PHOENIX, ARIZONA – SEPTEMBER 27: Luis Arraez #4 of the San Diego Padres swings and hits the ball in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 27, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
The Padres set a Petco Park attendance record with more than 3.3 million fans through the gates this season, The Friar Faithful are going to have at least two more chances to pack the world's best ballpark.
The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 5-3 while the Mets lost 8-4 in Milwaukee, locking San Diego into the fourth National League playoff seed, which comes with the honor of hosting the best-of-three Wild Card playoff series.
On Friars
The night got off to a stellar start. In the first inning, Manny Machado lined a single to right field to score Luis Arraez and make it 1-0. Arraez had led off with a double and had three hits, raising his average to .314 and putting him five points ahead of Shohei Ohtani in his quest to win a third straight batting title with an unprecedented third different team.
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The scoring did not stop there. Jackson Merrill singled to bring home Jurickson Profar for a 2-0 lead, then San Diego got a gift: Xander Bogaerts hit a ground ball that should have been a double play but All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte's throw sailed out of play. The error allowed Machado to score and kept the inning alive for David Peralta, who burned his former team with a single to plate Merrill and put the cap on a four-run inning.
Yu Darvish got the start, but in the first inning, did not look sharp. Arizona got one run back immediately on a leadoff homer by Corbin Carroll, then walked Marte and hit Joc Pederson with a pitch to bring pitching coach Ruben Niebla out for a chat. Whatever Niebla said hit home.
Darvish allowed two more runs over the next 5.1 innings, then let San Diego's lockdown bullpen take it from there. Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon. Jason Adam, and Robert Suarez combined for 4.2 shutout innings to make sure San Diego gets to watch October baseball in person.
We aren't sure yet who the Padres will play in the series. The Diamondbacks, Mets, and Braves are all tied, with only two postseason spots still available.
Whoever comes to town, Games 1 and 2 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday. If necessary, Game 3 would be played on Thursday. Major League Baseball has not yet announced start times for any of the playoff series. For ticket information, click here.
