September 24, 2024: Padres beat Dodgers and clinch postseason berth by turning game-ending triple play

The Los Angeles Dodgers (93-63) had 2024’s best record in baseball and had clinched a postseason berth on September 19.1 Five days later, however, the National League West Division title was still undecided with six games yet to play. The Dodgers were hosting the team they needed to beat to clinch the division – the San Diego Padres. At 90-66, the Padres were three games back as they began this three-game series. A Padres win this evening would give them a playoff berth – at least a wild card – with the division still in play. The season history favored the Padres, who had a 7-3 record against their division rivals.

The Dodgers sent 27-year-old rookie Landon Knack (3-4, 3.39 ERA) to the mound. He had not faced the Padres before. That didn’t faze him – he worked a one-two-three first inning on 11 pitches.

The Padres’ Michael King did have some good history against his opponent. Although the 29-year-old King had been credited with only one win over Los Angeles, the Padres had won all three games in which he’d pitched against the Dodgers.2 Although his last outing against them had been on May 10, it was a dominant performance – seven innings, two hits, no runs, 11 strikeouts.

This game did not start auspiciously for King. Shohei Ohtani, five days removed from a 6-hit, 3-homer, 10-RBI game against the Miami Marlins that clinched the first 50-50 season in major-league history, hit his first pitch down the right-field line; it bounced into the stands for a double. Mookie Betts grounded to shortstop Xander Bogaerts, whose throw was well over first baseman Donovan Solano’s head. Ohtani scored easily, and Betts took second.

One out later, Teoscar Hernández hit a low liner to left for a single. Betts held to see if it was caught, then stopped at third. Max Muncy flied out, too shallow for Betts to tag and score. With Will Smith batting, Hernández took off on a steal of second. Catcher Kyle Higashioka’s throw was late, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth alertly threw to third and caught Betts off the base to end the inning.

The Padres took the lead in the second. Center fielder Jackson Merrill, on his way to a Silver Slugger Award and Rookie of the Year runner-up finish to Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes,3 singled. With two out, Cronenworth homered, just into the stands in the right-field corner, to give the Padres a 2-1 lead.

The Dodgers threatened in their half of the second but did not score. Smith singled and moved to second on Tommy Edman’s groundout. With two out, King plunked Miguel Rojas on the shoulder and walked Ohtani to load the bases. Betts fouled off a couple of pitches but was called out on a not-checked-enough swing.

The third inning was comparatively uneventful – the only baserunner was Teoscar Hernández, who was erased on a double play.

Jurickson Profar greeted Knack with a double to open the fourth inning. Merrill’s one-out fly out to center was deep enough for Profar to take third. Bogaerts singled past the diving shortstop Rojas, driving in Profar.

Knack stepped off and didn’t throw to first, so Bogaerts was awarded second, putting him in position to score easily on Cronenworth’s double off the left-field wall. A wild pitch, a walk, and a stolen base put runners on second and third, but Knack struck out Higashioka to avoid any further scoring. It was a 4-1 game.

Neither team allowed a baserunner in the bottom of the fourth or the top of the fifth. Brusdar Graterol replaced Knack for the top of the fifth.

There were no baserunners in the bottom of the fifth, either, thanks to some impressive fielding by the Padres. Ohtani flied to left but was robbed by a diving catch by first-time All-Star Profar. Betts’ fly to the warning track was hauled in by Merrill, who made a running catch and bounced off the wall.

Dodgers veteran Daniel Hudson – appearing in what turned out to be the next-to-last regular-season game of his 15-season career4 – pitched the top of the sixth. With two out, Bogaerts hit a grounder down the third-base line. Third baseman Muncy threw the ball over Freddie Freeman at first, but the official scorer gave Bogaerts a single rather than charging an error to Muncy. Cronenworth grounded out, holding the score at 4-1, Padres.

Adrián Morejón took the mound for the bottom of the sixth. He got two quick outs, then allowed a single to Muncy and walked Smith. Padres manager Mike Shildt called on Jeremiah Estrada to get out of the jam. He was up to the challenge – he got Edman to pop out on the first pitch. (That one pitch earned him his 15th hold of the season.5)

Edgardo Henriquez made his major-league debut, pitching the top of the seventh for the Dodgers.6 His baptism was a good one – the 22-year-old Venezuela native struck out Solano for his first major-league K. Higashioka singled off the left-field wall, then stole second with two out. That was a rare occurrence – it was only the second steal of his eight-year career. Henriquez struck out Tatis as well.

