Padres turn game-ending triple play, clinch playoff berth with win over Dodgers

The San Diego Padres completed a game-ending triple play, clinched a playoff berth and kept their hopes of winning the NL West alive with their 4-2 defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

The incredible victory, the Padres' fifth straight, pulled San Diego within two games of the division-leading Dodgers with five remaining in the regular season.

The ninth inning was shaping up to be a gut punch for San Diego after closer Robert Suarez surrendered a run on three consecutive singles from Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández. Up 4-2, the Padres were looking at runners on first and second with no one out, Miguel Rojas at the plate and Shohei Ohtani on deck.

Then this happened:

Rojas' grounder straight to third baseman Manny Machado triggered the triple play that was upheld by replay. If it hadn't been, Shohei Ohtani was due to come to the plate next. He could've had a hero moment to win the game for the Dodgers and deny the Padres their moment of celebration, but Rojas' grounder and the Padres' infield made sure Ohtani didn't get that chance.

As you might suspect, that game-ending, postseason-clinching triple play made MLB history. It's just the third game-ending triple play in the wild-card era (New York Yankees on June 20, 2021; Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 23, 2009). And regarding the playoffs, only three other teams have turned a triple play on the day they clinched a postseason berth: the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 27, 2020, the Chicago Cubs on Oct. 2, 1910, and the Cubs again on Sept. 23, 1907. The Padres are the fourth.

This Padres accomplishment stands alone in one respect: They're now the only team in MLB history to end a postseason-clinching game with a triple play.