SAN DIEGO — Baseball fans in San Diego have been waiting a long time to party like this, and the Padres were more than happy to finally oblige.
What made it so much sweeter was that they toppled the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, the best team in the majors this year and the ballclub that had beaten up on the Padres regularly for the better part of two seasons.
Jake Cronenworth hit a tiebreaking two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning, and San Diego rallied past the Dodgers 5-3 Saturday night to advance to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1998.
Petco Park shook, and the sellout crowd of 45,139 roared when Josh Hader struck out Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman in succession to end the Padres’ third straight win against the Dodgers.
Hader and third baseman Manny Machado jumped into each other’s arms, and the rest of the team joined them in a wild celebration on the infield grass as fireworks went off above the downtown ballpark. Machado and Juan Soto exhorted the fans for more as they all reveled in the middle of a rare San Diego rainstorm.