The San Diego Padres defeated the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, 3-2. In turn, the Padres moved to 85-7`1 on the season and are now even closer to officially clinching a playoff spot.
A loss on Friday to the White Sox hurt the Padres' hopes of clinching over the weekend, but winning two in a row is a step in the right direction.
On Sunday, the New York Mets - who entered with the final National League Wild Card spot - lost to the Washington Nationals, 3-2, at Citi Field.
The Mets also lost on Saturday, and now the Cincinnati Reds are in the third Wild Card spot with the same record as the Mets.
This is a positive development for the Padres, and it brings their magic number to one as Annie Heilbrunn laid out the scenarios for San Diego.
"Due to the Padres win today, Reds win and Mets loss (and season tiebreakers), the Padres can still clinch a postseason berth with a win vs MIL on Monday," Heilbrunn wrote. "In the event of a three-way tie at 86 wins between SD, CIN & NYM, the following would occur:
-5 seed to CIN (they own tiebreakers over SD & NYM)
-6 seed to SD (own tiebreaker over NYM)
-NYM would be eliminated."
So, all the Padres need to do on Monday is defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, who have already secured the NL Central division crown and have a three-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies for the top seed in the NL.
On Monday, the Padres host the Brewers, and Nick Pivetta is scheduled to go for San Diego with Freddy Peralta going for Milwaukee, barring any changes.
But, at long last, the Padres just need one win to clinch a playoff spot, and the No. 5 seed is starting to look more and more likely for Mike Shildt's team.