Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night wrote their own Hollywood ending on the home field of their biggest rivals.
San Diego stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers with a game-ending triple play to preserve a 4-2 victory over the National League West leaders that clinched a playoff spot for the Padres.
“We won it. We won it,” Fernando Tatis Jr yelled.
Photo: AP
The party was on in the Padres’ darkened clubhouse, with music pumping and lights flashing as players drenched each other in alcohol.
“Couldn’t have scripted it any better, man,” manager Mike Shildt said over the din. “What a play by Manny, a phenomenal play.”
With the Padres leading by three runs in the ninth inning, Kike Hernandez hit an RBI single that cut it to 4-2 and put runners at first and second.
Miguel Rojas hit a sharp grounder to Machado at third base, and he stepped on the bag before going around the horn for the triple play. The Dodgers challenged the out call at second base, but the ruling was upheld after a video review.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was left watching from the on-deck circle.
“I’ve been dying to do it for a couple years now,” said a bare-chested Machado, wearing sunglasses as a fragrant mix of beer and champagne dripped from every pore. “He showed bunt the first play. Thinking he was going to bunt — he hit a groundball right at me.”
The only other teams to turn a triple play on the same day they clinched a post-season berth were the 2020 Milwaukee Brewers, and the Chicago Cubs in 1910 and 1907, Elias Sports Bureau data showed.
San Diego’s was the first of those to end the game. It was the Padres’ first triple play since June 10, 2010, against the New York Mets.
After missing the post-season last year, the Padres earned the eighth playoff berth in franchise history. They are guaranteed at least a National League wild card with five games remaining in the regular season.
“They’re a good frickin’ ballclub on the other side, so we’ve got to go out there and play better,” Machado said. “We did that tonight.”
Jake Cronenworth hit an early two-run homer, then he and Xander Bogaerts drove in runs in the fourth to give the Padres a 4-1 lead.
Chasing their first division title since 2006, the Padres are two games behind Los Angeles with two games left in their series at Dodger Stadium. San Diego already owns the tiebreaker with an 8-3 record in head-to-head matchups this season.
“It’s a beautiful, wonderful start,” Shildt said. “You’ve got to get in the playoffs to win it all. It’s just about taking care of business from here on out.”
In Cleveland, Ohio, Lane Thomas hit a two-run homer and drove in three, while Josh Naylor had a pair of RBIs as the American League Central champions the Guardians clinched a first-round bye in the post-season with a 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, while in Houston, Texas, the Astros pipped the Seattle Mariners 4-3 to clinch their fourth consecutive American League West championship.
In New York, the Baltimore Orioles clinched their second straight playoff berth, overcoming Aaron Judge’s major league-leading 56th home run to beat the Yankees 5-3.
Meanwhile in Chicago, the White Sox remained tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record of 120 losses in a season, rallying to score three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2.
In Tuesday’s other games, the Detroit Tigers pipped the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1, the Milwaukee Brewers drowned the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2, the Cubs dominated the Philadelphia Phillies 10-4, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Mets 5-1 and the Oakland Athletics won the opener of their final series at the Coliseum, beating the Texas Rangers 5-4.
The Miami Marlins defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-1, the Kansas City Royals survived the Washington Nationals 1-0 in 10 innings, the Boston Red Sox pipped the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in 10 innings, the St Louis Cardinals topped the Colorado Rockies 7-3 and the San Diego Giants devastated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-0.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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