SAN DIEGO (AP) Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer during his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out twelve in his first postseason start as the San Diego Padres defeated rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Atlanta Braves 4–0 in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series on Tuesday evening.
Tatis’ 400-foot shot landed on the second deck in left field at Petco Park and sent the towel-waving, sellout crowd of 47,647 into a frenzy. The 25-year-old star, who missed just over 2 1/2 months this season due to a stress reaction in his right thigh, saw the ball fly away, threw his bat aside, gestured toward the dugout and did his trademark stutter. -step around third base.
Game 2 in the best-of-three playoff is Wednesday night. If the Padres win the series, they will face their biggest rivals, the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Division Series. The Padres eliminated the Dodgers by 111 wins in a 2022 NLDS.
King was brilliant as he became the first pitcher to strike out 12 with no runs and no walks in his first career postseason start. He allowed five hits and joined Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock as the only Padres pitchers with double-digit strikeouts in a playoff game.
King made his postseason debut with the New York Yankees in the 2020 AL playoff bubble in the eerily empty Petco Park, where the only “fans” were a few thousand cardboard cutouts. He pitched two innings in a Game 3 loss during a Division Series that Tampa Bay won in five games.
The right-hander came over in the blockbuster trade that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees on December 7.
The Braves clinched a spot in the playoffs by winning the second game of a makeup doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday in Atlanta. They are without NL Cy Young Award favorite Chris Sale for this series. The left-hander was scratched from the late game on Monday with back spasms.
Tatis homered on a 90-mph four-seamer by 21-year-old Smith-Shawver, one of the Braves’ top players making his first playoff start and only his second this season.
Luis Arraez was on board after a leadoff single. Arraez, acquired in a trade with Miami in early May, became the first player since the 19th century to win batting titles with three teams.
Tatis experienced his first postseason game with fans in the stands. His first playoff appearance came in 2020, after the pandemic-shortened season. He missed San Diego’s run to the 2022 National League Championship Series after receiving an 80-game PED suspension from MLB in August.
His home run came on the anniversary of his two home runs in a 2020 Wild Card Series game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mike Shildt, who led the Padres in his first season, was then the skipper of St. Louis.
Kyle Higashioka homered in the eighth and had a sacrifice fly in the second. He is 3-for-30 against Atlanta, with three home runs.
San Diego was the only one of the four home teams to win Tuesday’s playoff opener.
Smith-Shawver allowed three runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Smith-Shawver didn’t know he would start until the skipper called him Tuesday morning.
“It may have been a shock when we put him on the plane last night,” Snitker said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: Snitker said he spoke to Sale on Tuesday: “He’s not really feeling well. He wanted to come here and pitch. Unfortunately he can’t. It’s hard for him. He was realistic with us in how he felt.”
NEXT
Braves LHP Max Fried (11-10, 3.25 ERA) and Padres RHP Joe Musgrove (6-5, 3.88) are scheduled to start Wednesday night. Fried is a former farmhand for the Padres. Musgrove grew up in the suburb of El Cajon.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
