the USSF’s attention by the Reyna family, upset that Berhalter limited Gio Reyna’s playing time at the World Cup. A law firm retained by the USSF said there was no legal obstacle to bringing Berhalter back.

With the Crew from 2013-18, Berhalter led the club to the playoffs in four of his five seasons, including an appearance in the 2015 MLS Cup final.

As a player, Berhalter appeared in a pair of World Cups for the US. When he made his international debut against Saudi Arabia on Oct. 15, 1994, Klopas scored on the young center back.

Berhalter, a New Jersey native who lives in the Chicago area, played professionally for 18 season with stops in Europe and a stint with the LA Galaxy.

The Fire (7-9-17) have already been eliminated from postseason play with one game remaining in the regular season. Chicago have not been to the playoffs since 2017.

It is the seventh coaching change so far this season in MLS. Austin FC’s Josh Wolff was fired on Sunday, joining Nashville’s Gary Smith (May 16), Atlanta’s Gonzalo Pineda (June 3), Dallas’ Nico Estévez (June 9), San Jose’s Luchi Gonzalez (June 24) and St. Louis’ Bradley Carnell (July 1).