Padres' Michael King Makes MLB History in Dominant Wild Card Start

Maren Angus-Coombs | Oct 2, 2024

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres turned to Michael King to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday and he looked like a postseason veteran.

King was dominant in his first postseason game striking out 12 in seven scoreless innings. San Diego won 4-0.

King became only the third pitcher in team history to go that deep into a postseason game without giving up a run, joining Kevin Brown (who did it over nine innings and eight innings in 1998) and Joe Musgrove (seven innings in 2022).

Musgrove will start Game 2 on Wednesday.

“To get up 1-0 in a three-game series is huge,” King said. “That was the goal, and we accomplished that. We’ve got our horse Joe tomorrow, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in us tomorrow.”

Tuesday's game was one the Padres absolutely needed to win.

Opportunities like this in the postseason don’t come around often for a team.

The Braves secured their postseason spot by winning the second game of a Monday doubleheader against the Mets. Their late-night flight to San Diego, arriving around midnight, didn’t include Chris Sale, the likely NL Cy Young winner, who was sidelined with back spasms.

The Braves turned to AJ Smith-Shawver to fill the gap and start Game 1.

He exited after recording just four outs, with the Padres leading 3-0 in the second inning.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run in his first playoff at-bat in front of fans at Petco Park and that was all the Padres truly needed to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

Tatis launched the ball at 112.8 mph off the bat, sending it 154 feet into the air and an estimated 415 feet into the second deck beyond left field.

“I was going for it probably before he released the pitch,” Tatis said of his mighty swing. “Looking for my fastball. He left it over the plate, and had definitely great results.”

Kyle Higashioka drove in a run with a sacrifice fly early and sealed the victory with a home run late.

There crowd of 47,000-plus at Petco Park couldn't be silenced. The Padres gave them a reason to remain standing and towel waving almost every inning.

“We knew they were going to show up,” manager Mike Shildt said of the crowd. “We knew they were going to get after it. But this was really, really electric night, electric scene. Really loud. This place gets so loud, and they’re just into it. This is as loud a stadium as we’re going to play in. And it’s good to have it on our side.”