Michael King was just as good in his first postseason start as he was in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run in his first playoff at-bat in front of fans at Petco Park.

Kyle Higashioka drove in a run with an early sacrifice fly and another with a home run late.

The Padres won a game that was essentially gift-wrapped for them.

They struck quickly against a Triple-A pitcher and then their most consistent pitcher struck out many batters as they cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Braves on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series.

“Every match is important, no matter what happens,” Jurickson Profar said. “That’s a team that won the World Series a few years ago. They know how to play baseball. I don’t think anything will be a gift. They were ready to play. We just played better today. Michael did a great job. ‘Tati’ with a big swing. Higashiuka with a big swing. We did what we did.”

Tatis’ two-run home run in the first inning sent the ballpark packed with 47,647 fans into a gold towel-waving tizzy. And the largest crowd in Petco Park history made nearly as much noise for each of King’s five inning-ending strikeouts and again when he left the field in the top of the seventh inning, having struck out a total of a dozen batters disabled.

King’s seven scoreless innings, in which he allowed five hits, made him just the third pitcher in franchise history to go that long in a postseason game without allowing a run. He joined Kevin Brown (nine innings and eight innings in 1998) and Joe Musgrove (seven innings in 2022).

Musgrove starts Game 2 Wednesday with a chance for the Padres to advance to the National League Division Series, where they will face the Dodgers.

“To be up 1-0 in a three-game series is huge,” King said. “That was the goal and we achieved it. Tomorrow we get our horse Joe and I have a lot of confidence in us tomorrow.”

Winning the first game in a best-of-three series is big. And Tuesday was a game the Padres practically had to win.

A team doesn’t get drafted that often in the postseason.

The Braves needed to win the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday to clinch their postseason berth. Their flight that landed in San Diego around midnight did not have Chris Sale on board as the presumptive NL Cy Young winner is sidelined with back spasms.

The combination of falling behind a starter and playing two catch-up games the day before left the Braves with a void that they filled by making AJ Smith-Shawver their starter for Game 1.

The 21-year-old right-hander started and ended the season in Triple-A. In between, he started one big league game and spent two months on the IL with an oblique strain.

He was gone after four outs and with the Padres leading 3-0 in the second inning.

After Luis Arraez led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to left field, Tatis gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with a home run on the first pitch he saw – a 90 mph fastball to the heart of the zone – in the bottom of the first inning.

“I probably went for it before he let go,” Tatis said of his mighty swing. “Looking for my fastball. He left it there and had absolutely great results.”

The ball left Tatis’ bat at 110 mph and sailed 150 feet into the air and extended 450 feet to the second deck of seats behind left field.

“The ball got so small in the air, I thought it was going out of the stadium,” Higashioka said. “But I think he hit the ball too high. But I thought it might be about the scoreboard.”

Tatis went 4-for-11 in the Padres’ wild-card win over the Cardinals here in 2020, but no fans were allowed in the ballpark due to COVID restrictions.

The Padres added a run in the second inning when Jake Cronenworth was hit by the first pitch of the second inning, Donovan Solano followed with a single that sent Cronenworth to third base and Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

That was it for Smith-Shawver, who was replaced by left-hander Aaron Bummer.

“Chris Sale was probably the guy the whole team would have liked to pitch,” said Xander Bogaerts. ‘Wasn’t available, so I have to bring someone over. We take advantage of that…I can’t ask for a bad way to start it. That’s huge in this game.”

The Padres didn’t get a hit and had just one baserunner from the time Smith-Shawver left until Higashioka’s home run off Luke Jackson with one out in the eighth inning.

Arraez grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the second. And after Tatis walked to start the third, Bummer got out of the inning on a flyout by Profar and a double play grounder by Manny Machado.

He had twelve pitches in at that point and, despite an eight-pitch at-bat from Jackson Merrill to start, he got through the third with a total of 28 pitches.

It was a much-needed reprieve for the Braves pitching staff.

Every member of their bullpen worked Monday, and their two highest-leverage relievers pitched in both games against the Mets.

Ultimately, they only had to use two pitchers on Tuesday.

The Padres got a scoreless eighth inning from Jason Adam, who struck out the first two batters he faced before Ozzie Albies singled and stole second base. Adam then struck out #3 hitter Marcel Ozuna.

Robert Suarez allowed a one-out single in the ninth before bringing the crowd to its feet and securing the victory when Machado fielded a grounder down the line and tactfully to the grass and threw out Travis d’Arnaud for the final out.

Originally published: October 1, 2024 at 7:53 PM