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Padres Notes: Magic Number Update, Ty France Nearly Retired, Pitchers Set for Rest of Dodgers Series

Catch up on all the latest Padres news and notes.
Gabe Smallson|
Sep 22, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Ty France (25) warms up prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Ty France (25) warms up prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-0, on Tuesday evening and fell to 87-70 on the year. The Padres' magic number remains at 2 and the Chicago Cubs lost to the Miami Marlins, creating another three-way tie for the more favorable wild-card seeding in the National League.

Right-hander Michael King struck out five but allowed as many earned runs, going just four innings. He entered the game with a 3.03 ERA and just a 1.26 ERA across his last five starts (32 innings) before his rough outing.

In other news, veteran first baseman Ty France revealed just how close he was to retirement before a 2026 campaign that proved to be the best of his eight seasons in MLB. France is hitting .299 on the year with a career-high 21 home runs and has been one of the few constants for San Diego during such a tumultuous season.

After coming within two outs of hoisting a World Series trophy last season, potentially picking the storybook ending to his time in professional baseball, France spoke on starting the year on a minor league contract.

“I still felt like I had something to offer to this game, to a team,” France said. “I went into spring training with the thought, ‘There’s a chance this could be it. If I don’t make a team out of camp, I don’t know if I want to go to Triple-A.' It was just a sink or swim kind of thing. Thankfully, it worked out.”

Manager Craig Stammen knows how special this season has been not only to the veteran, but as a first-year manager on a team desperate for deep October run.

“It’s been a lot of fun, watching him prove himself to everybody,” Stammen said. “Including myself. At the beginning of the season, I don’t think we saw him as an everyday player, but a solid bench piece that we’d have that would give us a professional at-bat, every time.

“But, he’s been maybe our most important hitter throughout the entire season, our most consistent hitter throughout the entire season.”

Finally, the Padres took an unfortunate loss on Tuesday, but have Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray on the mound Wednesday, and Nick Pivetta pitching Thursday to close out the three-game set. Though Ray has had a rough time to start his Padres career, Pivetta has allowed three earned runs in 14 innings since his return from a nearly five-month injured list stint as the two will look to finish the series strong.

Here’s all the latest Padres news and stories (click the headline for the full article):

Ty France Nearly Retired Before Breakout 2026 Season With Padres

Padres Announce Starting Pitchers for Massive Series vs Dodgers Before Postseason

Padres Announce Starting Lineup for Series-Opener vs Dodgers With Surprise Designated Hitter

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Gabe Smallson
GABE SMALLSON

Gabe Smallson is a sportswriter based in Los Angeles with a focus in sports and entertainment content. Gabe has previously worked at Newsweek and Dodgers Nation. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 2020 and received his Masters of Science at the University of Southern California in 2025.

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