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Padres Clinch Playoff Spot With Incredible Game-Ending Triple Play

They are the first team to ever secure a postseason berth with a triple play.

Kyle Koster

Padres turned three to clinch an October spot.
Padres turned three to clinch an October spot. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
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The San Diego Padres found themselves with an opportunity to clinch a postseason spot on Tuesday night. And what could be sweeter than paying off six months' worth of regular-season grind than beating those rival Los Angeles Dodgers in their own building? Completing the task thanks to a game-ending triple play.

The unbelievable moment was set up when the Dodgers, trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning, put runners on first and second right out of the gate against closer Robert Suarez. With Shohei Ohtani looming over on the on-deck circle, LA's Miguel Rojas hit a ball on the ground to third base that brought Manny Machado over to the bag, sparking the 5-4-3 walkoff.

This in-stadium feed, shown on MLB Network, really captures the shock of the moment as the Dodger Stadium crowd was forced to realize quickly that, yeah, there's going to be three outs on the play and it's time to drive home.

“Couldn’t script that any better,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt after the game.

This is not surprisingly the first time a Major League Baseball team has clinched a playoff spot with a triple play. It was the third triple play across baseball in 2024 and the first to end a game since 2021. So it might be quite awhile until a second team plays its way into October by turning three.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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