The San Diego Padres have defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS in four games. It was a victory that almost no one saw coming but has now become reality and vastly reshaped the playoff landscape and perhaps the future of the league.
If you think the Padres' win over the Dodgers was unprecedented, you're not too far off. According to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, an underdog of San Diego's caliber has not won a playoff series in 116 years. “This series marked the second time in postseason history that a team eliminated another after winning 22 fewer games during the regular season, last done during the 1906 World Series,” Gonzales writes.
Not since the third World Series ever between the American and National Leagues (when the Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs) has a team with such a record discrepancy won a playoff series. The Padres did this without one of their key stars, Fernando Tatis Jr., and against the best team that the 2022 season had to offer.
Jake Cronenworth tallied seven hits in the series, including the hit that gave the Padres the lead in their incredible seventh-inning rally in Game 4. Joe Musgrove, the hometown kid, led his team over the Dodgers by allowing two earned runs in just six innings and registering eight strikeouts.
The NLCS will feature two Cinderella stories as the Padres face the Philadelphia Phillies, who survived a midseason manager change and a lengthy injury to their key superstar, for a trip to the World Series.
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