The specific feeling, in that specific moment, will be remembered for a long time. “For the rest of my life,” said one of the men who was there. Whether it is immortalized in a way that only can happen with one particular outcome in the final game of the season is dependent  on how the next two days — and beyond that, the next three weeks — go for the Padres. They are here, tied at a game apiece with the Dodgers in their National League Division Series, because Yu Darvish was magnificent for seven innings and five hitters blasted six home runs in a 10-2 victory at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. But an impromptu huddle in the left field grass in a ballpark where it felt like more than 50,000 people hated them and were trying to make them crumble, Padres players experienced the kind of bonding moment that can cement the bricks that build a championship. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has repeatedly talked during this series of his team needing to find some “fight” and “intensity” and other manner of energy that matches what the Padres bring. “It’s our own response,” Roberts said Monday during a workout for both teams in advance of Tuesday’s Game 3. “It’s our own response. You know, and I think that we’re not trying to hit (Fernando) Tatis as the leadoff hitter in a 3-1 game. Anyone that knows baseball knows that’s the case. But you use that as fuel. But for us individually and as a team, we need to find that fuel for ourselves. And so I’m not going to manufacture something that is not real. But again, it needs to be found. And I do believe that we had it in Game 1, and Game 2 just got away from us. I do expect our guys to come out with that fight that I saw in Game 1.” Padres general manager A.J. Preller talks on the phone during batting practice at Petco Park in preparation for Game 3 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024.  (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Meanwhile, the Padres seem to be doing their thing. “This is what we have built,” Jurickson Profar said. “This is who we are.” It is who they have been. There has been nothing more important to them than building toward this moment together. But in the seventh inning Sunday night, with one of their own feeling attacked and brimming with emotion, all eight of his teammates who were in the game, along with manager Mike Shildt, gathered around Profar. The game had been stopped after baseballs had been thrown on the field near him. Profar was incensed. His teammates’ intent was to calm him. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, a nearly lifelong friend, wrapped his arms around Profar. Shildt spoke to the group. They all listened to the umpires explain what they were going to do. Manny Machado was the last to leave Profar’s side before they returned to their positions. Beyond settling down Profar, the effect seemed to be like an epoxy for the group. “I was like, ‘Wow.’” Bogaerts said. “I felt like we got even a little more closer. People might be like, ‘He’s just saying it to say it.’ But no. I actually felt something a bit different. This is different. It’s not just guys that show up every day and don’t care for each other. That was a real special moment there for us as a team. It was real.” San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt hit grounders during batting practice at Petco Park in preparation for Game 3 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024.  (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Anyone watching the Padres from the start of spring training knows the importance they have placed on being close. It is a philosophy stressed by Shildt, who inherited a culture that was not quite toxic but was not defined by togetherness. Now, togetherness is their lifeblood. They have built their most talented and deepest roster in at least a quarter century and perhaps in the entirety of the franchise’s existence. That cannot be discounted. But all through this season, be it when overcoming injuries to stars or losing more than they won for stretches early or enduring an arduous August schedule, they have pointed to their unity as a reason for confidence and as a deciding factor in their success. Sunday was perhaps atop the list of instances this season and was certainly the biggest moment in which they typified a couple of Shildt’s mantras — that they will play their game “regardless of circumstance” and that “winners find solutions.” The reason those philosophies — and togetherness, which Shildt holds is at the center of everything else he espouses —  have been preached in some form virtually every day since February is that there is no telling which day it will be important to remember. “Your identity is only as strong as its strongest challenges,” Shildt said Monday. San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado celebrate after Merrill’s home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning during Game 2 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) And, yes, the Padres also get pretty hyped up about things. They feed off slights that are perceived. And they feed off each other. They have big personalities and celebrate big moments as enthusiastically as any team. They like to dance. They engage fans on occasion. To Roberts, the Padres “clearly … like the villain-type kind of role, and they (feed) off of that.” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts looks on from the dugout after the San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill hit a two-run home run during the eighth inning of Game 2 of their National League Division Series on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/SCNG) Something else Roberts said Monday will contribute to that perception by some. The Dodgers manager said he felt the ball Machado acknowledged throwing toward the Dodgers’ dugout after warm-ups preceding the  bottom of the sixth inning Sunday (after the Padres had gotten upset that Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch in the top of the inning) was directed at him. “It was unsettling,” Roberts said. “Obviously I have a relationship with Manny from years past. There was intent behind it. It didn’t almost hit me because there was a net. And that was very bothersome. If it was intended at me, I would be very — it’s pretty disrespectful. So I don’t know his intent. I don’t want to speak for him. But I did see the video. And the ball was directed at me with something behind it.” Machado explained Sunday night he was throwing the ball toward the ballboy in the nearest dugout as he regularly does. Here is video of Manny Machado throwing the ball toward the #Dodgers dugout. The ball had just been used by Yu Darvish to warm up. Kyle Higashioka’s throw to second bounced in the dirt, so Darvish received a new ball to begin the inning. #Padres pic.twitter.com/Wkf1L4Pff5 — Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) October 8, 2024 Machado’s response Monday after being told of Roberts’ assertion: “I spoke about this last night after the game. I’ve already turned the page, and I’m just looking forward to playing in front of our fans tomorrow and preparing for another tough battle against a very good team.” As in almost every one of these circumstances, what reality is can be difficult to discern. Moreover, it hardly matters. What matters is what each side believes. And the Padres believe in each other.