Padres 4, Braves 0
The San Diego Padres topped the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park Tuesday with a 4–0 shutout victory in Game One of the NL Wild Card Series. Michael King pitched for the Padres, while Braves AJ Smith-Shawver made his second start of 2024. Following an exhausting doubleheader against the New York Mets, the Braves barely made the Wild Card as a fifth seed, eliminating the Arizona Diamondbacks from playoff contention. However, that momentum didn’t carry into Tuesday’s game against the Padres. After Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, the Padres held their lead against the Braves for the entire duration of the game.
What Went Right for the Braves
Held It Down after Facing an Early Deficit
Following an electric first at-bat from Tatis Jr. and a sacrifice fly from Kyle Higashioka, the Braves kept the Padres from scoring any further runs post-second inning until the bottom of the eighth, when Higashioka hit a solo home run to make the score 4-0. Despite swapping out their starting pitcher early and using their relievers for two innings each, the game wasn’t a total beatdown. The Braves ended the game with seven hits despite not scoring. Overall, this was an admirable effort from an exhausted team.
What Went Wrong for the Braves
Chris Sale Injury
Before the Wild Card series even began, the Braves announced that staff ace Chris Sale wouldn’t make an appearance in the Wild Card series against the Padres. In a season already plagued by numerous injuries, Sale’s sudden departure during such a pivotal moment in the season felt like the final blow to an already crushing 2024. In total, Braves players have missed a combined 1,162 days of play due to injury. This includes right fielder and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., whose last game was in May.
Starting Pitching
Making his eighth overall major-league start, Smith-Shawver pitched only one full inning before Aaron Bummer replaced him. In that time he allowed three runs, all earned, on four hits and struck out one. This outing puts his regular-season ERA at 3.64 and his postseason ERA at 13.50.
What Went Right for the Padres
Early Lead
As stated previously, the Padres held a very early lead against the Braves after the second inning. This early drive carried them to the end of the game and pushed them toward their shutout victory. The Padres who have time and time again proven to have a flair for the dramatic certainly felt the energy of the crowd Tuesday. On his playoff home run, Tatis Jr. said, “….this crowd is unbelievable…San Diego definitely showed up.”
Michael King
Few words could describe the textbook pitching performance from Michael King, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Despite having runners in scoring position multiple times, King found a way to make it through the inning without letting any of them cross home plate. It was truly an immaculate game for King, who’s already had a stellar season with the Padres after coming over from the New York Yankees in the Juan Soto trade.
What Went Wrong for the Padres
Defense
The Padres got their fair share of miraculous offensive plays but one thing they’ve always missed out on is an equal spread of sound defensive maneuvers. A flurry of line drives to right and left field left seven Braves on base before King shut each of them down. They’re lucky King produced such a standout game or else a few home runs could have easily closed the gap between scores.
Quick Hits
This is only the second time the Padres have faced the Braves in the postseason. The previous time was the 1998 NL Championship Series, which the Padres won, 4–2.
For the Padres, this is their third playoff berth in the last five seasons. If they manage to knock out the Braves, this will be their fourth playoff series win.
Looking Ahead
King earned his first career post-season win, with Smith-Shawver taking the loss.
For Wedensday’s potential elimination game, the Braves will send out Max Fried, a lefty with a postseason ERA of 4.57. The Padres will let San Diego native Joe Musgrove (6-5, 3.88 ERA) pitch for a potential sweep.
Shildt joked reecntly that he picked the playoff rotation out of a hat, but Musgrove, who seemed pretty excited about pitching Wednesday’s game claimed the choice made sense, “I think the way that myself and Cease have thrown, along with King, has been really good run. And probably could have run us three out there in any order and feel good about it.”
Fried was much more subdued in his response about pitching Wednesday: “At the end of the day, you’ve got to go out there and step between the lines and compete. It doesn’t really matter who is on the other side, who is a favorite, who is an underdog, you’ve got to go out there and win the game.”
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In the heat of such a monumental series for both teams, Wednesday’s potential elimination game sets an omen for the road ahead.
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