Padres Need Triple Play to Tame Dodgers, Claim Playoff Spot in 4-2 Win

The Padres clinched a playoff spot Tuesday when they turned a triple play to preserve a 4-2 victory over the National League West-leading Dodgers.

The Dodgers already had scored a run in the bottom of the ninth off a shaky Robert Suarez when Manny Machado fielded a hard-hit grounder by Miguel Rojas and stepped back to touch third base before sending the ball around the horn for the triple play that ended the game.

After missing the postseason last year, Machado and the Padres earned the eighth playoff berth in franchise history.

Manager Mike Shildt, in an on-field interview, credited his team for having “the heart to compete and win.”

They are guaranteed at least a NL wild card with five games remaining in the regular season.

Chasing their first division title since 2006, the Padres are two games behind Los Angeles with two games left in their series at Dodger Stadium and five total to play. San Diego already owns the tiebreaker with an 8-3 record in head-to-head matchups with L.A. this season.

Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run homer out to right in the second for the streaking Padres. He had no RBIs in September until his three against the Padres’ biggest rivals, including his 12th career homer against the Dodgers. He had been without an extra-base hit in his previous 50 at-bats.

The Friars extended the lead to 4-1 in the fourth on Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single and Cronenworth’s RBI double.

But with the Padres leading by three runs in the ninth inning Tuesday, the first three batters reached off Suarez, including Kiké Hernández, who hit an RBI single that cut the lead to 4-2 and put runners at first and second.

Rojas hit a bouncer to Machado at third base, and he stepped on the bag before throwing to Cronenworth, who sent the ball to Donovan Solano to complete the game-ending triple play.

The Friars’ celebration was delayed when the Dodgers challenged the out call at second base, but the ruling was upheld following a review.

Machado, in an on-air interview during the Padres’ post-game celebration in the locker room, said the ball was hit at the “perfect angle, right to me” and he knew he could easily get the out at third, but took a chance at second, figuring Cronenworth could get the ball to first in time for at least a double play.

The risk paid off, as much has for Machado after he heated up in June. He’s helped guide San Diego to the best record in the majors since the All-Star break at 41-17.

The Padres (91-66) have topped 90 wins for the first time since 2010, and they have designs on going as far as they can – even winning their first World Series title – to honor Peter Seidler, the owner who died last November at age 63.

Seidler had strong ties to the Dodgers. He was the grandson of Walter O’Malley, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and relocated them to the West Coast in 1958, and the nephew of Peter O’Malley, who inherited the team along with Seidler’s mother Terry.

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.

Dylan Cease (14-11, 3.42 ERA) makes his final start before the postseason Wednesday against the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty (13-7, 3.10).