SAN DIEGO (AP) — Joe Musgrove pitched six shutout innings in a potential postseason tune-up and Wil Myers homered to cap a seven-run eighth that carried the San Diego Padres past the San Francisco Giants 7-4 on Monday night.
One night after clinching a wild card, the Padres remained a game ahead of the Phillies for the No. 5 seed in the National League playoffs. Philadelphia secured its first postseason berth in 11 years with a 3-0 win at Houston.
The fifth seed will play a best-of-three series on the road this weekend against the Mets or Braves — whichever one does not win the NL East. The sixth seed will play its best-of-three set at NL Central champion St. Louis.
If the Padres and Phillies finish with identical records, Philadelphia holds the season-series tiebreaker and would get the No. 5 seed.
San Diego went 4-3 against Atlanta this season, 4-2 against the Mets and 2-4 versus the Cardinals.
Musgrove gave up only two hits and struck out seven. Adrian Morejon (5-1) worked two scoreless innings in relief and Josh Hader got two outs for his 36th save, halting a four-run rally by the Giants in the ninth.
With the bases loaded, Hader retired J.D. Davis on a fly to right to end it.
San Diego broke a scoreless tie on back-to-back doubles by Trent Grisham and Brandon Dixon in the eighth. Later in the inning, Josh Bell walked with the bases loaded to force in a run, and Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run double. Myers launched a three-run homer to center field, making it 7-0.
Shelby Miller (0-1) allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings. Sean Hjelle had an impressive outing in relief for the Giants, pitching five scoreless innings while striking out eight.
Brandon Crawford and Joey Bart each had a two-run single in the ninth for San Francisco (80-80), which had won 11 of 13.
PLAYOFF PLANS
Padres manager Bob Melvin wasn’t ready to announce his rotation for the wild-card series.
“It’s pretty easy to forecast what those three are going to look like but I’m reluctant to say that right now,” he explained.
It’s almost certain San Diego will start Yu Darvish in the opener, followed by lefty Blake Snell and then Musgrove if there's a decisive Game 3. Darvish was selected the NL pitcher of the month for September after going 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA and 44 strikeouts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: 3B Evan Longoria (broken right thumb) and LHP Thomas Szapucki (right hip strain) were placed on the 15-day injured list. LHP Alex Wood (left shoulder impingement) was transferred to the 60-day IL. ... OF Bryce Johnson and LHP Andrew Vasquez were recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
Padres: 3B Manny Machado, C Austin Nola and LF Jurickson Profar were rested a night after the Padres secured a wild card. The team had a wild clubhouse celebration after its clinching win. “We’re very aware that we have some games to play right now. It’s not going to go on all night,” Melvin said about the party Sunday evening. “It was a good thing it was a day game as well.”
UP NEXT
Giants LHP Carlos Rodón (14-8, 2.88 ERA) pitches Tuesday night against a Padres starter to be announced.
