LOS ANGELES — Manny Machado stood in the course of Dodger Stadium’s visiting clubhouse shirtless, with champagne and beer pouring off his again and black Gucci sun shades masking his eyes. Moments earlier, the San Diego Padres had clinched a spot in baseball’s postseason by sealing an in depth win over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers with a triple play, an unprecedented consequence.
As is so usually the case with this group, Machado — the star third baseman who began the 5-4-3 stunner Tuesday evening, solidifying a 4-2 victory that left Shohei Ohtani looming on deck — was on the heart of it.
“How a lot better?” Machado requested rhetorically. “In a troublesome spot there, with Ohtani within the on-deck circle, we flip a triple play to finish the sport towards among the best groups in baseball.”
That triple play — on a pointy grounder to the left facet by Miguel Rojas, who initially confirmed bunt with runners on first and second and none out within the backside of the ninth — was solely the third to finish a sport up to now 30 years. The Padres, unsurprisingly, turned the primary crew in main league historical past to clinch a playoff spot with a game-ending triple play, in response to the Elias Sports activities Bureau.
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It was the newest, most obtrusive instance of what has been a magical run over these previous two months.
After the loss of life of their beloved, free-spending proprietor, Peter Seidler, the Padres slashed payroll by a 3rd this offseason. Juan Soto was traded to the New York Yankees; Blake Snell, the reigning Nationwide League Cy Younger Award winner, and Josh Hader, the five-time-All-Star nearer, left in free company.
By the All-Star break, the Padres sat at 50-49. Since then, they’re a major-league-best 41-17 — and all the pieces appears to be clicking on the very best time. Their lineup, additional strengthened with Fernando Tatis Jr. getting back from a 10-week absence, makes up the perfect contact crew within the majors. Their rotation, which obtained a lift when Yu Darvish returned from a three-month hiatus, seems to be dominant heading into October. And their bullpen, fortified by the additions of Tanner Scott and Jason Adam at midseason, is likely to be the deepest within the NL.
After lacking out with a star-laden crew in 2023, the Padres are within the playoffs for the third time because the COVID-shortened season in 2020. They usually have an outdoor probability at taking the Nationwide League West, sitting two video games again of the Dodgers with 5 left — together with two extra in Los Angeles.
“Clearly there’s so many nice groups,” Padres common supervisor A.J. Preller mentioned of his membership’s possibilities in October, “however we really feel like we’re as harmful as anyone. It is a full crew. Each evening any individual else steps up. I am so proud and so pleased to be with this group. They deserve it. We’re wanting ahead to a giant run.”
The Padres are nonetheless led by a star-studded nucleus that options Machado, Darvish, Tatis, Xander Bogaerts and Joe Musgrove. However Preller discovered methods to strengthen the group on a decent funds, buying and selling for frontline starter Dylan Stop in March and buying two-time batting champion Luis Arraez in Might. Alongside the way in which, the likes of Jurickson Profar (signed for $1 million), Jackson Merrill (a 21-year-old rookie transitioning to heart discipline) and Jeremiah Estrada (claimed off waivers earlier than turning right into a dominant reliever) offered shocking contributions that made the 2024 Padres some of the well-rounded models within the sport.
“This group,” Tatis mentioned, “is particular.”
And Machado has set the tone.
His season started slowly within the wake of offseason elbow surgical procedure, his OPS sitting at .654 by the top of Might. Since then, he’s slashing .296/.344/.548. The crew has surged proper together with him.
Padres coaches and teammates acknowledged late Tuesday evening that Machado is one among a choose few who might pull off a triple play of that style, coming again to step on third base after which firing a dart to second base to even give it an opportunity.
Moments after executing it, he stood in the course of a cramped locker room adorned in purple and blue lights, his soaked higher again exposing a tattooed message that feels becoming for these Padres:
“Sky’s The Restrict.”
“The crew we’ve got, nobody counted us in,” Machado mentioned. “And right here we’re. It is a credit score to this crew. This teaching employees, coaching employees preserving us wholesome. It is an unbelievable second, man. This second is unbelievable. However I believe this complete crew in right here thinks that the job’s not completed. We will take pleasure in tonight, take pleasure in this sport, benefit from the celebration, however the job’s not completed.”
