The San Diego Padres found themselves with an opportunity to clinch a postseason spot on Tuesday night. And what could be sweeter than paying off six months' worth of regular-season grind than beating those rival Los Angeles Dodgers in their own building? Completing the task thanks to a game-ending triple play.
The unbelievable moment was set up when the Dodgers, trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning, put runners on first and second right out of the gate against closer Robert Suarez. With Shohei Ohtani looming over on the on-deck circle, LA's Miguel Rojas hit a ball on the ground to third base that brought Manny Machado over to the bag, sparking the 5-4-3 walkoff.
A TRIPLE PLAY! TO SECURE A SPOT IN THE POSTSEASON! UNREAL! pic.twitter.com/NfbCRgt0Y6
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 25, 2024
This in-stadium feed, shown on MLB Network, really captures the shock of the moment as the Dodger Stadium crowd was forced to realize quickly that, yeah, there's going to be three outs on the play and it's time to drive home.
How often do you see a game-ending, Postseason-clinching TRIPLE PLAY?! 🤌
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 25, 2024
NTT #BallparkCam | @Padres pic.twitter.com/yBgy03gpDs
“Couldn’t script that any better,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt after the game.
This is not surprisingly the first time a Major League Baseball team has clinched a playoff spot with a triple play. It was the third triple play across baseball in 2024 and the first to end a game since 2021. So it might be quite awhile until a second team plays its way into October by turning three.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Padres Clinch Playoff Spot With Incredible Game-Ending Triple Play.
