Everything Breaks Padres' Way as San Diego Snaps Historic Extra-Inning Losing Streak
The San Diego Padres had already gotten all the help they needed across the rest of the league, and they capitalized by notching an unlikely victory of their own.
The Padres entered Wednesday's showdown with the San Francisco Giants 0-12 in games that went to extra innings in 2023, which had matched the 1969 expansion Montreal Expos for the worst mark in MLB history. So when San Diego and San Francisco finished the ninth inning tied 2-2, history wasn't exactly in the Padres' favor.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and designated hitter Manny Machado combined for three RBI in the 10th, though, and Tom Cosgrove closed out the win with a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame.
That streak-breaking victory moved the Padres to 79-80 on the season, which kept them alive in the NL Wild Card race with three games left on the schedule. It was a must-win game for San Diego, which is now on an 11-2 hot streak as the regular season winds down.
Talkin' Baseball set the stage for the Padres heading into Wednesday's action – San Diego could have been eliminated if they had lost, if the Chicago Cubs had won, if the Cincinnati Reds had won or if the Miami Marlins won both ends of their double-header.
By the end of the night, none of those scenarios had come to pass.
The Marlins lost 11-2 to the New York Mets, dampening the impact of their 4-2 win later in the night. The Reds, meanwhile, lost 4-3 to the Cleveland Guardians, and the Cubs fell 6-5 to the Atlanta Braves in extra innings.
The Padres are now 3.5 games behind the Cubs and Marlins for the third and final NL Wild Card spot, with the Reds also camping out 2.0 games ahead of them.
Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Inside the Padres laid out the path to a San Diego postseason berth, which remains possible, although highly unlikely. FanGraphs has the Padres' playoff chances at 0.0%.
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Check out more San Diego Padres coverage at Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Inside the Padres.
