Padres test fans’ patience with yet another trip to the postseason

So, the Padres made it back to the MLB playoffs. That wasn’t too surprising considering the season they had.

What was surprising was the Jekyll-and-Hyde performance in the opening two games.

After suffering near the bottom of the National League standings for most of their existence since gaining an expansion franchise in 1969, the Padres have made post-season appearances a going concern recently.

The Friars (90-72) finished runner-up to the Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69) in the NL West Division standings this season and runner-up to the Chicago Cubs (92-70) in the wild card standings.

The Padres received the No. 5 seed in this year’s six-team NL wild card payoffs. The Pads have now made the playoffs in four of the past six years, pretty good consistency along with the Dodgers, who have made the MLB playoffs a home for themselves for a 13th consecutive time this year (winning World Series titles in 2020 and 2024).

The Padres never made the playoffs until 1984 when they advanced all the way to the World Series, finishing runner-up to the Detroit Tigers. They lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1996 divisional series before advancing to the World Series in 1998 with a runner-up finish to the New York Yankees.

The Friars lost to the Cardinals in the 2005 and 2006 divisional series. There was another long gap until 2020 when the locals finally solved the Cardinals in the wild card round before being swept by the Dodgers in the divisional round.

The Pads used that as a launch pad to electrify the region in 2022 by topping the New York Mets in the wild card round, eliminating the Dodgers in four games in the divisional round to advance to the NL championship series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Fans had large screen television monitors on display at garage parties, but the party belonged to the Phillies with a 4-1 series victory.

The Friars swept the visiting Atlanta Braves in two games to win last year’s wild card round but fell 3-2 in games to the Dodgers in the divisional round. It was a close call against a Los Angeles team on its way to a World Series championship.

The Cubs finished behind the Central Division leading Milwaukee Brewers (97-65) to receive the No. 4 playoff seed.

The Padres-Cubs playoff winner will face the No. 1 Brewers in the divisional round, which starts Saturday.

The NL East leading Phillies (96-66) earned the No. 2 playoff seed and a bye in the wild card round along with the Brewers.

The Dodgers hosted the sixth-seeded Cincinnati Reds (83-79), with the winner advancing to face the Phillies. Three teams from the NL Central made this year’s playoffs: the Brewers, Cubs and Reds.

The Dodgers doubled up the Reds, 10-5, on Tuesday and eliminated them, 8-4, on Wednesday. Sounds all too familiar.

The American League playoff seeds include the No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays, No. 2 Seattle Mariners, No. 3 Cleveland Guardians, No. 4 New York Yankees, No. 5 Boston Red Sox and No 6 Detroit Tigers.

Wild card matchups include the Yankees against the Red Sox and Guardians against the Tigers.

Toronto (94-68) and Seattle (90-72) both have byes.

Detroit pulled the first upset in the wild card round with a 2-1 win over Cleveland on Tuesday while the Red Sox followed with a 3-1 win over New York.

The Padres captured two games from the Brewers in the teams’ three-game series Sept. 22-24 at Petco Park, including an 11-inning thriller in the opener.

But all that might have been for naught if Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Cubs in Game 1 of the teams’ best-of-three wild card series was any indicator.

The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Jackson Merrill scored on a RBI double by Xander Bogaerts. The Cubs responded with back-to-back home runs to left center in the bottom of the fifth inning as Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly each blasted solo shots.

Nick Pivetta got the start for the Padres while Matthew Boyd took the hill for the Cubs. Both starters left the game before its conclusion. Adrian Morejon relieved Pivetta in the sixth inning while Daniel Palencia (fifth inning) and Drew Pomeranz (seventh inning) took over for Boyd.

The four Padres pitchers struck out 13 batters, but the five Cubs pitchers limited the Pads to four hits.

The Cubs added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to go up 3-1 on a RBI by Nico Hoerner to bring in Dansby Swanson, who had led off the frame with a single.

Brad Keller closed out the game for Chicago in the ninth inning, striking out Bogaerts for the final out.

Game 2 on Wednesday was a complete turnaround for the Friars as they evened the series with a clutch 3-0 win behind a four-hitter by four pitchers and Manny Machado’s two-run home run.

The Padres never trailed in the must-win contest. With Fernando Tatis Jr. on third base and Luis Arraez on second base in the top of the first inning, Merrill delivered with a sacrificed fly for a 1-0 lead.

With Tatis on second base in the top of the fifth inning, Machado, who was held hitless in Game 1, unleashed a blast to push the Pads to a 3-0 lead.

The Friars logged 11 strikeouts in the return match-up. Starter Dylan Cease had five strikeouts in 3.2 innings while Mason Miller followed with five strikeouts in 1.2 frames.

The series is to be decided on Thursday with no room for error for either team. Game time os 12:08 p.m. on ABC-TV.

Fan appeal

Longtime Padres fans, and even new-found aficionados, have been following the team on streaming services all throughout the 2025 season. It’s fun to root from your patio chair, after all, with all the conveniences of home at your fingertips.

Paradise Hills’ resident Lupe Lucero was glued to the monitor for the opening two games of the wild card series and plans to be watching again on Thursday — win or lose.

“It’s been a hell of a ride again, that’s it in a nutshell,” she offered after Wednesday’s nerve-racking win. “All so well worth it but it’s been tough going through the high and lows. Especially the lows when we all know they’re better than that and it’s mind-boggling when they’re not. Sometimes I wish we, the fans, could give them some advice, seriously!!! So, here we are again. I rang my bell all the way to the front yard and praying Il’l do the dame tomorrow. LFGSD.”