The San Diego Padres entered Sunday's win or go home matchup against the New York Mets with a pitching advantage, at least on paper. The Padres had Joe Musgrove on the hill pitching against Chris Bassitt in Game 3 Sunday. That turned out to be good news for the Padres, as they took care of business Sunday. The Padres defeated the Mets 6-0. That advances the Padres to the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.

Musgrove pitched extremely well, but the Mets were curious to see exactly why. During the bottom of the 6th inning with the Padres leading 4-0, the Mets called for a check on Musgrove. Umpires came out to the mound to check his ears to determine if he was using any substance to help him pitch.

The umpires ultimately determined Musgrove was doing nothing wrong. He remained in the game and ended up tossing seven shutout innings. Musgrove allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out five.

Meanwhile, the Padres offense did their part in the elimination game vs. the heavy wild card favorites. Juan Soto drove in a couple of runs, Manny Machado did his part with an RBI single and Aaron Nola chipped in offensively.

Following Musgrove's excellent start, Bob Melvin left it to the bullpen. Robert Suarez looked sharp in the 8th, striking out a couple batters. The Padres then turned to embattled closer Josh Hader to close out the game.

Hader struggled mightily the first month after being traded to San Diego. However, he pitched very well during September and closed out the Mets, tossing a scoreless 9th.