The San Diego Padres made a decisive triple play, secured a playoff spot and kept their NL West hopes alive by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

The incredible victory, the Padres’ fifth in a row, moved San Diego to within two games of the division-leading Dodgers with five games remaining in the regular season.

The ninth inning looked like it would be a blow to San Diego after closer Robert Suarez allowed a run on three straight singles by Will Smith, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández. Leading 4-2, the Padres found themselves staring at runners on first and second with no outs, Miguel Rojas at the plate and Shohei Ohtani on deck.

Then this happened:

Rojas’ grounder directly to third baseman Manny Machado triggered the triple play that was upheld by the replay. Had that not happened, Shohei Ohtani would have been next to bat. He could have had a heroic moment to win the game for the Dodgers and deny the Padres their moment of celebration, but Rojas’ grounder and the Padres’ infield prevented Ohtani from getting that chance.

As you might suspect, that game-ending, postseason-deciding triple play made MLB history. It’s just the third game-ending triple play in the wild-card era (New York Yankees on June 20, 2021; Philadelphia Phillies on August 23, 2009.) And as for the playoffs, only three other teams have made a triple play on the day they clinched a postseason spot: the Milwaukee Brewers on September 27, 2020, the Chicago Cubs on October 2, 1910, and the Cubs again on September 23, 1907. The Padres are in fourth place.

This performance by the Padres is unique in one respect: They are now the only team in MLB history to end a postseason deciding game with a triple play.