Padres lose series, NL West to Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — As far back as December — after Shohei Ohtani signed with Los Angeles, and San Diego traded Juan Soto and the entire baseball world seemed ready to anoint the Dodgers division champions — the Padres brazenly stated their goal of winning the National League West.

In mid-June, they trailed by 10 games in the standings, and still, they aimed for the division. There were times that goal seemed perhaps a bit too ambitious. Then, San Diego reeled off a 41-18 stretch out of the All-Star break, putting a serious scare into rival Los Angeles. The race would go all the way to the season’s final week.

But on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, it was time for the Padres to turn their focus to a new goal. A bigger goal. Their wait for a first NL West title since 2006 goes on. But if they can end that other drought — their 55-year wait for a first World Series title — will anybody really care about the first part?

The Dodgers celebrated winning the division with a 7-2 victory on Thursday, their first series win over San Diego in five tries this season. Afterward, the Padres had to reckon with moving beyond that disappointment, knowing they have bigger games left to play. They insisted it wouldn’t be all that hard.

“We’re past it,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill.

“No disappointment,” said third baseman Manny Machado. “We’re having a great season. We’re in the postseason. We’re going to see them in a few weeks. Get ready for Arizona tomorrow.”

Indeed, it was Machado who started a game-ending triple play on Tuesday to secure San Diego’s place in the postseason. Now, the Padres will finish their season with three games in Arizona this weekend, needing at least one win to secure home-field advantage in a Wild Card Series.

That Wild Card Series — and the start of the Padres’ quest for 13 postseason victories — officially begins on Tuesday.

“We’ve got an ultimate goal, right?” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “We scratched, clawed, fought [for the NL West]. But now we refocus. We’ve got the team to do this.”

Right-hander Joe Musgrove was mostly brilliant across 6 1/3 innings on Thursday. But after posting zeros in each of those first six frames, he left a fastball over the middle of the plate to Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who launched a game-tying two-run homer.

“I’m upset about the result tonight, but I’m not upset, by any means, about how I threw the ball,” said Musgrove, who has a 2.15 ERA in nine starts since he returned from an elbow injury in August. “Overall I feel good about my stuff, I feel good with that being my last start going into the postseason.”

Lefty Tanner Scott surrendered Shohei Ohtani’s go-ahead single and Mookie Betts’ ensuing two-run double. The Dodgers continued to tack on. The Padres — a rarity for them — didn’t mount much of a late threat, finishing 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. When Kyle Higashioka’s popup settled in Chris Taylor’s glove in the ninth, the Dodgers were division champs.

A few Padres headed straight to the clubhouse. Some remained on the top step of the dugout to watch the Dodgers’ celebration. (A little fuel for the next few weeks, no doubt.) It was Merrill who lingered longest, before turning and retreating to the visiting clubhouse, where, two days ago, the Padres celebrated their own clinch.

“Stay focused,” Merrill said. “It would’ve been cool to win the West. But I think that wasn’t even really a main thought in our heads. Just getting the opportunity to play in the playoffs was our main goal. We wanted it — to win the division — were pushing for it. Sometimes [it] doesn’t go your way.”

As Merrill arrived at his locker, a brown robe and a wig awaited him. The team’s rookies would be dressing as the Swingin’ Friar for the final flight of the regular season — a short trip to Phoenix.

“We’re already done [thinking about the West],” Merrill said. “We’re already out of that. You’re seeing rookies dress up. Nobody cares. We’re past it. We’ve got three more games that actually are pretty important. So we’re past the division now.”

Past it. Bigger goals ahead. An important series this weekend.

Still, in the aftermath of three tense games in L.A., as Merrill prepared to don his Swingin’ Friar robe, he conceded this much:

“It’s nicer,” Merrill said, “when you’ve got to dress up after a win.”