All aboard the high-stress baseball express, bound for Dodger Stadium and a win-or-vacation game against the momentarily vulnerable but now very much living, breathing Dodgers.

One moment, the San Diego Padres had pushed the game’s biggest bats to the brink, riding a tailwind of energy and emotion. The next, the bully up the block had forged new life.

Now, anything is possible. Jubilation. Dread. Exhilaration. Deflation.

Buckle up and pack the antacids.

The Dodgers pounded away at the Padres, then pounded away some more in an 8-0 runaway win Wednesday that set up a deciding game in the National League Division Series on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

More than the game count changed in the best-of-five roller coaster.

That unbridled energy the Padres owned and the Dodgers longed to find? It switched uniforms and dugouts. Prepare stomachs for some barrel rolls in a fighter jet.

“I know they’re not scared of this moment,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his team in the hours leading up to first pitch. “... It’s going to be a battle. We’re expecting it. We’re not going to run from it.”

They didn’t.

When a team like the Dodgers stumbles, you cut off the oxygen and snuff out second chances. You finish the job before a final-game bounce or two can douse a season.

The Dodgers, even wounded, are dangerous enough to find their collective swing, mop things up for nine innings and kick all your polished baseball and hip-tight clubhouse vibes to the curb.

You had them cornered. Freddie Freeman’s ankle. Miguel Rojas’ cranky groin. Rent-a-pitcher signs popping up in the dugout. They were down.

They’re not out.

“We have the players and the people that can make this happen,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “And I trust every single guy in that clubhouse.”

The Padres hand the ball to Yu Darvish with a season bulging with potential on the line. Darvish handcuffed the Dodgers in Game 2, a fountain-of-youth performance with just three hits and a run spread across seven innings.

The bigger migraine becomes the Dodgers bullpen. On Wednesday, as the visitors were pounding out 12 hits, the Padres finished with more strikeouts (8) than their hit total (7).

So, bring on the all-or-nothing stakes.

Bring those Rolaids, too.