SAN DIEGO — Jake Cronenworth broke a tie with a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres advanced to the championship series with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. League for the first time since 1998.
The Padres defeated the Dodgers, who had 111 regular-season wins, to win the best-of-five division series 3-1 in front of 45,139 fans at Petco Park.
“There’s going to be a party out there tonight,” said starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan in suburban San Diego. “I mean, the Dodgers have been hitting since I was a kid.”
San Diego hosts the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first two games of a series between the teams that must play wild-card games. The Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-3 to win the series in four games.
The crowd erupted when Josh Hader, signed from Milwaukee on Aug. 1, struck out Freddie Freeman to end the game. Padres players cheered all four and fireworks went off at the downtown stadium. Manny Machado and Juan Soto asked the attendees more.
The Padres last reached the NL title series 24 years ago, when they defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games, then were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series.
After left-hander Tyler Anderson held the Padres to five shutout innings, the hosts were able to put a dent in the Dodgers’ bullpen in the seventh.
The win went to Tim Hill while Yancey Almonte took the loss.
Latin Americans did not hit for the Dodgers.
For the Padres, Dominican Juan Soto went 4-1 with a run and an RBI.
