Player of the gameYoshinobu YamamotoLAD6.0ip 5h 2er 1bb 4k
The Padres didn’t clinch on Wednesday night. But they can still do so on Thursday -- and they might not even need to take the field to do it. San Diego took another step toward the playoffs on Wednesday with a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers. A win in Los Angeles on Thursday -- or a loss by the Diamondbacks in Colorado -- would send the Padres back to the postseason for a third consecutive year. Oh, and if they keep winning, they’re going to begin the playoffs at home, too. Here’s some instant reaction from Dodger Stadium, after a Padres victory with major playoff implications: **So close, they can taste it …** Seven hours before first pitch in L.A. on Thursday night, the Diamondbacks are slated to begin their series finale in Colorado. So … sometime around the start of batting practice Thursday afternoon, the Padres will know whether they’ve clinched a postseason spot. If not? It’s all pretty straightforward: They would need to win just one of their four remaining games -- against the Dodgers on Thursday, or any of their three games against Arizona over the weekend at Petco Park. The sooner, the better, of course. Once the Padres clinch, they can start lining up their playoff rotation and lightening the workload of some of their high-leverage relievers.
