SAN DIEGO (AP) — Baseball fans in San Diego have been waiting for a party like this for a long time, and the Padres were more than happy to finally oblige.
What made it that much sweeter is that they toppled the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, the best team at the majors that year and one that had consistently beaten the Padres for almost two seasons.
Jake Cronenworth hit a tie two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning and San Diego edged the Dodgers 5-3 on Saturday night to advance to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 1998.
Petco Park shook and the sold-out crowd of 45,139 roared as Josh Hader defeated back-to-back Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman to end the Padres’ third straight win over the Dodgers.
Hader and third baseman Manny Machado hugged each other and the rest of the team celebrated wildly with them on the infield turf as fireworks went off over the downtown ballpark. Machado and Juan Soto urged fans to do more as they all reveled amid a rare rainstorm in San Diego.
“Our fans have been waiting for so long and I used to be the fan that waited,” said Joe Musgrove, the hometown boy who started the clincher. “It feels good to be on this side of the ball, I can tell you that, but these fans deserve to celebrate tonight.
“I know the job isn’t done yet, we still have a lot of baseball to do, but this needs to be celebrated,” Musgrove said. “These guys gave it to us all year and when it came down to it and we needed to win ball games, we found ways to do it.
In front of a crowd with signs reading “Beat LA! Beat LA!”, the Padres stunned the 111-win Dodgers with a seventh-place finish in five heats and won their best-of-five NL division series 3-1.
“There’s going to be a party out here tonight,” said Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in suburban San Diego.
“I mean, since I was a little kid, we’ve been beaten up by the Dodgers. But when it comes down to it and the games count, this team has strengthened from the top down.”
The Padres had lost nine straight series to the Dodgers before winning the one that mattered most.
San Diego hosts the Philadelphia Phillies in Games 1 and 2 of an All-Wild Card NLCS on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Phillies defeated defending World Series champions Atlanta Braves 8-3 earlier in the day to win their NLDS in four games.
“This is what the city has been waiting for,” said Machado, the Padres’ $300 million third baseman and undisputed leader.
The Padres last reached the NLCS 24 years ago when they beat Atlanta in six games and then were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series. A handful of players from this team watched from a luxury suite, including Hall of Famer closer Trevor Hoffman and midfielder Steve Finley.
It was a heartbreaking end for the Dodgers after the best regular season record in club history and manager Dave Roberts’ prediction during spring training that they would win the World Series.
“Shock factor, very high. Disappointment, very high. It’s devastating,” Roberts said. “Every guy gave everything they had all year and had a great season. The great thing about baseball is the unpredictability, and the hard part about it is the same.
“Nothing I can say will make it feel any better. Of course we didn’t expect to be in this position,” he added.
The game was delayed 31 minutes early by showers, which returned in the eighth inning and resulted in a brief delay while the ground crew worked on the mound.
After left-hander Tyler Anderson handicapped the Padres through five scoreless innings, San Diego broke through against the Dodgers’ bullpen in the seventh.
Jurickson Profar pulled a leadoff walk on Tommy Kahnle, finished third with Trent Grisham’s single and scored when Austin Nola’s infield single bounced off Freeman’s glove at first base. Yency Almonte, suffering the loss, came on and was greeted by Kim Ha-seong’s RBI double inside the third baseline, followed by Soto’s tying single to the right.
With two outs and the crowd on their feet, Cronenworth centered local product Alex Vesia to give the Padres the lead, raising his arms in celebration as he circled first and then punching the air with his right fist as he went in second base went home on the throw. Soto, acquired in a blockbuster trade out of Washington on Aug. 2, slid headlong home and jumped up and cheered.
“We’ve been talking about it all day – we’ll win tonight no matter what the situation,” Cronenworth said.
“It took a team effort to beat a really good team and we did it,” Machado said.
After the first rain delay, fans were brimming with anticipation for Musgrove to throw his hometown of Padres into the NL Championship Series. The tall right-hander from suburban El Cajon, a 2022 first-time All-Star, was the first San Diego Padres pitcher to start in his hometown postseason.
But Anderson beat Musgrove and held the Padres to two hits in five innings.
In the third, the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead. Betts went with an out and Turner seared a grounder past third baseman Machado, who carried the Padres for much of the season to propel Betts into third. Freeman, who helped the Braves win the World Series last year before signing with the Dodgers as a free agent, doubled down on the right field line to bring them both in.
Will Smith hit a victim fly against Steven Wilson, with bases loaded in seventh, to take a 3-0 lead, but winning pitcher Tim Hill prevented further damage.
The Dodgers are left feeling empty. They won the NL West for the ninth time in 10 seasons and finished 22 games ahead of San Diego. The Dodgers went 14-5 against the Padres in the regular season.
Musgrove attempted to earn his second straight win in the playoff series. On Sunday night, he dominated the New York Mets at Citi Field, conceding just one hit and one walk in seven innings in a 6-0 win that sent the Padres to the NLDS.
He gave up two carries and six hits in six innings against the Dodgers, knocking out eight and walking three.
FIRST PLACE
Jake Peavy, winner of the 2007 NL Cy Young Award and Musgrove’s childhood idol, threw the ceremonial first pitch in front of former teammate Mark Loretta. Musgrove moved to Peavy’s No. 44 after being won by the Padres ahead of the 2021 season.
NEXT
Dodgers: Play their spring training opener on February 25 against Milwaukee.
Padres: RHP Yu Darvish is likely to start in Game 1 of the NLCS on Tuesday.
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