The San Diego Padres are headed back to October, and this time they’ve done something the franchise had never done before.
Thursday night’s 4-2 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium locked up a postseason berth for the 2026 playoffs and gave the Padres a third straight trip to the postseason for the first time in team history. It also bumped San Diego back into the top wild-card position, putting the club in control of its own path to the No. 4 seed and a home wild-card series next week.
At 89-70, the Padres sit one game ahead of the 88-71 Chicago Cubs. The Philadelphia Phillies are 87-72 and still need two more wins to secure the final postseason spot and eliminate the Arizona Diamondbacks from contention. For San Diego, though, the final weekend is now about seeding, not survival.
That was the goal all along heading into this series against Arizona: avoid a winner-take-all setup. The Padres did exactly that.
The night was built on pitching early, then a late surge that cracked the game open. Nick Pivetta delivered the kind of outing that fits a postseason rotation, striking out seven over 4.2 scoreless innings while giving up only four hits and a walk. Yuki Matsui took over and handled the end of the fifth plus the first two outs of the sixth.
On the other side, Tyler Glasnow was dealing. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth before 20-year-old rookie Ethan Salas broke it up with a one-out single. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with another hit, moving Salas to third, and Dustin Harris drove him in with a sacrifice fly to give San Diego a 1-0 lead.
Jason Adam made his long-awaited return to the mound in the sixth, replacing Matsui with two outs and getting the final out on one pitch.
Then came the inning that changed everything.
In the seventh, Salas again found himself in the middle of the action. Jackson Merrill opened with a double, and Xander Bogaerts drew a walk to end Glasnow’s night. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski entered, but Austin Hays kept doing damage against lefties with a pinch-hit RBI single.
After Samad Taylor struck out, Salas came through again, lining a two-out RBI single that brought in Bogaerts. Tatis followed with an RBI single of his own, and just like that the Padres were up by four.
Adam returned for the seventh and got two quick outs before Adrian Morejon came in to face Shohei Ohtani. Morejon needed only three pitches to strike him out.
The only blemish on the Padres’ night came in the eighth, when Morejon allowed a walk and a single, then gave up a run on a balk after recording two outs. That was the extent of the damage.
Mason Miller finished it off for his 38th save of the season, and the Padres could finally celebrate a clinch that had been in the making for days, and now stands as a little slice of franchise history.
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Padres Win Came With Two Pitching Developments Fans Need To See
The Padres 5-1 win over the Dodgers on Sunday came with more than just another notch in the standings. Robbie Ray handled the early work by giving up one earned run over 3.1 innings, and five relievers finished the job with 5.2 scoreless frames as San Diego kept building toward October at 88-70.
The more interesting part for the Padres is what came with the roster churn around the victory. The club designated a veteran pitcher for assignment, sent another to the Arizona Complex League, and activated Jason Adam from the injured list, while Craig Stammen also offered fresh updates on Joe Musgroves recovery and Walker Buehlers postseason role. For a team already thinking beyond the regular season, those pitching developments may matter as much as the final score. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Answered The Dodgers In A Game That Meant Plenty
A night after the kind of result that can tilt a division race, the Padres responded with a win that carried plenty of weight of its own. Manny Machados two-run homer helped set the tone in a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers in the second game of the series, giving San Diego a needed answer in a matchup that rarely feels ordinary.
David Morgan provided one of the sharper late-game moments, striking out Shohei Ohtani to help preserve the lead and keep the Padres in control. The win also left San Diego a game ahead of the Cubs and Phillies for the top National League wild-card seed after other results broke in its favor, a small but meaningful cushion with the standings still tight. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Got A New Bullpen Problem In San Diego
The Padres are getting a key arm back at a timely moment, with right-hander Jason Adam set to come off the 60-day injured list ahead of the series against the Dodgers. San Diego plans to clear a spot by optioning Griffin Canning to Triple-A, with a corresponding 40-man move still to come, and Adam is expected to slide back into the bullpen mix quickly.
Even with the return, the picture is still a little unsettled because Adam has not been sharp in his recent rehab outings. The Padres are clearly betting that getting him back into a major league environment will help, and the timing only adds to the stakes with Los Angeles on deck, since San Diego will want every leverage arm available for what should be a high-pressure stretch. [Read more 🡒]