On September 4th, the Padres were a half game out of the final National League playoff spot and a full 6.0 games back of the Phillies for the fourth seed. There were real concerns about San Diego even making it to the postseason, let alone hosting the first round. Then they went on a 17-and-4 ram page punctuated by Saturday night’s 10-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks that officially brings the NL Wild Card series to Petco Park. After trading runs for the first few innings the DBacks had a 4-3 lead in the 4th inning. With two runners on Manny Machado went to the porch for a spell. Machado hit a laser into the Petco Porch in right field. His 30th homer of the season (giving him eight career 30-bomb campaigns, the same number as Hall of Famer and San Diego native Ted Williams) put the Padres on top 6-4 and kicked off a party in the East Village. In the 5th inning Xander Bogaerts launched a solo homer to left field to make it 7-4 and San Diego put it away with another rally in the 6th. A pair of singles and a walk loaded with bases with two outs for Jake Cronenworth, who lined a single up the middle to plate two more and put it out of reach. San Diego not only makes a 3rd straight postseason appearance for the first time in franchise history, the Friars also win 90 games in three straight years for the first time ever. Last year they had to go to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs ended their series in three games. This year the Padres will get a chance to return the favor. They’ll host the Cubbies in a best-of-three affair starting on Tuesday. Getting to play that series at home is not insignificant. San Diego has won 50 games at Petco Park this year, one of only five teams in Major League Baseball to get 50 wins at home. There is one more regular season game to be played, on Sunday afternoon, and that one could have serious playoff implications. If the Diamondbacks win and the Phillies lose, Arizona will knock Philadelphia out of the final playoff spot and grab the 6th seed, then hold a celebration in the visitor’s clubhouse at Petco Park and head to Atlanta to face the Braves in the Wild Card round. All four of the Wild Card series will be broadcast on NBC and/or Peacock. Game times and broadcast plans will be revealed on Sunday evening. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less