Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres created their own exciting finish on the field of their biggest rivals on Tuesday night.
San Diego surprised the Los Angeles Dodgers with a game-ending triple play, securing a 4-2 win that clinched a playoff spot for the Padres. “We won it! We won it!” shouted Fernando Tatis Jr.
The celebration began in the Padres’ clubhouse, filled with music and flashing lights as players splashed each other with alcohol.
“Couldn’t have scripted it any better, man,” manager Mike Shildt said amid the noise. “What a play by Manny, a phenomenal play.”
With the Padres ahead by three runs in the ninth inning, Kiké Hernández hit a single that made it 4-2, putting runners on first and second.
Miguel Rojas then hit a sharp ground ball to Machado at third base. He stepped on the base and threw the ball around for the triple play. The Dodgers challenged the call at second base, but the decision was confirmed after a review.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani watched from the on-deck circle.
“I’ve been dying to do it for a couple years now,” said a bare-chested Machado, wearing sunglasses as beer and champagne dripped from him. “He showed bunt the first play. Thinking he was going to bunt — he hit a ground ball right at me.”
The only other teams to complete a triple play on the same day they clinched a playoff spot were the 2020 Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs in 1907 and 1910, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
San Diego’s play was the first to end a game. It was the Padres’ first triple play since June 10, 2010, against the New York Mets.
After missing the playoffs last year, the Padres have made it to the postseason for the eighth time in franchise history. They are assured at least a National League wild card with five games left in the regular season.
“They’re a really good team on the other side, so we have to go out there and play better,” Machado said. “We did that tonight.”
Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run homer early in the game, and he and Xander Bogaerts added runs in the fourth inning, giving the Padres a 4-1 lead.
Chasing their first division title since 2006, the Padres are two games behind the Dodgers with two games left in their series at Dodger Stadium. San Diego already holds the tiebreaker with an 8-3 record against Los Angeles this season.
“It’s a beautiful, wonderful start,” Shildt said. “You have to make it to the playoffs to win it all. It’s all about taking care of business from here on out.”
San Diego has the best record in the majors since the All-Star break, going 41-17.
“We enjoy playing every single day. Coming to the ballpark has been fun every day,” Machado said. “Guys have stepped up big-time. It’s taken a full effort as an organization to be where we are today.”
The Padres (91-66) have their most wins since the 1998 NL championship team, which finished the regular season at 98-64. They aim to win their first World Series title to honor Peter Seidler, the owner who passed away last year at age 63.
“He’s been with us all year,” Machado said. “He’s shining upon us right now, smiling down, enjoying this moment, this victory, and this celebration.”
Seidler had strong connections to the Dodgers. He was the grandson of Walter O’Malley, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and moved them to the West Coast in 1958, and the nephew of Peter O’Malley, who inherited the team along with Seidler’s mother, Terry.
“Peter started us off years ago, and here we are,” Machado said. “We’re doing it for him.”
The Padres came onto the field in the empty stadium and chanted “Manny! Manny!” while taking photos.
San Diego earned a wild card in 2022 and eliminated the Mets and Dodgers from the playoffs before losing to Philadelphia in the NL Championship Series.
