MLB

San Diego, Welcome Back to the Playoffs! Padres Punch Post-Season Ticket

Friars earn one of the final two National League Wild Card Spots

NBC Universal, Inc.

There is no simpler or sweeter way to put this: the San Diego Padres are going to the playoffs.

The Friars lost to the White Sox 2-1 on Sunday afternoon, but that result didn’t matter because the Brewers lost to the Marlins 4-3 in 12 innings, erasing the final tally on San Diego’s Magic Number and officially putting them into the post-season for the first time since 2020 and the first time in a full season since 2006.

Starter Blake Snell was fabulous again. The lefty ran his career-long scoreless innings streak to 20 with five shutout frames before finally allowing a solo home run to Elvis Andrus, a missile that landed in the 4th deck of the Western Metal Supply Building in left field that gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the 6th. Snell went six innings and struck out six, with that homer being the only run he allowed. And yet, he took a loss.

Chicago got another run off Steven Wilson in the 7th to make it 2-0. All the while the 41,000-plus at Petco Park were waiting for the offense to show up against another All-Star in White Sox starter Lance Lynn, who took a shutout into the 7th before Ha-Seong Kim ripped a solo homer to left to make it 2-1.

Just before that at-bat, the ballpark lit up because word got around about the result in Milwaukee.

It was a day that would go down in Padres history.

They didn’t score again. Nobody really minded. The bubbly was ready to flow.

Like most seasons for most big league teams this has been a bit of a roller coaster ride in San Diego. They didn't have Fernando Tatis Jr. for the entire season for a variety of reasons. Manager Bob Melvin had to have surgery and dealt with COVID. Manny Machado missed half a month with a serious ankle injury. But, they reinforced the roster with one of the most daring trade deadlines in history, adding closer Josh Hader, all-world outfielder Juan Soto, and a pair of high-caliber infielders in Josh Bell and Brandon Drury. At one point or another all of them helped the Padres win a game down the stretch.

The only questions remaining are which seed the Padres will get and where they'll go for the Wild Card round. As of right now they're in the 5th spot, which means they would travel to either New York or Atlanta depending on which one of those wins the National League East. If the Friars fall to the 6th seed they would go to St. Louis to see a familiar playoffs foe in the Cardinals.

But, we'll worry about all that later. For now, let's enjoy the fact this roller coaster track just got a bit longer and have ourselves a not-so-little celebration.

LISTEN: With NBC 7 San Diego's Darnay Tripp and Derek Togerson behind the mic, On Friar will cover all things San Diego Padres. Interviews, analysis, behind-the-scenes...the ups, downs, and everything in between. Tap here to find On Friar wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Contact Us