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By Josh Frojelin
The San Diego Padres are playoff-bound!
That’s shocking after the Padres’ star players started slow this season. But Thursday’s 4-2 win over the host Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a wild card spot.
It marks a franchise record third consecutive playoff berth. The Pads have now qualified for the National League playoffs in five of the past seven seasons.
The Padres have won 39 of their last 56 games, and have gone 16-5 in September in a race to the finish line.
By contrast, in July the Friars endured the franchise’s longest losing streak in 13 years and were 11th in the National League standings. Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t hit his first home run of the season until May 30. At the trade deadline, the Padres were rumored to move any of Mason Miller, Ty France, Michael King or Adrian Morejon.
General manager A.J. Preller and the Padres doubled down. They traded three of the organization’s top nine prospects and added Casey Mize and Robby Ray to the starting rotation: an area of weakness.
The Padres have boasted the MLB’s best offense this month, averaging over five runs per game. Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, France and Tatis will now all finish with more than 20 home runs. Merrill and Tatis are both batting .300 or better since the All Star break.
The starting rotation was revitalized at the deadline, plus San Diego boasts the third best bullpen by ERA.
The Padres still have three more games until the postseason starts. They host the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are hanging onto playoff hopes, for a three-game series starting Friday through Sunday.
The Padres are one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs and two ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the top wild card spot. If that result stands, the Padres will host a best-of-three wild card series at Petco Park against the Cubs.
Last season, the Padres lost to the Cubs in Chicago in a three-game wild card series. After a tumultuous 2026 season, they could still avenge that previous season exit. And San Diego will want that home field advantage: the Friars have won 26 of their last 34 home games.
Notable
Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning in Thursday’s game at Dodger Stadium before Ethan Salas and Tatis hit back-to-back singles.
The Padres recorded a crucial three-run seventh inning as Tatis and each Salas drove in runs. The Dogders threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning when Shohei Ohtani smashed a RBI double but Miller closed down the threat with his 38th save of the season.
Yuki Matsui earned the win in relief for the Pads while Glasnow was charged with the loss.
The Dodgers are this year’s National League West Division champions and an automatic playoff qualifier along with the Milwaukee Brewers (Central Division) and Atlanta Braves (East Division).
The Brewers own a NL best record of 100-59 heading into this weekend, followed by the Dodgers (97-62) and Braves (93-66).
The Padres sit in second place in the NL West with an 89-70 record ahead of third place Arizona (85-74). The San Francisco Giants (65-94) and Colorado Rockies (57-102) have both been eliminated from playoff contention.
Chicago (88-72) trails Milwaukee in the Central Division standings while Philadelphia (87-72) trails Atlanta in the East Division standings.
American League leaders include the Tampa Rays (East Division), Cleveland Guardians (Central Division) and Houston Astros/Texas Rangers (tied in the West Division). Both the Astros and Rangers own sub-.500 records (79-80). Tampa has the best AL record at 96-63. Cleveland is 83-76.
Top AL wild card contenders include the Chicago White Sox (82-77), New York Yankees (92-67) and Boston Red Sox (86-74).
Bonita Vista High School alum Daniel Schneemann is batting 0.205 with six home runs and 29 RBI for the Guardians. He recently returned to the Cleveland lineup following a re-set with the Guardians’ AAA affiliate in Columbus. In five weeks of AAA action, he hit 0.326 to regain his form as a September call-up.
— Phillip Brents
