2024 National League Wild Card Series 2

2024 National League Wild Card Series

San Diego Padres 93 - 69 in the NL	0 - 0 Series Summary	Atlanta Barves 89 - 73 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Padres: Mike Shildt | Braves: Brian Snitker

Padres

Braves

Umpires[edit]

Nestor Ceja, Phil Cuzzi, Jansen Visconti, Dan Iassogna (crew chief), Mark Wegner and Erich Bacchus

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Atlanta Braves 0 San Diego Padres 4	October 1	AJ Smith-Shawver (0-1) Michael King (1-0)	8:38 pm
2	Atlanta Braves 4 San Diego Padres 5	October 2	Max Fried (0-1) Joe Musgrove (0-0)	8:38 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Padres	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	x	4	5	0
WP: Michael King (1-0); LP: AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0)
Home Runs: SD - Fernando Tatis Jr. (1), Kyle Higashioka (1)

Attendance: 2:09

The Padres had had a bit of time to prepare to host Game 1, having clinched their spot as the top wild card team in the National League a few days earlier, allowing manager Mike Shildt to peg Michael King, one of his most consistent starting pitchers all season, for this game. His battery-mate was Kyle Higashioka, and both had been obtained in a pre-season deal for OF Juan Soto; for all the hoopla Soto gathered for his tremendous season with the New York Yankees, the return for San Diego of a starting battery for the first game of the postseason was nothing to spit at either. The Braves were not in such a good space: they had had to win the second game of an excruciating doubleheader against the New York Mets the day before to confirm their spot, and then fly across the country to be present for the game. The doubleheader had badly taxed their pitching staff and they also had to deal with an injury to their ace, Chris Sale, who would be unavailable for the series due to back spasms. Faced with a bunch of unpalatable options, manager Brian Snitker decided to go with 21-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver, who had started all of one game during the regular season, to begin the game, hoping that he would somehow come up with a strong performance. It wasn't the case, and the Braves lost the game as a result.

King was everything the Padres could have wanted - and more. He went seven innings and only gave up five hits, just one of them going for extra-bases, a double by Travis d'Arnaud; he walked none and struck out 12 opponents. Basically, the Braves could never mount any sort of threat against him as he was in full control from the get-go. This was in complete contrast to Smith-Shawver, who was visibly nervous when he took the mound; he had some good stuff - he was not considered Atlanta's top pitching prospect without reason - but his control was iffy. The Padres wasted no time in getting to him. Luis Arraez, having just claimed his third straight batting title for three different teams, led off with a single on a full count. Fernando Tatis Jr. was up next and obviously came to the plate looking for a fastball; that's what he got on he first pitch, and he got all of it, whacking it 415 feet to left for a no-doubt homer. Just like that, San Diego was up, 2-0. In the 2nd, Smith-Shawver plunked the first batter, Jake Cronenworth, who then went to third on a single to the right field corner by Donovan Solano. Higashioka followed with a sacrifice fly, making it 3-0 and ending Smith-Shawver's night after just one turn through the order. The Braves were forced to dig deep into their tired bullpen, asking Aaron Bummer, whose most common usage pattern was as a LOOGY, to give them some length. To their credit, Bummer and his successor, ageless veteran Jesse Chavez, both pitched very well, combining to go 4 2/3 innings without allowing another hit.

However, the damage was done. King was having a dominant outing, and the Padres did not really need to pad up their lead. They did add an insurance run when Higashioka, who had an excellent game from both sides of the dish, hit a solo homer off Luke Jackson in the bottom of the 8th, but all it did was deprive closer Robert Suarez of a save opportunity in the 9th. Both Jason Adam and Suarez pitched a scoreless inning to complete King's good work, as the Padres won the game, 4-0. The only consolation for Snitker was that he had been able to rest his front-line relievers, who all needed the respite.

Game 2 @ Petco Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Braves	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	4	6	0
Padres	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	5	10	0
WP: Bryan Hoeing (1-0); LP: Max Fried (0-1); SV: Robert Suarez (1)
Home Runs: SD - Kyle Higashioka (2); ATL - Jorge Soler (1), Michael Harris (1)

Attendance: 47,705

The Padres eliminated the Braves thanks to one big inning against Atlanta's ace, Max Fried, in the 2nd inning, surviving a shortened outing by their own starter, Joe Musgrove, and a determined effort by the Braves to come back. In the end, though, the Braves fell one run short, and the Padres were moving on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.

The Braves were the ones who scored first, after Michael Harris led off the 1st with a double off Musgrove, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Marcell Ozuna. The Padres also started well, as their first two hitters in the bottom of that inning, Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. both singled. Jurickson Profar then hit a dribbler only a couple of feet from home plate which was fielded by Fried, who tried to cut down Arraez at third base, but without success. The bases were loaded with no one out, but San Diego wasted a golden opportunity: Manny Machado struck out; Jackson Merrill hit a grounder to 1B Matt Olson, who threw out Arraez at home; and Xander Bogaerts hit a grounder to short. Such an innning could have sunk the Padres' morale, but after a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 2nd, they went right back to it. After two outs, Kyle Higashioka hit his his second long ball in two days, over the center field fence to tie the score at 1. In an almost repeat of the 1st inning, Arraez, Tatis and Profar then all singled, loading the bases, but this time the big hit was forthcoming, in the form of a double by Machado. Two runners scored on that blow for a 3-1 lead, and Merrill followed with a triple, driving two more runs to make it 5-1. Fried then got Bogaerts to fly out, but the Braves were in a deep hole.

The Padres did not score again after that big inning , but they did not need to. Dylan Lee took over for the ineffective Fried in the 3rd, followed by Daysbel Hernandez with two outs in the 4th, who went 2 1/3 innings. The two long men were followed by short relievers Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez, both of whom tossed a scoreless inning, so the Braves' bullpen did its job. It was just that the hole was a little too deep. Musgrove had to leave the game in the 4th because of tightness in his elbow; after Harris's lead-off double, he had retired the last 11 men he had faced in order, so it was not that he was struggling in any way. Bryan Hoeing, one of the lowest-profile men in the Friars' bullpen, took over for him. He gave up a lead-off homer to Jorge Soler in the 5th, but the lead was still comfortable at 5-2. Jeremiah Estrada succeeded Hoeing to start the 6th but gave up a pair of singles before Tanner Scott bailed him out by getting Olson to line out to Profar in left. Scott then took care of the 7th as well. There were now six more outs left for Atlanta. Next to take the mound was Jason Adam, coming off an outstanding season, but he was greeted by a single by Orlando Arcia, followed by a homer to center by Harris. Suddenly, the lead was cut to 5-4, and there were still six outs to go. But Adam settled down, getting the next three batters in order and handing the ball over to closer Robert Suarez for the 9th. Suarez had given up a few gopher balls in September, creating some doubt about his capacities among the Padre faithful, but he was at his best when it mattered the most: he got Soler to line out to center, then Ramon Laureano to ground out to Machado at third base. Atlanta's final hope was Travis d'Arnaud, pinch-hitting for Gio Urshela, but he popped out to C Higashioka in foul territory, and the series was over.