Padres ride 5-run inning to victory, eliminate Braves

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October 2, 2024 – 8:44 PM PDT

Kyle Higashioka homered and Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill added two RBIs apiece during a five-run second inning to help the San Diego Padres clinch their National League wild-card series with a 5-4 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

Fernando Tatis Jr. reached base four times on three hits and a walk for fourth-seeded San Diego, which wrapped up the best-of-three series in two games. Luis Arraez and Merrill had two hits for the Padres.

Michael Harris II had three hits, including a two-run homer, for the fifth-seeded Braves.

The Padres will open the NL Division Series on Saturday against the top-seeded Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Atlanta moved within 5-4 in the eighth when Orlando Arcia led off with a single against Jason Adam and Harris homered to center on the next pitch.

But Adam got the next three batters out and Robert Suarez retired the Braves in order in the ninth.

Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove departed after 3 2/3 innings with right elbow tightness.

San Diego held a 5-1 advantage when Musgrove exited. He struck out four, walked none, and gave up one run and one hit.

Bryan Hoeing finished the at-bat to Matt Olson after Musgrove left to end the fourth inning and pitched 1 1/3 innings to get the victory. Hoeing gave up a homer to Jorge Soler in the fifth.

Atlanta’s Max Fried was torched for five runs and eight hits over two innings. He struck out two and walked none.

Fried got hit in the hip by a liner in the first inning. Braves manager Brian Snitker said during an in-game interview that Fried was bothered by the injury.

After being shut out in Game 1, the Braves scored in the first inning when Harris led off the game with a double, moved to third on Ozzie Albies’ groundout and scored on Marcell Ozuna’s sacrifice fly.

But with two outs in the second, the Padres strung together six straight hits while scoring five runs off Fried.

Higashioka got the outburst started by slamming a 1-2 fastball over the wall in left-center. He also homered in Tuesday’s 4-0 victory.

Arraez followed with a single and Tatis and Profar each reached on infield singles to load the bases.

Machado was up next. He had fallen to 1-for-17 all-time against Fried after striking out with two on in the first inning. This time, however, he lined a two-run double to left to give the Padres a 3-1 lead.

Merrill followed with a two-run triple that short-hopped the fence in center.

Soler led off the fifth with a homer to center to cut Atlanta’s deficit to 5-2.

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