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Behind Manny Machado, the Padres are already experiencing October baseball

SAN DIEGO — That's the way it's been all season, and it was that way again at Petco Park on Wednesday. It didn't matter that it was late on a school afternoon and then early on a school night. The 53rd sellout crowd of the year filled the stands to experience one of the best atmospheres in sports. October is upon us, but there are no guarantees. Everyone wanted to see at least one last time of heightened competition in 2024 — a contender hosting a fellow contender.

But it felt like a beginning, not a possible farewell.

“I mean, we've been playing postseason baseball for the last month,” San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado said after a 4-0 win over the Houston Astros. “Every game counts, man. It's fun, man.”

“This is a team we will play against. We will see them again.”

That was a bold statement. It would only be possible in a rematch of the World Series. On the other hand, the Padres' magic number is down to five. They can clinch a postseason berth as soon as Saturday. And they've spent the last month — more, actually — backing up their words with consistent glimpses of championship-level baseball.

After two hard-fought, at times chaotic games, Wednesday brought a series decider and another thriller. Dylan Cease played a perfect game until the sixth inning. Framber Valdez, a left-handed starter as good as ever, practically held his own in a pitcher's duel. Machado, the National League's most successful run producer since the All-Star break, broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with his second home run in two days. Naturally, the crowd erupted in cheers.

It was just a taste of what was to come in the second half of the eighth inning. With Valdez out of the game, Fernando Tatis Jr., Machado and Donovan Solano combined to hit San Diego's first three-run streak of consecutive home runs in 27 years.

“It was great,” said Cease. “It gave you some breathing room, so to speak.”

Cease, making his final home start of the 2024 regular season, was just two outs away from a complete shutout. He seemed poised to start a possible Game 1 in the playoffs. He held an aggressive, high-contact Astros offense to two singles and no walks. In retrospect, he called the performance the third-best of his career.

The other two were complete games, one a near-no-hitter and the other his July 25 no-hitter.

“In terms of execution, maybe that one was a little better, but this was just, you know, a no-hitter,” Cease said. “That's something special.”

The Padres could use that word regularly. Since Sept. 1, their once-questionable rotation has posted a 2.44 ERA. “Pun intended – it starts with the starters,” manager Mike Shildt said. “The whole group has been great.” And on offense, it started with a familiar play.

Since July 27, Machado has a batting average of .323. His 16 home runs during that span are second-most in the major leagues. No one has more RBIs than him with 50.

He has put up long runs like that throughout his career, and this one coincided with one of the best second halves in San Diego history. The Padres are 27-1 this season when Machado drives in more than one run. The only loss came by one run on Tuesday before Machado led the lineup again on Wednesday.

“That's Manny Machado, that's what he does, and it's just wonderful to watch him do his job,” Tatis said. “And especially at this moment, that's Manny Machado.”

“He's showing everyone what kind of player he is, and that's an elite player,” Shildt said. “It doesn't feel like he has to do everything. But he's clearly doing a lot.”

The Padres rest up on Thursday before hosting the historically bad Chicago White Sox for the final regular season series of the year at Petco Park. On paper, the matchup is one-sided, but those games will be important, too.

The Padres are 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and have three games scheduled at Dodger Stadium next week. San Diego holds a 2 1/2 game lead over Arizona in the race for the National League's top wild-card spot and the two teams will meet in Phoenix to close the regular season. If the Padres finish at least ahead of the Diamondbacks, the return of the postseason to Petco Park would be assured.

“Everyone saw the level of this (Astros) series, the games we played, how everyone went to the limit,” Tatis said. “That's what it's going to be like in the playoffs. That's our goal.”

In some ways, the Padres have already experienced it. There are no guarantees, but now they will try to recreate that atmosphere for another six weeks.

“This home crowd deserves everything,” said Machado, “and that is exactly our goal: We want to try to bring a championship to the city.”

(Photo by Manny Machado: Orlando Ramirez / Imagn Images)

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