SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in 4 years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason begin because the San Diego Padres beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Atlanta Braves 4-0 in Sport 1 of their NL Wild Card Sequence on Tuesday night time.
Tatis’ 415-foot shot within the first inning landed within the second deck in left area at Petco Park and despatched the towel-waving, sellout crowd of 47,647 right into a frenzy. The 25-year-old star, who missed simply greater than 2½ months this season with a stress response in his proper thighbone, watched the ball fly away, tossed his bat apart, gestured towards the house dugout and did his signature stutter step round third base.
“It is stunning vitality,” Tatis stated. “I like the sort of state of affairs. It positively brings the most effective out of me. And simply wanting ahead to far more experiences like this.”
He stated he was looking a fastball.
“I used to be going for it in all probability earlier than he launched the pitch. However in search of my fastball, he left it over the plate, and had positively nice outcomes. I knew it was going to exit. I did not comprehend it was going to land within the second deck simply because how excessive it was.”
Sport 2 within the best-of-three playoff is Wednesday night time. If the Padres win the sequence, they will face their greatest rivals, the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, within the Nationwide League Division Sequence. The Padres eradicated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.
King was good in turning into the primary pitcher to have 12 strikeouts with no runs or walks allowed in his first profession postseason begin. He permitted 5 hits and joined Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock as the one Padres pitchers with double-digit strikeouts in a playoff sport.
At 2 hours, 9 minutes, it was the quickest postseason sport since Greg Maddux and the Braves beat the Dodgers in 2:08 throughout a 1996 NL Division Sequence.
“I believe I dreamed of an ideal sport as an alternative of some hits that I gave up,” stated King, who came to visit within the blockbuster commerce that despatched Juan Soto to the New York Yankees in December. “However I imply, to rise up 1-0 in a three-game sequence is large. That was the objective and we achieved that. We have our horse Joe [Musgrove] tomorrow, and I’ve acquired lots of confidence in us.”
King made his postseason debut with the Yankees within the AL playoff bubble in 2020 at eerily empty Petco Park, the place the one “followers” had been a number of thousand cardboard cutouts. He pitched two innings in a Sport 3 loss throughout a Division Sequence that Tampa Bay received in 5 video games.
Getting the fast 2-0 lead “made it so I might actually assault on my fastball and keep forward within the counts and actually put the strain on,” King stated. “Feeling the gang noise, realizing how large postseason video games are, all of it performed into my mentality all through the entire sport.”
The Braves clinched a playoff berth by successful the second sport of a make-up doubleheader towards the New York Mets on Monday in Atlanta. However they’re with out NL Cy Younger Award favourite Chris Sale for this sequence. The left-hander was scratched from the late sport Monday with again spasms.
Atlanta performed 27 innings on reverse coasts in a bit of greater than 24 hours.
Tatis homered on a 94 mph four-seamer from the 21-year-old Smith-Shawver, one of many Braves’ high prospects. He was making his first playoff begin and simply his second this season.
Luis Arraez was aboard on a leadoff single. Arraez, obtained in a commerce with Miami in early Might, grew to become the primary participant for the reason that 1800s to win batting titles with three groups.
Tatis skilled his first postseason sport with followers within the stands. His first playoffs had been in 2020 after the pandemic-shortened season. He missed San Diego’s run to the 2022 Nationwide League Championship Sequence after receiving an 80-game PED suspension from MLB that August.
His residence run got here on the anniversary of his two homers in a 2020 Wild Card Sequence sport towards the St. Louis Cardinals. Mike Shildt, in his first season managing the Padres, was St. Louis’ skipper then.
Kyle Higashioka homered within the eighth and had a sacrifice fly within the second. He’s 3-for-30 towards Atlanta, with three homers.
San Diego was the one one of many 4 residence groups to win its playoff opener Tuesday.
Smith-Shawver allowed three runs and 4 hits in 1⅓ innings.
Braves supervisor Brian Snitker stated Smith-Shawver did not know he was beginning till the skipper referred to as him Tuesday morning.
“It wasn’t due to who we began that we did not win this sport,” Snitker stated. “We could not get something going offensively.”
Stated Smith-Shawver: “There are clearly nerves, but in addition it’s the place you wish to be throwing and typically it does not work out your manner. However I do not suppose nerves had been the problem as we speak.”