Lefty Tanner Scott pitched the bottom of the seventh for the Padres. He allowed a single to pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández, erased him on a double play, and struck out Ohtani.

The well-traveled Brent Honeywell7 pitched the top of the eighth for the Dodgers. He also fielded his position well, covering first for the first and second outs of the inning. Between those, he allowed a double to Machado but stranded him at third when Bogaerts flied out.

Another recently acquired pitcher, Jason Adam, took the mound for the bottom of the eighth after a brief delay while a beach ball was removed from the field. Profar robbed Betts of a hit with another spectacular diving catch near the left-field line. Teoscar Hernández hit a two-out double that rattled around in the left-field corner, but Muncy flied out with the score holding at 4-1 Padres.

Honeywell worked a one-two-three top of the ninth in front of an ever-diminishing crowd.

For those Dodgers fans who did stick around for the bottom of the ninth, there was plenty of excitement, some hope, and some history. Padres closer Robert Suarez threw 100 MPH, but that didn’t stop the Dodgers – Smith, Edman, and Kiké Hernández hit consecutive singles. Smith scored, bringing the winning run to the plate in the form of the ninth-hitting-but-.285-batting Rojas. With no outs, Edman was on second, and Kiké Hernández on first. Ohtani lurked in the on-deck circle.

The fans were standing and cheering. Time for a walk-off? Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla paid a visit to the mound, perhaps just to give his pitcher time to catch his breath and try for his 35th save of the season.

On the second pitch Rojas grounded toward third. Machado grabbed the grounder and ran back to touch third for the first out – a force of Edman. Machado threw to second, where Cronenworth was waiting for the force out of Kiké Hernández. Cronenworth’s relay to first was in time to beat Rojas for the third out.

Ohtani stayed in the batter’s box since Dodgers manager Dave Roberts challenged all three out calls. The Padres didn’t wait for the review – they were already celebrating the triple play, the win, and clinching a postseason berth. The review confirmed the three outs and Ohtani quietly returned to his dugout. Many Padres fans collected near the visitors’ dugout where the players, coaches, and manager applauded and thanked them. The Padres headed into the clubhouse for a raucous celebration.

This was the 28th time in major-league history that a triple play had ended a game. The last time the Padres had turned a triple play was June 10, 2010, against the New York Mets, also a 5-4-3 triple play. The previous triple play against the Dodgers had been August 24, 2014 – by the Mets.8

The Dodgers won the five remaining games of the season, clinching the NL West Division title. The Padres won only two of their remaining five games, leaving them five games back of the Dodgers. The Padres won their NL Wild Card Series over the Atlanta Braves and faced the Dodgers again in the NL Division Series. The Dodgers won that series, three games to two, on their way to their World Series victory over the New York Yankees.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Victoria Monte and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org. for box scores/play-by-play information, player, team, and season pages, pitching and batting game logs, and other data. The author also watched the game video available on MLB.tv.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN202409240.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2024/B09240LAN2024.htm

Notes

1 Jack Harris, “51-51!,” Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2024: B10.

2 His one credited win was the second game of the season, on March 21, which was played in the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, which was more than any of the other five pitchers.

3 Merrill also placed ninth in the MVP voting.

4 Although his career spanned 16 years, it included only 15 seasons as he did not pitch in 2013.

5 Morejón, Scott, and Adam were also credited with holds.

6 Henriquez signed with the Dodgers in 2019 and had moved up only to Class A in 2022. After missing 2023, he moved rapidly through the minor-league system in 2024, appearing in A, A+, AA, and AAA before his call-up. He appeared in two more regular-season games for the Dodgers in September, pitching 3 1/3 innings with a 2.70 ERA. His 2024 postseason results were not as good – five innings with a 7.20 ERA.

7 He pitched for the Rays in 2021, spent 2022 in the A’s minor-league system, was back in the majors for the Padres and the White Sox in 2023, and had been acquired by the Dodgers from the Pirates on a waiver claim in July 2024. He also pitched in the Dominican Winter League in 2022-23.

8 “SABR Triple Play Database,” Google Sheets Page, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mfjUVrIhBv6HeltZXYZNPFs_VKopDF_unaZ883QPQr0/edit?gid=1613289983#gid=1613289983, accessed April 15, 2025.