The last time Fernando Tatis Jr. played a postseason game at Petco Park was in 2020, when the stands were filled with cardboard cutouts. Four years to the day that he hit a pair of home runs to beat the Cardinals in a Wild Card game he finally got to get his first taste of the Friar Faithful, Playoff Edition.
It took him one pitch to send a sellout crowd of 47,647 that was already switched on into a verifiable frenzy. Tatis Jr. ambushed a fastball from Braves rookie starter A.J. Smith-Shawver, sending it 412 feet into the upper deck in left field and lighting the fuse on a 4-0 San Diego win, putting the Padres one win away from advancing to the National League Division Series.
Tatis Jr. said before the game he has fond memories of that 2020 game and thought he might be even better in this year's postseason (so far, so good).
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
In the 2nd inning the Braves rookie righty hit Jake Cronenworth and served up a single to Donovan Solano, setting up Kyle Higashioka's sacrifice fly that pumped the lead up to 3-0. That brought Atlanta manager Brian Snitker out of the dugout to make a pitching change and effectively start a playoff bullpen game which, credit to the Braves staff, worked. The Padres didn't score again until Kyle Higashioka's solo home run in the 8th inning.
Of course, any extra offense was unnecessary. Michael King was absolutely masterful in his first career postseason start. A few eyebrows were raised when San Diego skipper Mike Shildt chose King to get the ball in Game 1 over Dylan Cease, who threw a no-hitter this year.
Turns out the manager knows that he's doing.
Local
King, who had a sparkling 2.15 ERA after the All-Star break, had to work around some early traffic on the bases. Atlanta put two runners on in the 1st and 3rd innings. Each time King extinguished the threat with a strikeout. But, his swing-and-miss stuff was not reserved for getting out of jams.
King got better as the game wore on. From the 4th to the 7th innings he allowed just one more baserunner and rang up 12 strikeouts, 2nd in Padres postseason history to the 16 punchouts that Kevin Brown had in San Diego's 1998 World Series run. With two outs in the 7th the Petco Park crowd erupted, chanting "MICAHEL KING! MICHAEL KING!"
The centerpiece of the Juan Soto trade proved his worth by getting Gio Urshela to fly out harmlessly to centerfield, putting a cap on his brilliant outing and turning the ball over to what is arguably baseball's best bullpen.
Jason Adam struck out the side in the 8th inning and Robert Suarez locked it down with a scoreless 9th, setting the stage for what could be a sweep.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday night with San Diego native Joe Musgrove on the mound against Atlanta lefty Max Fried. Musgrove will be looking to put his home town team into the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
