By admin 
LOS ANGELES – Finally, they are in.
The Padres spent sizable portions of this season seemingly on the edge of collapse every few weeks before surging back into contention.
Read more Padres top Dodgers, make team history with another playoff berth
So being no-hit for five innings and then suddenly building a sizable lead and then holding on in a frenzied finish to the game that clinched their playoff berth seemed about right.
The Padres got their first hit and their first run in the sixth inning and scored three more times in the seventh before turning the game over to the back end of their bullpen to preserve a 4-2 victory.
Their high-leverage relievers were the strength and the most consistent part of their team all season, so it was also fitting that Jason Adam, Adrian Morejón and Mason Miller strung together the final three innings to get the Padres into the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
It is the first time in team history the Padres have qualified for three consecutive postseasons and just the 10th time they will head to the playoffs in their 58 years of existence.
This was the second time in this three-year span that the Padres were spraying champagne in the visitors’ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, the site of so many glum postgames over the years.
The Padres had reached base just once, on a walk, in five innings against Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow.
Then, suddenly, they took a lead with the major contributions being a single by a rookie who joined them on Sept. 1 and a sacrifice fly by a journeyman who was called up on Aug. 24.
The Padres’ first hit of the night was Ethan Salas’ flare the other way and just over the left side of the infield with one out in the sixth inning.
Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a single grounded through the right side that sent Salas to third base, and Dustin Harris then hit a fly ball to center field that put the Padres up 1-0.
Yuki Matsui, who had gotten the final out in the fifth inning, got the first two outs in the sixth before Jason Adam threw one pitch to get the third out.
Read more Wild rally lifts Valkyries over Sparks, into No. 2 seed
A one-out double in the seventh inning by Jackson Merrill off Glasnow and a pinch-hit single by Austin Hays after lefty Justin Wrobleski entered the game extended the Padres’ lead, and two-out singles by Salas and Tatis extended it further.
Adam retired the first two batters in the seventh. Morejón got the final out that inning and allowed a run in the eighth. Miller’s 38th save was earned with a four-out ninth inning in which the Dodgers scored again.
After Tommy Edman reached based when he swung through a slider that bounced past Salas, Shohei Ohtani doubled Edman home before Mookie Betts grounded out.
Padres starter Nick Pivetta matched Glasnow where it mattered most – on the scoreboard – for as long as he could.
He was pulled after yielding a two-out single in the fifth inning, and Matsui surrendered a single to Freddie Freeman before striking out Teoscar Hernández
The Dodgers found out before the game that they had clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, so they are essentially playing out the season to stay in shape.
Exactly three years after the Padres clinched a playoff berth with a victory at Dodger Stadium, they were playing on Thursday for the right to continue playing.
They are now striving over the next three days for the right to host their best-of-three National League Wild Card Series.
They are in position to do so, a game ahead of the Cubs, who also clinched a playoff berth Thursday. Because the Cubs won the series between the teams, the Padres have to finish a game ahead of the Cubs in the standings in order to remain the No.4 seed.
Read more Aiming to fight hunger and support farmers, new California legislative group forms
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.