Padres win NL Wild Card Game 1 2024

SAN DIEGO — The stadium was louder, the pregame introductions were longer, the stakes were higher. But these were the very same 2024 San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.

Just one inning into the Padres’ eventual 4-0 victory over the Braves, that was already abundantly clear.

Michael King struck out the side in the top of the first. Luis Arraez worked a full count and sprayed an opposite-field single to start the bottom half. That set the stage for Fernando Tatis Jr., who was introduced to a postseason crowd — a real postseason crowd, not 2020-edition cardboard cutouts — for the very first time.

The fans at Petco Park erupted when Tatis’ name was announced. One pitch later, they turned up the decibel level by several notches. Tatis had demolished a fastball from Atlanta right-hander AJ Smith Shawver, staring it down as it carried a Statcast-projected 415 feet to the second deck in left field.

The Padres were on their way to victory, pushing a beleaguered Braves team to the brink in the best-of-three series.

It was plenty of offense for an utterly dominant King. The Padres assigned King Game 1 as the first postseason start of his career, and the 29-year-old right-hander — who was the key piece in the five-player trade package for Juan Soto last December — more than met the moment.

King struck out 12 Braves and didn’t allow a run or a walk over seven innings. In the process, he joined Logan Webb (2021) and Jake Arrieta (2015) as the only pitchers to deliver 10+ strikeouts and no walks in his first postseason start.

It was quite a tone-setter. In the brief history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to advance 14 of 16 times entering 2024. All six teams to win Game 1 at home have completed a sweep in Game 2.