You know, we could get used to this. For the third straight year, the San Diego Padres are going to the playoffs. The Friars beat the Dodgers 4-2 on Thursday night in Los Angeles, formally punching their postseason ticket with three games left in the season and as exciting as that is, there is st ill plenty to play for. San Diego is still in position to host the National League Wild Card series at Petco Park. For the first half of the night, Nick Pivetta and Tyler Glasnow staged a pitching duel. Pivetta struck out seven in 4.2 shutout innings but in the process ran his pitch count up to 87 so manager Craig Stammen went to his elite bullpen. Yuki Matsui got the final out of the 5th by punching out Teoscar Hernandez. Meanwhile, Glasnow was on a different level. He took a no-hitter with 10 punchouts to the 6th inning when Ethan Salas finally dropped a single into left field. On the very next pitch Fernando Tatis Jr. lined a single to right, moving Salas to 3rd base with one out. Dustin Harris lofted a fly ball to center that easily scored Salas with the first run of the game. In the 7th inning the Padres offense came to life. Jackson Merrill doubled to right field and Xander Bogaerts drew a walk to chase Glasnow and bring in Justin Wrobleski. The move did not work out for the Dodgers. Austin Hays came on to pinch-hit for Jake Cronenworth and hit a bullet that Max Muncy couldn’t handle at 3rd base. Merrill scored to make it 2-0 and San Diego’s 20-year-old backstop had himself another moment. Salas lined a single to left field to bring home Bogaerts and make it 3-0 before Tatis Jr.’s run-scoring single made it 4-0. That kind of lead is plenty for the Padres relief corps. Jason Adam made his first appearance since June and tossed a scoreless inning. He was followed by Adrian Morejon, who allowed a run in the eighth. Mason Miller cemented the clinching win with his 38th save. On Friday night the Padres open their final three-game series of the regular season against Arizona at Petco Park and both teams will have plenty to play for. The Friars have a one game lead on the Cubs for the 4th seed and need to finish that way to host the best-of-three Wild Card series next week. The Diamondbacks have won five straight to pull within 2.0 games of the Phillies and can still earn a playoff spot themselves. ...read more read less