Padres take the top wild card spot, beat Dodgers 5-1
Credit: ESPN
The San Diego Padres faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday in a game that the hometown Friars knew wouldn’t clinch a playoff berth. The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies before the game started. However, with a chance to leapfrog to the top wild card slot, the Padres took their opportunity by beating the Dodgers 5-1. The Padres are now in line to host a wild card series and control their own destiny.
The Padres were held scoreless and in check by Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto until the top of the 4th when, after Dusin Harris was hit by a pitch, Manny Machado hit his 29th home run of the year to dead center off Yamamoto to give the Friars a 2-0 lead. This would end the 13 straight scoreless innings by the Padres against the Dodgers.
What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man. pic.twitter.com/NiunugyouT
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 24, 2026
Robbie Ray had a very problematic outing as he was tagged repeatedly for hits and put runners on base each of his first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Ray would then give up three hits, including a very questionable call on a force play against Teoscar Hernandez. Ray would load the bases before getting relieved after getting Max Muncy to fly out. He was replaced by David Morgan, who immediately gave up a sacrifice fly to Tommy Edman, scoring Hernandez.
Morgan would then reload the bases but would get Shohei Ohtani to strike out (after a great challenge by Ethan Salas on a called ball four that would have tied the game). Ray turned in one of his worst outings as a Padre, going only 3.1 innings with seven hits, two strikeouts and a walk, but only gave up a run.
The Padres would get the run back after back-to-back singles by Salas and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the top of the 5th. Dustin Harris put down a bunt that Yamamoto threw away to first on an error, leading to Salas scoring. Manny then added a sacrifice fly to shallow center field to score Tatis, who came in flying to home plate, to increase the lead to 4-1.
Yuki Matsui took over for David Morgan in the bottom of the 5th and pitched a scoreless inning working around a walk and a single. Both teams would trade scoreless frames in the 6th as Yamamoto sat the Padres down in order, and Bradgley Rodriguez worked around a leadoff double to Andy Pages to get three outs in a row, two on strikeouts. Yamamoto would be lifted in the 7th with 4 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits with 4 strikeouts and a walk. Kris Bubic would take over and kept the Padres off the board despite two runners on base with one out. Rodriguez would then pitch a scoreless 7th and added another strikeout to his total, providing the team with some much-needed stability on the mound.
Craig Stammen brought out one of his biggest bullpen arms for the eighth, Adrian Morejon, and despite giving up a single to Andy Pages, he retired the Dodgers on 6 total pitches in what has to be a record for shortest full innings by a Padres pitcher this year. Blake Treinen would take over in the 9th and would walk Samad Taylor who, in true spark plug fashion, stole second and third before scoring on a Freddy Fermin single. While the Padres weren’t able to take advantage of a follow-up double by Fernando Tatis Jr., putting men at second and third with one out, it didn’t matter. Mason Miller would come into the game in the 9th and would close the game out with two strikeouts of Mookie Betts and Ohtani and a lineout by Freddie Freeman.
With that win, the Padres’ magic number is 1, and they can clinch their playoff spot at Dodger Stadium with a win and/or a Diamondbacks loss, securing their spot before the final series of the year.
The Padres and Dodgers will conclude their regular-season rivalry tomorrow at 7:10 pm PST as Nick Pivetta takes the hill for the Friars against the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow.
A Native San Diegan, Loren has spent his entire life not only as a fan but an active participant in San Diego’s sports world. In 2006 Loren joined two other die hard Charger fans to create Bolttalk, where Loren was a co-host and regular columnist from 2006 until the Chargers left in 2017. After that he started another podcast, The Grid Podshow, from 2020-2021 with his former co-host and colleague, speaking about the local sports community and popular culture.
When he’s not giving his opinion about San Diego sports, Loren is an adjunct professor at San Diego State and an attorney.