Introduction: The Padres hit

LOS ANGELES – The Padres have bigger goals this year. Hey, they have bigger goals this week.

But all of those goals start with securing a spot in the 2024 postseason. And on Tuesday evening it became official.

Padres are present. And what a way to participate.

With a 4-2 win over the rival Dodgers in Los Angeles, a game-winning triple from Shuhei Ohtani, San Diego officially secured a postseason berth. The Padres also kept up the pressure as they sought their first National League West championship since 2006. The lead over the Dodgers has shrunk to two games, the smallest since mid-August.

The incredible game-winning play came with Miguel Rojas on first, second and at the plate. Rojas gave up Manny Machado on base, who advanced to third, and threw to second, where Jake Cronenworth returned to first. The referees consulted and confirmed the decision: a 5-4-3 triple ends the match.

“What a way to do it. You must be kidding me.

“What a way to do it. You must be kidding me. What a game from Manny,” manager Mike Shildt said.

Rest assured, the focus this week will be on the division title fight. On this front, the Padres are already determining their own destiny. Los Angeles. A win would put them in first place, thanks to the head-to-head tie already secured.

But looking at the bigger picture, the Padres still had reason to pause and celebrate Tuesday. Of course, they have big goals this year. But the Padres had bigger goals in 2023 than making the postseason, and they fell short.

On June 18, Houston fell to 7-19 and trailed Seattle by 10 games. However, the Astros won the next seven games, starting a 13-2 winning streak and improving to 46-42 by July 5.

They overtook the Mariners for first place in mid-August and returned as the final division champions after a miserable 26-game stretch with a record of 79 wins and 53 losses.

In the first season under Espada, who took over for the first time since the retirement of Dusty Baker, the Astros overcame several injuries and returned to the postseason.

“I never gave up hope,” Espada said. But when it comes to winning, you know how to win, you have the ingredients to win, so you can’t screw it up. You have to protect it. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Houston’s rotation was hit early by injuries: Jose Urquidi and Christian Javier both had Tommy John surgery in June, and Framber Valdez missed most of April with elbow inflammation.