A franchise-record 3rd straight postseason, and the Padres still want more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The San Diego Padres are back in the postseason for a franchise-record third consecutive year.

Now, they want to win a World Series for the first time, having been there twice only to lose.

Manny Machado fielded Mookie Betts' groundout to third base for the final out in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night that clinched a playoff berth, and the celebration was on.

“I was feeling nice,” Machado said in the cramped visitors' clubhouse, his bare chest soaked with a mix of beer and Champagne. “We're clinching!”

The Padres (89-70) partied inside and then came out on the Dodger Stadium field in matching black T-shirts to pose for photos. It'll be their third straight postseason as a wild-card team.

“I’ve never won a championship,” Machado said. “I know what winning looks like. It takes a whole village to do it and we’ve been showing it this year. There’s been a lot of guys contributing in so many ways. It’s awesome to see it being done.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. stole two bases for the fourth time this season and extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a walk in the fourth against the Dodgers. He was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

“Let's celebrate!” he screamed above the din in the darkened clubhouse. “We're here for a reason. We're ready to compete. We're here for the long run.”

The Padres made franchise history under rookie manager Craig Stammen, a surprise pick by general manager A.J. Preller to replace Mike Shildt, who suddenly retired less than two weeks after the Padres were eliminated by the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in the wild-card round last season.

The 42-year-old Stammen was hired less than three years after retiring as a player despite having no coaching or managerial experience at any level. He’s been with the organization since 2017 and is best known for starting the deciding Game 3 of the 2020 Wild Card Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, who at the time were managed by Shildt. He pitched 1 2/3 innings as the first of nine pitchers the Padres used in the 4-0 win, which clinched their first postseason series victory since 1998.

The Padres popped half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 18 after Michael King struck out nine and Miguel Andujar hit a solo homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a 1-0 win at Petco Park on May 18. But they lost the next night and fell behind the two-time defending World Series champions by double digits by late June.

They were 48-48 at the All-Star break and in third place in the division and have gone 41-22 since then. They came up with a “pitching chaos” game plan to get them through a difficult period with their rotation, which is still thin without Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, who have missed the whole season. Nick Pivetta only recently returned from a long stint on the IL.

Pivetta fired 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday in his eighth career start against the Dodgers, allowing four hits and striking out seven.

Perhaps the biggest pickup of the offseason was first baseman Ty France, who was signed to a minor league free agent deal and made the team out of spring training, his second stint with the Padres. He is from West Covina, California, and played for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. He’s hit a career-high 21 homers and played solid defense.

“I still felt like I had a lot left in the tank and a lot to offer to a team,” France said. “Very grateful and fortunate that it's here.”

Tatis had an unfathomable home run drought to start the season. He didn’t hit his first home run until May 30 at Washington, his 56th game. He’s now recorded his fourth 25-homer season and has 38 stolen bases.

“We're one, we're one,” he said of the team unity. “It's been that way for the whole year and we're going to keep it that way.”

Infielder Jake Cronenworth has come on strong after missing significant time after getting grazed on the jaw by a 96 mph fastball at Anaheim on April 18, and center fielder Jackson Merrill, like Tatis, is a 25-25 guy.

Stammen hasn’t been afraid to experiment with the starting lineup, including moving Tatis from right to second for several games after Cronenworth was hurt.

Back in right field, Tatis had one of the biggest games of his career on Aug. 18 at the New York Mets when he robbed Francisco Lindor of a grand slam and hit two home runs.

The Padres were 58-54 going into the trade deadline on Aug. 3 and Preller not only kept All-Star closer Mason Miller, but added starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize.

“You can never count them out,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week. “They're just too talented.”

AP freelance writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.

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