The pitching staff was fabulous. The big bats went boom. The Brewers let another one get away.
And now the Padres can put themselves into the playoffs on Sunday.
The Friars took down the White Sox 5-2 on Saturday night in front of another electric crowd at Petco Park. That, coupled with a 4-3 Marlins win in Milwaukee, dropped the Padres magic number to 1. That means if they beat Chicago on Sunday, or if the Brewers lose on Sunday, San Diego will officially be owners of a National League Wild Card spot.
Mike Clevinger gave up a leadoff home run to Elvin Andrus then locked in, allowing just two more hits in his 6.0 innings of work. He needed just 66 pitches to get through his outing, an encouraging sign of efficiency with the playoffs just six days away. He left with a lead thanks to his All-Stars on offense.
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Juan Soto tied it up in the 1st inning with a long homer to straightaway centerfield off White Sox starter Dylan Cease, one of the filthier hurlers in the American League. The 1-1 tie lasted until the bottom of the 6th when a man who should get a whole lot of MVP votes started heating up again.
Manny Machado, who had struck out in 10 of his previous 20 plate appearances, hit a ground ball up the middle for a single. That was the at-bat that got him and the whole San Diego lineup going. Jake Cronenworth followed with a 2-run homer to right field that lit up the ballpark and put the Friars on top 3-1. They got another run in the inning on an RBI single by Austin Nola to go up 4-1.
In the 7th Machado unloaded on his 32nd home run of the year, a solo blast to left for a 5-1 lead. Pierce Johnson gave up a run in the 8th inning but Josh Hader, who has returned to the form that made him the best closer in baseball for the last half-decade, worked a scoreless 9th for the save. and October 2 is going to be exciting.
San Diego sends Blake Snell to the mound on Sunday afternoon to try and win the series and put the Padres into the playoffs for the first time in a 162-game season since 2006.
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