SAN DIEGO -- The Padres aren’t merely sneaking up to the postseason party. They’re kicking down the door.
San Diego has won 13 of 14. No team in baseball is hotter. Not all that long ago, the Padres were on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. Now -- after Sunday’s 7-3 victory over the Marlins -- they’re on the verge of a clinch.
Here’s some instant reaction from Petco Park:
Champagne on ice
In their 58-season existence, the Padres have never reached the postseason in three straight years. They can snap that drought as soon as Tuesday night. Their magic number is two.
San Diego and Arizona are both off on Monday. Which means the only way the Padres can clinch on Tuesday is with a win over the Dodgers and a Diamondbacks loss in Colorado.
But at this point, the Padres have long since turned their attention past simply reaching the postseason. They want the top Wild Card spot -- and with it, the chance to host a Wild Card Series.
On that front, the Padres kept pace with the Cubs, who also won on Sunday. They’re both 87-69, though the Cubs hold the tiebreaker, having won the season series. The Phillies (86-70) also won, and they remain a game back, in the third Wild Card spot.
“We’re looking forward to winning ballgames,” said Fernando Tatis Jr., who launched his 25th home run on Sunday. “There’s still a lot in play. Even when we clinch, we’re trying to get a series over here in the playoffs. Still a lot in play. We still have homework to do.”
October Buehler?
In the postseason, Walker Buehler probably isn’t going back out there for the seventh inning, given the strength of the Padres’ bullpen. He’s certainly not keeping the ball with two runners on base. So it’s probably not all that fair to judge him on the final pitch he threw on Sunday afternoon.
For six innings, Buehler was brilliant. He entered the seventh having pitched scoreless ball without allowing a Marlins baserunner to reach second base.
In an effort to preserve his bullpen, which covered extra innings on Saturday night, Padres manager Craig Stammen stuck with Buehler for the seventh. And Buehler put two men aboard before allowing Javier Sanoja’s three-run homer with two outs.
“Really, really good -- until the end,” Buehler said.
The ending was cruel -- but it shouldn’t taint how well Buehler pitched. Not with the credit he has built up this season.
Buehler has made 31 starts for the Padres this season and covered 150 innings while being a steadying presence in the rotation. He might even be earning himself a spot in the playoff rotation with his recent performance -- a 3.39 ERA since the All-Star break.
The last time Buehler pitched a playoff game, he was closing out the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers. What would it mean to him to take the ball again in the postseason?
“We’ll see,” he said with a laugh. “Above my pay grade.”
The value of Jake Cronenworth
Manager Craig Stammen likes to say that the things Jake Cronenworth does cannot be found in a box score. Sunday afternoon was not one of those days. Cronenworth went 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs -- a day for the box score if there ever was one.
Indeed, Cronenworth’s value to these Padres is abundantly clear. In the past week, he has started games at all four spots on the infield. He’s capable of changing games with his glove at all four of those spots.
At the plate, Cronenworth’s at-bats are usually feisty. But he hadn’t turned in a multihomer game since April 2023.
“When he’s hitting in the seven hole, and he can pop two homers, that’s a big deal,” said Stammen. “That just makes our lineup as strong as we can possibly be.”
Cronenworth has some perspective on this stretch of Padres baseball, having arrived at the start of the 2020 season. San Diego has reached the postseason four times in six seasons since -- and is on the verge of making it five in seven. The Padres had reached the playoffs just five times in the 50 years prior.
So where does this team -- and this run to the postseason -- stack up?
“This is so fun,” Cronenworth said. “It’s hard to compare each one. Each one’s so fun in its own way and unique. But this one’s been really awesome.”
Know what else sounds like fun? A clinch party.