PHOENIX — It’s official: Postseason baseball is returning to Petco Park.
The first game of the National League Wild Card Series in San Diego is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 5-3 Friday night at Chase Field, San Diego’s 92nd win of the season. This mark ties the 1984 club with the second-highest total in franchise history. Only the 1998 team, which won 98 games, recorded more. (Both of these clubs reached the World Series.)
More importantly, the Padres’ victory in Game 1 of the series – combined with the Mets’ loss in Milwaukee – allowed San Diego to finish as the NL’s best Wild Card. That spot comes with home-court advantage in a three-way Wild Card series, which runs Tuesday through Thursday.
“It’s good to come home where everyone is excited about the season we had,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “There’s no better way than to have the opportunity to (play in the playoffs) at home, in front of our people.”
Of course, the Padres may have to wait until Monday to find out their opponent. It could be these same Diamondbacks, who are currently a percentage point behind the Braves and Mets in what is now a three-team race for the final two spots.
It could also be the Braves or Mets, who are scheduled to finish the season with a doubleheader on Monday, making up two games that were postponed this week due to bad weather.
Either way, these three teams will spend the next few days scratching and clawing for their place. The Padres, meanwhile, can take their foot off the gas.
“We’re still going to deal with it the next couple of days,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “These games are important, so we want to reflect the integrity of the entire race. But we also want to make sure that we take care of ourselves and we will organize our pitch for Tuesday.
The Padres had Michael King lined up to start the regular season finale on Sunday. He will now be ignored – and potentially lined up for a Wild Card Series start. The Padres’ options are plentiful.
They lined up King, Dylan Cease and Joe Musgrove against the Dodgers this week. Yu Darvish followed by allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings Friday in Arizona. Based on recent performance, Darvish seems most likely to be left out of this rotation (potentially lined up to start Game 1 of the NL Division Series).
“It can be a difficult decision for a manager to make,” Darvish said, through interpreter Shingo Horie. “But I think it’s actually a good thing for a manager.”
With the win, Darvish tied Hiroki Kuroda for the most combined wins in the Majors and Nippon Professional Baseball by a pitcher of Japanese descent, with 203. Darvish then spoke about the impact Kuroda had on his career – from how Kuroda contacted him. when he was struggling in his first season, and the way he always remembered it and tried to pay it forward with his fellow Japanese big leaguers.
On Friday, Darvish took a 4-0 lead before even taking the mound. It was quite a response from the Padres, who had seen the Dodgers celebrate the division title in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Immediately afterward, the Padres vowed to move on from this disappointment quickly. And they saved it.
“The post guys are hungry,” Shildt said. “(Home field advantage) is a great success for the organization and for the club, and it allows us to improve our situation with our pitchers and get the regulars moving a little.”
There aren’t many regulars who don’t deal with bumps and bruises at this point. Among them, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. But the most intriguing decision will be that of Luis Arraez.
Arraez is five points ahead of Shohei Ohtani in his quest for a third straight batting title. He also dealt with a wobbly left knee and an injured left thumb for most of the summer.
Shildt said the staff will talk with Arraez about playing time. Arraez, who has 199 hits, told PadresTV’s Bob Scanlan: “I’ll be ready to play.” …I’m here to play baseball.
Of course, bigger games await us – in San Diego.
“It’s amazing,” Arraez said. “We want to play in front of the great San Diego crowd at Petco Park. We have great fans there and they support us. They deserve it.
