Michael King shined as Padres eliminated Braves in playoff opener – San Diego Union-Tribune

Michael King was just as good in his first postseason start as he was in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run in his first playoff at-bat in front of fans at Petco Park.

Kyle Higashioka drove in a run with an early sacrifice fly and another with a late home run.

The Padres won a game that was essentially gift-wrapped for them.

They struck quickly against a Triple-A pitcher and their most consistent pitcher struck out many batters, essentially earning a 4-0 victory over the Braves in the first game of their National League wild-card series on Tuesday night.

“Every game is important no matter what happens,” Jurickson Profar said. “This is a team that won the World Series a few years ago. They know how to play baseball. I don't think nothing will be a gift. They were ready to play. We simply played better today. Michael did a great job. “Tati” with great momentum. Higashioka with great momentum. We did what we did.”

Tatis' two-run home run in the first inning sent the ballpark packed with 47,647 fans into a frenzy with gold towels waving. And the largest crowd in Petco Park history made almost as much noise during each of King's five inning-ending strikeouts and again when he walked off the field in the top of the seventh inning after striking out a total of a dozen batters.

King became the first pitcher to strike out 12 batters in his postseason debut, going seven scoreless innings.

He joins Kevin Brown (nine innings and eight innings in 1998) and Joe Musgrove (seven innings in 2022) as just the third pitcher in franchise history to go that long without allowing a run in a postseason game.

Musgrove begins Game 2 on Wednesday with a chance for the Padres to advance to the National League Division Series, where they would face the Dodgers.

“To take a 1-0 lead in a three-game series is huge,” King said. “That was the goal and we achieved it. We have our horse Joe tomorrow and I have great confidence in us.”

Tuesday was a game the Padres practically had to win.

A team that's positioned like this in the postseason doesn't come along very often.

The Braves needed to win the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday to secure their postseason berth. Chris Sale was not on board their flight, which landed in San Diego around midnight, as the presumptive NL Cy Young winner is sidelined by back spasms.

The combination of a deficit in the starting lineup and two make-up games the day before left the Braves with a void, which they filled by making AJ Smith-Shawver their Game 1 starter.

The 21-year-old right-hander started and finished the season in Triple-A. In between, he started one big league game and spent two months on the IL with an oblique strain.

He was gone after getting four outs and the Padres leading 3-0 in the second inning.

After Luis Arraez led off with a single to left field in the bottom of the first, Tatis gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with a home run on the first pitch he saw – a 94 mph fastball in the heart of the zone.

“I probably wanted to try it before he let go of the pitch,” Tatis said of his powerful swing. “I’m looking for my fastball. He left it on the plate and definitely had great results.”

The ball left Tatis' bat at 112.8 mph and traveled 154 feet into the air and projected 415 feet into the second seating deck behind left field.

“The ball became so small in the air that I thought it was going to leave the stadium,” Higashioka said. “But I guess he hit it too high. But I thought it could go beyond the scoreboard.”

Tatis went 4-11 against the Cardinals in the Padres' wild-card series here in 2020, but no fans were allowed in the ballpark due to COVID restrictions.

The Padres added a run when Jake Cronenworth was hit by the first pitch of the second inning, Donovan Solano followed with a single that sent Cronenworth to third, and Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

That was it for Smith-Shawver, who was replaced by left-hander Aaron Bummer.

“Chris Sale was probably the guy their entire team would have wanted to draft,” Xander Bogaerts said. “Wasn’t available so I have to bring someone here. We're taking advantage of this… I couldn't ask for a better start. That’s huge in this game.”

The Padres didn't get a hit and only had one baserunner with one out in the eighth inning from Smith-Shawver's departure until Higashioka's home run off Luke Jackson.

Arraez grounded in an inning-ending double play to end the second game. And after accompanying Tatis to start the third, Bummer got out of that inning with a fly ball out by Profar and a double-play grounder by Manny Machado.

He had 12 pitches at that point and, despite Jackson Merrill striking out an eight-pitch batter to start, made it through the third round with a total of 28 pitches.

It was a much-needed reprieve for the Braves' pitching staff. Every member of their bullpen worked Monday, and their two highest-leverage relievers played in both games against the Mets. On Tuesday, they finally had to use only two pitchers.

The Padres got a scoreless eighth inning from Jason Adam, who struck out the first two batters he faced before Ozzie Albies singled and stole second base. Adam then struck out No. 3 hitter Marcel Ozuna.

Robert Suarez allowed a single out in the ninth before securing the win when Machado fielded a grounder down the line, retreated to the turf and threw out Travis d'Arnaud for the final out.

This caused the crowd to stand and the noise increased again.

“We knew they were going to show up,” manager Mike Shildt said of the crowd. “We knew they could do it. But that was really a really electrifying night, an electrifying scene. Really loud. It gets so loud here and they are just thrilled. This is as loud a stadium as we're going to play. And it’s good to have it on our side.”

The Padres were also impressed and wary of a Braves team that had to endure what it went through over the last two days.

“They probably (feel like they're playing) have nothing to lose because they've been put in the worst possible situation, comfort-wise,” Higashioka said. “Teams are dangerous when they have nothing to lose. So for us it's about staying focused, never letting up and not taking anything for granted. I think that’s what we did tonight and we have to come out and do it tomorrow.”

Originally published: October 1, 2024 at 7:53 p.m