Padres must wait to clinch postseason berth but bigger goals remain within reach.
SAN DIEGO — At 1:27 p.m. Sunday, the out-of-town scoreboard in right field at Petco Park was updated to reflect a result that had just gone final more than 2,000 miles away. Atlanta 5, Miami 4. The Padres thus learned they could not clinch a postseason berth until Tuesday at the earliest.
Then, with no visible change in collective demeanor, they went on to observe what has become a familiar routine.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been in first place in the National League West race all season but with the San Diego Padres trailing by only three games and a three-game series between the two teams ahead, it is San Diego
The Padres hold the tiebreaker against the Dodgers which means if the two teams finish the regular season with identical records, the Padres would win the division title.
Beginning Tuesday, the Padres will face the Dodgers in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. If they win all seven of their remaining games, they’ll secure the division title, regardless of the Dodgers’ outcomes in their other matches. The Padres already have the head-to-head tiebreaker, having clinched the season series.
