Fernando Tatis Jr. Opens Up About Padres Scoreless Drought to End NLDS

Valentina Martinez | Oct 12, 2024

Oct 11, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) looks on in the dugout in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Fernando Tatis Jr. couldn't say much about the Padres going scoreless for 24 consecutive innings to close out the season.

“I’m going to say bad timing,” Tatis told MLB.com's AJ Cassavell.

The Padres were very outspoken throughout the season about their identity this season, but in the final two games of the National League Division Series, the lineup was quiet.

What once seemed like a fairytale quickly transformed into a fever dream. A lineup filled with stars like Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, Luis Arraez, and Tatis never came through in Games 4 and 5.

The Dodgers need just two solo home runs to advance the NLCS. History usually repeats itself, but on Friday night, it wasn't in San Diego's favor.

Many experts projected the Padres to beat the Dodgers in the NLDS, the same way they did in 2022. San Diego won the NLDS in 2022 in four games.

Several fans believed the Padres would do the same in Game 4 at Petco Park Wednesday night. However, the Dodgers hammered San Diego in an 8-0 victory.

As soon as Game 5 started, it seemed as though the matchup had slipped away. Padres manager Mike Shildt remained grateful to his players for bring a renewed enthusiasm to baseball.

"I'm ultimately grateful for the guys in our clubhouse that brought it every single day, man, and didn't back down from anything," Shildt began.

And also really grateful for the way they did it. They did it with effort and enthusiasm and love for each other, love for our community and respected the game. Had fun with it too. And that's a part of it that I enjoyed quite a bit is our players had fun and played free, played with enthusiasm."

Shildt said the Padres had everything to win, but ultimately fell short.

"You do it for our faithful and put every bit of what we had into it," he said. "The thing about putting your effort into faith is you never know how it's going to turn out. But that's the beautiful thing about faith. And we had it."

"And we're just grateful for our community but disappointed that we weren't able to get to an ultimate goal that we all share," Shildt added.

The Padres have no choice but to look ahead and the future is bright.

“We have a strong core here,” Tatis said. “Sky’s the limit and I have no doubt we’re going to be knocking on the door every single year. Can’t wait.”