Padres block Braves comeback, earn another date with rival Dodgers in NLDS

The San Diego Padres will be playing in the National League Division Series for the third time in the last five years, facing a familiar foe.

After defeating the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Round, the Padres will face their National League West rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego defeated the Braves 5-4 on Wednesday night, but the Braves' comeback came too late.

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Unlike the first game, it was Atlanta that scored, with Marcell Ozuna hitting a sacrifice fly and Michael Harris II leading off the game with a double. However, San Diego lit up the scoreboard in the second.

Max Fried retired the first two batters of the first inning, but Kyle Higashioka's home run tied the game. It was the first of six consecutive two-out hits, the latter two being Manny Machado's two-run double and Jackson Merrill's two-run triple.

This inning was the only time San Diego scored, but it worked.

Jorge Soler hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, and Harris hit a two-run shot over the center field wall in the eighth, but Robert Suarez was ejected in the ninth to steal the save and end the party at Sun. I started it. Diego. As soon as the final out was decided, chants of “Beat LA” rang out.

San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., 23, after giving up a run in the bottom of the second inning of Game 2 against the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Petco Park. , rejoice. (Dennis Poloy-Iman Images)

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Perhaps fatigue hit the Braves. The Braves had to play a doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday to decide their postseason fate, then fly west to face one of the hottest teams in baseball. A year of bad luck for Atlanta and another round of injuries (including another torn ACL to NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.) seems to have finally caught up with them.

Not only do the Padres and Dodgers play each other 13 times a year (they used to have closer to 20 times before MLB decided to play all teams throughout the season), but the Dodgers and Padres have a history of facing each other as recently as October. There is.

The two teams faced off in the 2020 and 2022 NLDS. The Dodgers overpowered an up-and-coming San Diego team for the first time on their way to winning the World Series, but two years ago San Diego won four games.

If the regular season was any indication, San Diego winning the season series 8-5 should be good news.

San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill, 3, hits a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the second inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card Round of the 2024 MLB Playoffs against the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park. , rejoice. (Dennis Poloy-Iman Images)

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Game 1 will be played Saturday at 8:38 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium.

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