Dustin Harris drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the visiting San Diego Padres made franchise history with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday to clinch a spot in the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
San Diego starter Nick Pivetta opened with 4 2/3 scoreless innings and four relievers finished off the victory as the Padres (89-70) celebrated a third straight playoff berth for the first time in franchise history. Yuki Matsui (4-1) earned the win with a scoreless inning and Mason Miller gave up a run with two outs in the ninth before securing his 38th save.
Austin Hays, Ethan Salas and Fernando Tatis Jr. added RBI singles in the seventh inning as San Diego won for the 15th time in its past 17 games. The Padres will open the playoffs in the wild-card round.
Tyler Glasnow took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the Dodgers (97-62), who also secured their objective by clinching a spot in a National League Division Series matchup and the first-round bye that comes with it. Los Angeles sealed a top-two spot in the NL when the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves earlier in the day.
Mookie Betts had three of the Dodgers’ seven hits as he dropped to the No. 2 spot in the order for the first time in six games.
In his second game since returning from the injured list because of biceps discomfort, Shohei Ohtani moved back into the leadoff spot and went 2-for-5 with a two-out RBI double in the ninth. The Dodgers scored their first run in the eighth when Betts was awarded home plate on a balk by Adrian Morejon.
Pivetta kept his team in the game in giving up four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts while throwing 87 pitches in his final start of the regular season.
The Padres broke through against Glasnow in the sixth. Salas’ one out single to center was San Diego’s first hit of the game. Tatis followed with a single and Harris delivered a sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 advantage.
San Diego chased Glasnow in the seventh with all three of the run-scoring hits in the inning coming against Justin Wrobleski. Glasnow was charged with three runs on three hits over his 6 1/3 innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts.
With a crowd of 53,027, the Dodgers passed the 4 million mark in attendance for the second consecutive season.
–Field Level Media
