NL West race heats up as Dodgers tie Padres for lead

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Things sure have changed since the last time the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers clashed, back in June.

The Dodgers were running away in the NL West then with a nine-game lead. The Padres were in third place.

Now, with 1 1/2 months left in the season, it's all tied up.

San Diego came into Dodger Stadium on Friday night with a one-game lead over the defending World Series champions. It's the latest the Padres had led the division since September 2010 and the first time the Dodgers had been out of first this late in the season since Aug. 18, 2021.

By the time it was over, the Dodgers won 3-2 to snap a four-game skid and gain a tie for first.

“We just played some bad games and we’re fine moving forward,” winning pitcher Clayton Kershaw said.

The Padres' five-game winning streak ended.

“The only day in the standings that ultimately matters is the last day of the season,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said before the game, “but we’ve played good baseball and we feel good where we’re at.”

The last time the Padres won the NL West was in 2006, when their leadoff hitter was current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

“The reality is we got here by putting emphasis on every day being the most important day of the season and that’s not going to change from my seat,” Shildt said.

The Dodgers had been in first every day since April 27, but injuries, pitching woes and lack of offensive punch have derailed them.

“It just takes one to get going," Kershaw said, "and hopefully this was it for us.”

Ever the optimist, Roberts is keeping the faith in his lineup.

“They just got to go out there and take good at-bats,” he said. “They're motivated. I don’t like to be embarrassed, I don’t think our players do, so this series I’m expecting kind of high intensity and high performance.”

The teams meet five more times over the next nine days.

“The division isn’t won or lost in the next 10 days but it will make an impact and we know that,” Kershaw said. “We just got to keep playing. You can’t put any more or any less on it. Hopefully, our talent and our team will take over, which we know it will.”

The series opener Friday was devoid of the fireworks that occurred in June, when the Dodgers took five of seven games during the teams' first two series. Ten batters were hit, including Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. three times. The last time cleared the benches.

Roberts and Shildt were ejected following a tense back-and-forth exchange.

This time, Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia hit Jose Iglesias and Jake Cronenworth back-to-back to open the eighth, but there was no retribution by the Padres.

“It was a high intensity game but it was certainly kind of tempered as far as internally,” Roberts said afterward, “but I think that I could see it as far as on the field. I could feel it. Our focus was keen.”

Roberts said beforehand that he and Shildt had not spoken since the contretemps.

“I’m past it,” Roberts said before the game. “I just want us to play well.”

Shildt said, “I’m not a grudge guy. I’m not a carry things over. I’m more of a day-to-day guy. Go and treat people with respect.”

Shildt and Roberts shook hands while exchanging lineup cards .

Asked beforehand what they would say, Shildt responded, “Hey Dave, how ya doing?”

Roberts said, “I'll just do what I do all the time, say hello and that's about it.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández, left, is hit with seeds thrown by Mookie Betts after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres' Ramon Laureano, right, hits a solo home run as Los Angeles Dodgers' Will Smith watches during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after finishing the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Diego Padres catcher Freddy Fermin is unable the catch a foul ball hit by Los Angeles Dodgers' Andy Pages during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, second from left, greets San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt prior to a baseball game Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.

But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.

“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”

The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,” the panel added.

It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.

Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.

In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil said the appeals ruling was “deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve.”

He added: “The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts.” He noted the panel’s finding concerned a “hypertechnical jurisdictional matter,” rather than the legality of the Trump administration’s policy.

“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he added, saying Khalil would remain free pending the full resolution of all appeals, which could take months or longer.

The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.

Khalil's lawyers can request the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested on March 8, 2025. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his firstborn.

Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They have also accused Khalil, 30, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.

The government has justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.

In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.

President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.

Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level. He does not have a final order of removal, which would permit a challenge in an appellate court, she wrote.

Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.

The majority opinion noted Freeman worried the ruling would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.

“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments, the judges wrote. “To be sure, the immigration judge’s order of removal is not yet final; the Board has not affirmed her ruling and has held the parties’ briefing deadlines in abeyance pending this opinion. But if the Board ultimately affirms, Khalil can get meaningful review.”

The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported. His attorneys have argued that the federal order should take precedence.

That judge has suggested Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.

His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.

Associated Press Writer Larry Neumeister contributed to this story.

FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)