Before their penultimate game of the regular season in Arizona, the Padres gave us an indicator of what their postseason pitching rotation might look like.
Michael King was scheduled to get on the mound for Sunday's finale. Instead, Saturday's starter Martin Perez was moved to Sunday and righty Randy Vasquez was called up to handle game 161.
That development almost assuredly means the Friars plan on having King start one of the National League Wild Card games, along with Dylan Cease and, if necessary, Joe Musgrove. That's a formidable trio for whoever the Padres play and most likely means Yu Darvish will not be pitching again unless the Padres advance to the National League Division Series.
Oh, by the way, Vasquez gave the Padres something to think about if they make it through a few postseason series. The rookie dazzled over 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four in a 3-0 Padres win. That's the kind of performance that gives a team confidence in its depth in case it needs to replace anyone with injury during a playoff run.
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It did not, however, get him a win because the Padres didn't score until the 9th inning. In a scoreless tie, Kyle Higashioka launched a 2-run homer to left field off Arizona reliever AJ Puk to make it 2-0. The very next batter was Brandon Lockridge, who had himself a heck of a moment.
The rookie smoked his first career home run to deep left, setting the Padres dugout aflame. Once the fireworks started, they didn't stop. A couple of batters later Donovan Solano ripped a 2-run shot to left field, making it a 5-0 game and putting it out of reach.
Again, this result has exactly zero impact on San Diego's playoff seeding. We are going to get Wild Card playoff games at Petco Park starting on Tuesday no matter what.
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As for who will be coming to town, as it stands now it would be the Braves. Atlanta has a 1.0 game lead on both the Diamondbacks and the Mets, who are tied for the final Wild Card spot. What complicates matters is the Braves and Mets have two games left to play. Hurricane Helene postponed most of their series from earlier in the week so, if those games would still have an impact on the playoff picture, New York and Atlanta will play a doubleheader on Monday in Georgia.
