The San Diego Padres weren't supposed to advance. With the big, bad Los Angeles Dodgers in their way, their hopes to get far in the postseason were supposed to be slim to none. And yet with hometown hero Joe Musgrove on the mound on Saturday night, they ended the season for their division rivals.
Who better than Joe Musgrove to commemorate the epic moment in franchise history? He was the man who gave the final words of the night as he was interviewed following the final out of the 5-3 comeback win.
“I'm not gonna miss that drive, man,” joked Joe Musgrove after vanquishing their interstate adversaries. “These guys dominated us all year long, but we got hot at the right time. You see the unity in this group and this fan base. We wanted to give it to these people so bad. We wanted it for Bob. We wanted it for ourselves, man. It's a good feeling.”
Dominated is right. The two teams played 19 times, with the Dodgers taking 14 of those games in what was a one-sided season series. LA did the same thing to nearly every team it faced, en route to a franchise record 111 wins. It's a head-to-head battle that's favored the Dodgers in the nearly 1000 games they've played against each other. Nobody but Joe Musgrove can share the emotions felt both as a fan and as the starter pitching for the decisive win.
“It's about to be a party here tonight. Since I was a little kid, we've been getting beat up by the Dodgers. When it comes down to it, when the games matter, this team stepped up, man.”
"It's about to be a party out here tonight"
Tom Verducci talks with San Diego's own Joe Musgrove immediately following the @Padres NLDS win! pic.twitter.com/5AIQN8zxhS
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 16, 2022
Even the most dominant regular season teams can fall victim to the right team getting hot at the right time. The Padres were exactly that against a Dodgers side that had World Series written all over it.
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