SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS after they swept the Atlanta Braves by beating them on Wednesday 5-4.
A rematch of the NLDS from 2022 that the Padres won 3-1.
"This is what everyone wanted," Padres third baseman Manny Machado said.
It was a tough game to close out after the Padres took a commanding 5-1 lead in the 2nd inning.
Braves Michael Harris II quieted an otherwise deafening Petco Park when he hit a two-run shot to center in the top of the 8th inning to bring the score to 5-4.
In the 9th inning, the Padres brought in closer Robert Suarez, who made easy work of the first two batters. Pinch hitter Travis d'Arnaud popped one into the air catcher Kyle Higashioka and first baseman Donovan Solano went for it simultaneously. Higashioka came up with the big series clinching grab.
The Padres celebrated in the locker room, popping beer and champagne to commemorate them advancing to the next round.
"We are ready to compete, but there is still a lot of baseball left," Fernando Tatis Jr. said in Spanish. "We aren't going to be complacent. Everyone here is hungry."
The Padres needed an offensive spark when catcher Higashioka stepped up to the plate at the bottom of the 2nd inning and facing two outs down 1-0. Matt Fried threw a four-seam fastball that Higashioka hammered to left field.
That is a second straight night of hitting a home run for Higashioka, which makes him the first Padres catcher with multiple career postseason home runs in team history.
After tying things up at 1-1, Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar got on base for a Manny Machado double that brought two home to put them up 3-1.
They are the first team in MLB postseason history to get six consecutive hits and hit for the cycle in the same inning, doing it all with two outs, according to OptaStats.
Rookie sensation Jackson Merrill put the finishing touches by hitting a triple to center field and getting his team out to a 5-1 lead.
"This special group," Tatis Jr. said. "We believe in each other. We push for each other."
Merrill batted .429 and had two RBIsRBI's in the two games for the Padres. Besides Tatis, he was the most consistent offensive player on the team. At 21 years old, he has shown that he is the clutch and can be counted on when needed, but he hasn't shown signs of being a rookie.
"It's baseball," Merrill said. "I just said it, I belong in baseball. I don't care where I'm playing, what stadium. I love playing for the Padres. I want to be the Padres always, but I'm born to play baseball."
The Padres couldn't afford a first-inning fiasco where they had all three players on base with Machado striking out, Arraez being thrown out at home, and Xander Bogaerts grounding out. They showed that no quit attitude and resiliency they have had all season.
They hung in there and had a big second inning that ultimately decided the game regardless of the mini-comeback by the Braves.
"We have more wins to get, more celebrations to get, but we got to take it one game at a time," Merrill said.
Musgrove leaves game w/ injury
There is one area of concern for this team as they move forward to a series against Los Angeles. Pitcher Joe Musgrove left the fourth inning, and ESPN reported on the broadcast that it was due to "elbow concerns."
Before leaving, Musgrove went 3.2 IP, allowed one hit, one ER and 4 K's. Higashioka called for time after he noticed two unusually slow curveballs and that is when Shildt and trainer Ben Fraser decided to make the change.
"I just couldn't finish any of my pitches," Musgrove said. "My stuff started falling off, and probably best that Higgy came out and got me."
The Padres three pitching rotation in the series against the Braves was Michael King, Musgrove, and Dylan Cease. It is unknown how long Musgrove will be out, but they have veteran Yu Darvish, who they said would be a bullpen arm during the Wild Card series. They will need the Japanese pitcher to step up during the NLDS against the LA Dodgers.
The five-game series against the Dodgers starts on Saturday, October 5th, at 5:38 p.m. in Los Angeles. It is unknown who will pitch for either ball club, even though Cease was supposed to game three if there was one.
The Padres are celebrating on Wednesday night, but all their attention turns to the Dodgers on Thursday morning.
"This is the first step," David Peralta said before the celebration. "We have three more guys. Stay together. We're a great team. I believe in all of you guys. We are going to go all the way, baby."