As the baseball world raged around him Sunday at Dodger Stadium, baseballs flying at Jurickson Profar in left field, beer cans at Fernando Tatis Jr. in right, the man squarely in the middle of the mayhem looked anything but a portrait of tension and stress. Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, at age 21 the youngest player on the field in a white-hot National League Division Series game against the Dodgers, showed his poise by showing, well, almost nothing at all. “I was playing rock, paper, scissors with some kid (seated in the outfield) during the break,” Merrill said. Normal postseason pressure has been amplified between the teams as the competitive gap has narrowed. The heat spiked in Game 2, when fan frustration spilled onto the field as the Padres manhandled the NL’s No. 1 seed, 10-2. Chalk up the Merrill story as one breadcrumb of evidence that the Padres are not the ones feeling a mental vice grip tightening. That burden now rests squarely on the Dodgers, who find themselves standing at a crucial crossroads in a season built atop mountainous expectations. Jurickson Profar and officials meet on the field after fans throw objects onto the field and taunt Profar and other players, causing a delay of Game 2 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.  (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) By splitting in Los Angeles, the Padres wrestled away home-field advantage in the five-game series with the ability to stop the theatrics from returning to Dodger Stadium. More than $1 billion in offseason upgrades in Los Angeles, including the acquisition of Shohei Ohtani that made baseball gasp, ramped up what is expected umpteen-fold. Toss in the wrinkle that the status of one-time NL MVP Freddie Freeman, a catalyst in a Game 1 win, remains foggy because of an ankle injury. Then there’s the Dodgers’ history without a full-season World Series trophy since Ronald Reagan sat in the Oval Office, despite sustained regular-season dominance. In the other dugout, to compare and contrast, the make, model and mileage of the most recent win offered fuel. “I was really pleased with how our guys responded (Sunday), not only coming back from being down a game, but also the circumstances during the game,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It allowed us to, we’re a very close team, but it created a deeper bond with our club.” Luis Arraez walks from the dugout to bat against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 2 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.  (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Baseball being baseball means the Dodgers could roar back, no matter the shifting sands favoring San Diego. It’s the beauty of the game, especially when the playoffs peek above the horizon. Grabbing leverage and wringing out the benefits when possible, though, defines those who keep marching forward. And right now, pressure owns a Dodgers dugout address. “At some point, if you can’t handle that, you’re not going to win a World Series anyway,” Dodgers starting pitching Walker Buehler said of the molar-jiggling Petco Park that awaits Tuesday. “I think it will be a big test for us.” Pass that test, and the Dodgers can flip the script. Drop a second game in a row to stand at the cliffside of elimination, however, and the here-we-go again fears can creep in. If you’re the Dodgers, the starting pitching situation surely intensifies the dread. The Padres will trot out Michael King for Game 3, bringing a 2.95 ERA while coming off a 12-strikeout, no-walk shutout of the Braves in a wild-card series win. Buehler? He’s 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and 72 ERA+ (100 is an average pitcher) this year, the lowest since his rookie season. He missed two months with a hip injury and all of last season because of Tommy John surgery. Pressure? Without a doubt. “It’s going to be hostile,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s going to be noisy and rowdy. And it’s up to us to still stay focused and compete and fight.” Fernando Tatis Jr. walks back to the dugout after the Padres loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 1 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Roberts argued the Padres feed off a “villain-type kind of role,” but pulled up short of saying the pressure meter tilts one way or another. “I think there’s pressure on both teams,” he said. “It’s a very important game. It’s a very pivotal game.” Shildt, meanwhile, told of Merrill’s rock, paper, scissors game within the game, said he was not surprised. “We handle (pressure) very well,” he said. “We don’t make situations bigger than they are and stay present. I love the idea that he was able to do that. Says a lot about his emotional capacity to handle whatever comes his way.” Did the manager think Merrill won? “Oh yeah, he won,” Shildt said. Sound like stress to you?