The San Diego Padres completed the final triple play of the game, clinched a playoff berth and kept alive their hopes of winning the NL West title by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
It's an incredible fifth straight win for the Padres, leaving San Diego now two games behind the division-leading Dodgers with five games remaining in the regular season.
The ninth inning was proving to be a big blow for San Diego, when closer Robert Suarez gave up a run after three consecutive singles by Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández. Leading 4–2, the Padres were looking for runners on first and second with nobody out and Miguel Rojas at the plate and Shohei Ohtani on deck.
Then this thing came up:
Rojas' grounder hit third baseman Manny Machado straight away to start a triple play that was upheld by replay. Had it not been upheld, Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to come to the plate next. He could have had a hero moment to win the game for the Dodgers and deprive the Padres of their big moment to celebrate, but Rojas' grounder and the Padres infield made sure Ohtani didn't get that chance.
As you might imagine, that game-ending, postseason-clinching triple play made MLB history. Third game-ending triple play in the wild-card era (New York Yankees on 6/20/21, Philadelphia Phillies on 8/23/09). And regarding the playoffs, only three other teams have turned a triple play on the same day they clinched a postseason berth: Milwaukee Brewers on 9/27/20, Chicago Cubs on 10/2/1910, and the Cubs again on 9/23/1907. The Padres are fourth.
But this accomplishment by the Padres stands alone in one respect: They are now the only team in MLB history Ending a postseason-deciding game with a triple play.