The San Diego Padres lost two of three in a pivotal series against the New York Mets. Still, the Padres are right in the driver's seat in regards to clinching a playoff spot.
Entering Friday, the Padres have an 83-70 record and are four games ahead of the Mets for the final National League Wild Card spot.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds are two games back of the final spot, and the San Francisco Giants are three back in a rather tight race.
However, the Padres only need a few things to clinch a spot, and it can happen as early as Saturday.
Here is the path, as detailed by Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"You guys can clinch a Postseason berth tomorrow (Saturday) with two wins, two Reds losses and two Diamondbacks losses."
The magic number as of Friday is four, but here is how it can decrease to one.
"Magic number can decrease by 1 with a win; can also decrease by 1 with BOTH Reds and D-backs loss. So you can be at 4, 3 or 2 after play today (Friday.)"
Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) on X
#Padres can clinch as soon as Saturday
Thankfully for San Diego, the Chicago White Sox are the opponent, and Dylan Cease will make his first start against the White Sox since coming to the Padres via a trade.
The Padres then conclude next week with a six-game homestand, three each against the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks, but locking up a playoff spot before that would be more than ideal for San Diego.