Padres score game-deciding triple play and secure playoff spot with win over Dodgers

With their 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, the San Diego Padres completed the game-deciding triple play, secured a playoff spot and kept their hopes of winning the NL West alive.

This incredible victory, the Padres' fifth in a row, moved San Diego within two games of the division-leading Dodgers with five games left in the regular season.

The ninth inning turned into a slump for San Diego after closer Robert Suarez allowed a run on three consecutive singles by Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández. Leading 4-2, the Padres had runners on first and second base, no one out, Miguel Rojas at bat and Shohei Ohtani on the turn.

Then the following happened:

Rojas' grounder straight to third baseman Manny Machado triggered the triple play, which was confirmed by replay. Had that not been the case, Shohei Ohtani would have been next to bat. He could have had a heroic moment to win the game for the Dodgers and deny the Padres their moment of celebration, but Rojas' grounder and the Padres infield made sure Ohtani didn't get that chance.

As you might suspect, this game-winning triple play that decided the postseason made MLB history. It is just the third game-deciding triple play in the wildcard era (New York Yankees on June 20, 2021; Philadelphia Phillies on August 23, 2009). And as for the playoffs, only three other teams have pulled off a triple play on the day they clinched a postseason spot: the Milwaukee Brewers on September 27, 2020, the Chicago Cubs on October 2, 1910, and the Cubs again on September 23, 1907. The Padres are the fourth.

This performance by the Padres is unique in one respect: They are now the only team in MLB history to end a crucial postseason game with a triple play.