Michael King Shines as Padres Blank Braves in Playoff Opener
Michael King delivered a stellar performance in his postseason debut, matching the excellence he showed throughout his first season as a full-time starter.
Fernando Tatis Jr. electrified the crowd at Petco Park with a home run in his first playoff at-bat in front of fans.
Kyle Higashioka contributed early with a sacrifice fly and sealed the game late with a home run.
The Padres capitalized on opportunities, benefiting from shaky pitching by their opponents. They jumped on a Triple-A pitcher and rode their ace's dominance to a comfortable 4-0 win over the Braves in Game 1 of the National League wild-card series on Tuesday night. See more...
"Every game is important, no matter what," said Jurickson Profar. "That’s a team that won the World Series a couple of years ago. They know how to play the game. Nothing is going to be handed to us. They came ready, but we just played better today. Michael was outstanding. Tati had a huge swing, and Higashioka came through too. We just did what we always do."
Tatis’ two-run homer in the first inning ignited the 47,647 fans at Petco Park, sending them into a frenzy of gold towel-waving excitement. The biggest crowd in the ballpark’s history erupted with each of King’s five inning-ending strikeouts, and the noise reached a fever pitch when he walked off the field after the seventh inning, having fanned 12 batters.
King made history as the first pitcher to strike out 12 while throwing seven scoreless innings in his postseason debut.
He became just the third pitcher in franchise history to pitch seven or more scoreless innings in a postseason game, joining Kevin Brown (who did it twice in 1998) and Joe Musgrove (seven innings in 2022).
Musgrove will take the mound for Game 2 on Wednesday, giving the Padres a chance to advance to the National League Division Series against the Dodgers.
"Getting up 1-0 in a three-game series is huge," King said. "That was the goal, and we got it done. We've got our ace, Joe, tomorrow, and I’m confident we’ll come through."
Tuesday’s game was one the Padres almost had to win. It’s rare for a team to be set up this well in the postseason.
The Braves had just clinched their playoff spot on Monday, needing to win the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets. They arrived in San Diego close to midnight, without their ace, Chris Sale, sidelined by back spasms.
With a depleted rotation and after playing two makeup games the day before, the Braves were forced to start AJ Smith-Shawver in Game 1. The 21-year-old, who spent most of the year in Triple-A, made just one big-league start and missed two months with an oblique injury. He was pulled after recording just four outs, leaving the Padres with a 3-0 lead by the second inning.
After Luis Arraez led off the first with a single, Tatis launched a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw, a 94 mph fastball over the heart of the plate.
“I was committed to the swing before he even released the pitch,” Tatis said of his blast. “I was looking for a fastball, and he left it over the plate. It was a great result.”
The ball exploded off Tatis' bat at 112.8 mph, soaring 154 feet into the air and traveling 415 feet into the second deck beyond left field.
“The ball got so small in the air, I thought it was going to leave the stadium,” said Higashioka. “But it was just hit too high. I thought it might clear the scoreboard.”
Tatis had previously gone 4-for-11 during the Padres’ wild-card series win over the Cardinals in 2020, but that was played in an empty stadium due to COVID restrictions. This time, the roar of the fans made all the difference.