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The San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 with a triple play in the ninth inning to clinch a playoff berth for the third time in the last five years, adding another stunning chapter to this rivalry.
With the win, the Padres move up in the NL West Division standings, closing in on the Dodgers as they are only two games back with five games left in the regular season and two games remaining between them.
San Diego has won eight of 11 against Los Angeles this season, so if there is a tie between these two teams after Game 162, the Padres would win the divisional title by holding the tiebreaker after having more head-to-head wins.
The ninth-inning triple play to beat the Dodgers
The Dodgers took the lead in the first inning after a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts on a Mookie Betts roller with Shohei Ohtani on second base, but the Padres took control after that with a two-run home run by Jake Cronenworth in the second inning.
The Padres scored twice in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 4-1 and the San Diego bullpen dominated the hitters until the last at-bat. Closer Robert Suarez, who has been in trouble lately, started the ninth by allowing three consecutive hits.
The Dodgers scored once but with Miguel Rojas batting, he rolled the ball to third and Manny Machado took control from there; he stepped on third base and then threw to second on Jake Cronenworth's relay to Donovan Solano at first to get the three outs to end the game and secure a spot in the playoffs. Now they will look to sweep the Dodgers to take control of the West.