The Padres use the triple play and secure the playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Dodgers

LOS ANGELES – Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres wrote their own Hollywood ending on the home field of their biggest rivals.

San Diego stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers with a game-winning triple play to secure a 4-2 victory over the NL West leaders that secured the Padres a playoff spot.

“We won it! We won it!” shouted Fernando Tatis Jr.

The party took place in the Padres' darkened clubhouse, with music blaring and lights flashing as players soaked each other in alcohol.

“You couldn’t have written it any better, man,” manager Mike Shildt said over the noise. “What a piece from Manny, a phenomenal piece.”

With the Padres taking a three-run lead in the ninth inning, Kiké Hernández hit an RBI single that shortened the game to 4-2 and put runners on first and second.

Miguel Rojas hit a sharp grounder to Machado at third base and he stepped on the bag before rounding the horn for a triple play. The Dodgers challenged the out call at second base, but the ruling was upheld after a video review.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani remained watching from the on-deck circle.

“I've been dying to do it for a few years,” said a shirtless Machado in sunglasses, a fragrant mix of beer and champagne dripping from every pore. “He showed colorfully in the first play. I thought he was going to make a throw — he hit a ground ball right at me.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other teams to complete a triple play on the same day they secured a postseason berth were the 2020 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1910 and 1907 Chicago Cubs.

San Diego was the first to finish the game. It was the Padres' first triple play since June 10, 2010 against the New York Mets.

After missing the postseason last year, the Padres secured the eighth playoff berth in franchise history. With five games remaining in the regular season, they are guaranteed at least a wild card into the National League.

“On the other hand, they are a heck of a ball club, so we have to go out and play better,” Machado said. “We did that tonight.”

Jake Cronenworth hit an early two-run home run, then he and Xander Bogaerts drove in runs in the fourth to give the Padres a 4-1 lead.

The Padres, in search of their major league title since 2006, are two games behind Los Angeles with two games remaining in their series at Dodger Stadium. With an 8-3 record in head-to-head duels this season, San Diego already has the tiebreaker.

“It’s a beautiful, wonderful beginning,” Sheldt said. “You have to get to the playoffs to win everything. From now on it’s just a matter of taking care of business.”

San Diego has its best record in the majors since the All-Star break at 41-17.

“We enjoy playing every day. It was fun coming to the stadium every day,” Machado said. “The boys have made great progress. It took a lot of effort for us as an organization to get to where we are today.”

The Padres (91-66) have won their most since the 1998 NL championship team finished the regular season 98-64 – and they have plans to win their first World Series title in honor of Peter Seidler, the owner , who died last year at the age of 63 .

“He was with us all year,” Machado said. “He’s beaming at us right now, smiling down, enjoying this moment, enjoying this victory with us, enjoying this celebration.”

Seidler had close ties to the Dodgers. He was the grandson of Walter O'Malley, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and moved them to the West Coast in 1958, and the nephew of Peter O'Malley, who inherited the team along with Seidler's mother, Terry.

“Peter founded us years ago and here we are,” Machado said. “We do it for him.”

The Padres came onto the field in an empty stadium and shouted “Manny! Manny!” while posing for photos.

San Diego received a wild card in 2022 and eliminated the Mets and Dodgers from the playoffs before losing to Philadelphia in the NL Championship Series.