SAN DIEGO — Bring on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The San Diego Padres defeated the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series, ambushing Braves starter Max Fried to earn a 5-4 victory in Game 2 at Petco Park on Wednesday. It will host the third Padres-Dodgers NLDS matchup in five years. Game 1 is Saturday at Dodger Stadium: Dylan Cease vs. Jack Flaherty.

Both Fried and Padres starter Joe Musgrove left the game early on Wednesday.

In what could be his final Braves start, Fried lasted just two innings. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but gave up five runs – all with two outs – in the second. Kyle Higashioka homered, and Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill each drove in two runs. Machado now has 11 postseason RBIs, tying Tony Gwynn for the most in franchise history.

Musgrove left in the fourth inning with an elbow injury. The Padres bullpen quieted most of the Atlanta lineup, but main man Michael Harris II had three hits, including a two-run homer off Jason Adam in the eighth to make it a one-run game. — Stephen J. Nesbitt

Joe Musgrove’s injury dampens the sweep

Moments before his departure, Musgrove threw the two slowest pitches of his career in succession: a curveball at 75 miles per hour and another at 75 miles per hour.

The Padres later announced he left with right elbow tightness, a concerning development for a pitcher who went to the injured list twice this year due to elbow problems.

San Diego appears to have the depth to weather an extended Musgrove absence. Michael King looks like a potential top prospect, Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish will start the first two divisional series games against the Dodgers, and Martín Pérez has been more than serviceable. Meanwhile, the bullpen is built to shorten games.

But without Musgrove, a proven playoff hero, the challenge of beating LA and making it deep into October could become significantly more difficult. And if he manages to return this month, fears of another injury would be high. — Dennis Lin

Max Fried’s postseason woes reached a new low

In what may have been Max Fried’s last start for the Braves, one of the best breakout acts of his career — from a no-out jam in the first inning — was followed by one of the worst innings of his career. , at the most inopportune time. He gave up eight hits and allowed five runs in two innings of the Game 2 loss, retiring early due to ineffectiveness and left hip soreness after being hit by a line drive in the first inning.

While the Braves said there was no one they would rather have on the mound in this must-win situation, Fried earned a big-game reputation and a permanent place in Braves history with his six scoreless innings in the World Series-clinching Game of 2021 After the sixth win in Houston, there have been plenty of postseason struggles for the southpaw.

Fried has a 5.10 ERA in 20 postseason games, including 12 starts, and in his past six postseason starts he is 1-4 with an 8.28 ERA and 41 hits allowed in 25 innings. That includes winning the World Series.

Half of the Padres’ eight hits off Fried didn’t leave the infield, but several very costly ones did, starting with Kyle Higashioka’s two-out, game-tying solo homer in the second inning, which came on a Fried error — a 1 -and-2 fastball left over center and waist high.

That was the first of six consecutive hits by the Padres and the beginning of the end for the Braves. — David O’Brien

Padres overwhelm with two outs

All season long, the Padres have been pushing a certain mantra. It can be described as follows: When you consistently put the ball in play, good things often happen.

That’s exactly what happened in the second half of the second. The Padres became the first team in postseason history to score six consecutive hits and bat together in the same inning for the cycle. They all did that with two outs. It started with Kyle Higashioka’s home run – his second in two days – but continued with a line-drive single, two consecutive infield singles, a double and a triple.

By the time the dust settled, San Diego had scored five points that proved crucial given the Braves’ eventual surge. It was the fourth time in franchise history that the Padres scored at least five runs in a playoff inning. It was the first time they did so since scoring five points in Game 2 of the 2022 National League Championship against the Phillies. — Lin

— The Athletics Stephen J. Nesbitt contributed to this report.

(Photo by Kyle Higashioka: Denis Poroy / Imagn Images)