SAN DIEGO -- It’s starting to feel and sound a lot like the postseason at Petco Park.
You could hear it when Fernando Tatis Jr. clobbered a game-tying home run to center field in the fourth inning against the Marlins on Saturday night, swaggering around the bases to a chorus of raucous cheers from a packed house.
You could hear it when Ethan Salas laced a single into center field to score Jake Cronenworth in a 7-6 walk-off win over the Marlins, the 20-year-old practically launching the crowd to its feet as he was mobbed by his teammates. The way the Padres have played lately, they are closing in on guaranteeing more nights like this are to come in October.
They can practically taste it.
The Padres jumped the Phillies, who lost to the Mets earlier in the evening, to claim sole possession of the second National League Wild Card spot, just a half-game behind the Cubs for the top spot and the right to host a playoff series. However, with the trailing Diamondbacks’ walk-off win over the Yankees, the soonest the Padres can clinch is Tuesday.
The last time the Padres faced these Marlins, they went into Miami on July 24 three games under .500 and four games out of the playoff picture with five other teams -- including the Marlins -- ahead of them in the race. They were reeling after a series loss in Atlanta and there was a genuine argument for general manager A.J. Preller to sell at the Trade Deadline.
The Padres, who swept the Marlins that weekend, have cruised ever since, going from fringe contender to being just below the top rung of the Wild Card ladder, and on the doorstep of securing their third consecutive trip to the postseason, something they’ve never done before.