The San Diego Padres held off the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win to finish a two-game sweep in the National League wild-card series on Wednesday, setting up an NLDS showdown with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Diego scored all five of its runs with two outs in the second inning, starting with Kyle Higashioka’s solo home run. The Padres strung together five consecutive hits after the homer, with Manny Machado (double) and Jackson Merrill (triple) each driving in two runs to take a lead they’d never relinquish at Petco Park.
The Padres now face the Dodgers in a best-of-five series, a rematch of the 2022 NLDS that saw San Diego dispatch Los Angeles’ 111-win juggernaut en route to the franchise’s first NLCS appearance since 1998.
Atlanta entered the season with high expectations as the six-time defending NL East champions, but were overwhelmed by season-ending injuries to stars Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and Austin Riley – among others – and ultimately settled for a wild-card spot on the final day of the regular season.
‘I’m about as proud of a team as I’ve ever had, quite honestly, with how they’ve handled everything,’ Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the loss.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
The NLDS begins on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
Michael Harris II home run makes it a one-run game
Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia led off the eighth with a single against Jason Adam before Michael Harris II slammed a first-pitch home run that cut the Braves’ deficit to 5-4.
Atlanta squanders sixth-inning chance
Atlanta got the tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth, but Tanner Scott got Matt Olson to line out left field in a lefty-on-lefty matchup to end the threat.
It’s 5-2 Padres halfway through six.
Joe Musgrove injury, Padres up 5-2 through 5
An apparently injury to starter Joe Musgrove forced the Padres right-hander out of the game with two outs in the fourth inning. Musgrove seemed to notice something during his windup after throwing an incredibly slow curveball to Matt Olson. Bryan Hoeing came out of the bullpen to relieve Musgrove.
2021 World Series MVP Jorge Soler hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to make it 5-2.
Padres storm back with 5-run second
The Padres scored five runs with two outs in the bottom of the second against Max Fried, taking a 5-1 lead after going behind in the top of the first.
Kyle Higashioka homered for the second game in a row to tie it before the Padres reeled off five more consecutive hits, with four more runs coming around on Manny Machado’s two-RBI double and Jackson Merrill’s two-RBI triple.
Padres fail to score after loading bases
Two infield singles and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases for the Padres in the bottom of the first with no outs. Manny Machado struck out swinging for the first out, then Braves ace Max Fried got consecutive ground-balls from Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts to escape the jam unscathed.
Braves take first-inning lead
Michael Harris II led off the game with a double and was moved over to third on Ozzie Albies’ grounder to the right side, setting up Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly against Yu Darvish to open the scoring.
Atlanta was held scoreless in Game 1, striking out 15 times in the 4-0 loss.
Braves vs. Padres lineups
Atlanta Braves
Michael Harris II (L) CF
Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
Marcell Ozuna (R) DH
Matt Olson (L) 1B
Jorge Soler (R) RF
Ramón Laureano (R) LF
Gio Urshela (R) 3B
Sean Murphy (R) C
Orlando Arcia (R) SS
San Diego Padres
Luis Arraez (L) DH
Fernando Tatis Jr. (R) RF
Jurickson Profar (S) LF
Manny Machado (R) 3B
Jackson Merrill (L) CF
Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
Donovan Solano (R) 1B
Jake Cronenworth (L) 2B
Kyle Higashioka (R) C
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
