Francisco Lindor two-run, ninth-inning homer against Atlanta on Monday propelled the New York Mets … [+] into the playoffs. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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The New York Mets and Atlanta traded celebrations on the same Truist Field on Monday, when the wild National League wild card race was finally decided.
The NL needed an extra day and two postponed games to settle things, but when Atlanta beat the Mets 3-0 to salvage a split in a doubleheader pushed back because of Hurricane Helene, Arizona was left out.
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All three finished the regular season at 89-73, but the Diamondbacks lost a tiebreaker after losing season series to Atlanta (5-2) and the Mets (4-3).
“We’re in, and anything can happen,” manager Brian Snitker said after Atlanta secured a playoff berth for the seventh straight season.
Marcell Ozuna had 39 homers to help Atlanta to its seventh straight postseason appearance. (AP … [+] Photo/Jason Allen)
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The Diamondbacks can lament the final eight days of the season — they lost an 8-0 lead in a 10-9 loss at Milwaukee on Sept. 22 and lost home series to San Francisco and San Diego in the last week.
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The Mets won 19 of their final 28 games, the best record in the majors, to reach the playoffs for the second time since 2016. Atlanta was 16-12 in that stretch and the Diamondbacks were 13-15. The Mets were 11 games under .500 open June 2.
Milwaukee and San Diego not only will have the home field field advantage, they will have the freshness edge after the Mets and Atlanta played 18 innings Monday.
No. 6 seed New York Mets (89-73) vs No. 3 seed Milwaukee (93-69)
Tuesday: New York Mets (Luis Severino, 11-7, 3.91 ERA) at Milwaukee (Freddy Peralta, 11-9, 3.68), ESPN, 4:30 pm ET
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Wednesday: New York Mets at Milwaukee, ESPN, 6:30 pm ET
Thursday: New York Mets at Milwaukee ESPN2, 7:30 pm ET (if necessary)
Francisco Lindor will finish in the top three in NL MVP voting after his 33-homer, 29-stolen base … [+] season. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Season series: Milwaukee, 5-1. The Brewers opened the season with a three-game sweep in New York and closed the season by winning two of three. The Mets’ victory Sunday opened their window a little wider.
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Players to watch/things to know
New York Mets: SS Francisco Lindor gave Shohei Ohtani a run for the NL MVP award with 33 homers, 91 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. He pushed the Mets into the playoffs with a two-run homer in the ninth inning of the 7-6 victory in the first game at Atlanta on Monday.
1B Pete Alonso had 34 homers and 88 RBIs in his walk year, and RF Brandon Nimmo had 90 RBIs and 23 homers, including big ones in the final week stretch against Philadelphia and Atlanta.
The Mets had four double-digit winners, led by lefty Sean Manaea, who tied his career high with 12 wins and had a carer-best 3.47 ERA after signing a two-year, $28 million deal last winter that includes a player option.
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Willy Adames had a career year while helping Milwaukee to the NL Central title. (Photo by John … [+] Fisher/Getty Images)
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Milwaukee: SS Willy Adames set career highs in almost every offensive category — 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 33 doubles, 21 stolen bases — as he prepares to hit the free agent market this winter. 1B Rhys Hoskins has 26 homers and 82 RBIs in his first (and maybe only season) here.
Rookie Jackson Chourio made a late run at the Rookie of the Year award, finishing with 21 homers, 22 stolen bases and 79 RBIs. Chourio, who signed an eight-year, $82 million deal at the winter meetings, is the only player in major league history with a 20/20/20 three peat — 20 homers and stolen bases at age 20.
Jackson Chourio is the first player in major league history with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases at … [+] age 20. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
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The Brewers made the playoffs for sixth time in seven seasons under first-year manager Pat Murphy. He used 17 starting pitches, only three of whom make more than 14 starts. They have 64 defensive runs “saved,” according to Fangraphs, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in the league, and have 217 stolen bases.
No. 5 seed Atlanta (89-73) vs No. 4 seed San Diego (93-69)
Tuesday: Atlanta (TBA) at San Diego (Michael King, 13-9, 2.95), ESPN, 7:30 pm ET
Wednesday: Atlanta at San Diego ESPN2, 7:30 pm ET
Thursday: Atlanta at San Diego, ESPN, 6 pm ET (if necessary)
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Season series: San Diego won, 4-3. The Padres won three of four in Atlanta but lost two of three at home before the All-Star break. Chris Sale won both his starts agains the Padres, giving up one run in 12 innings.
Players to watch/things to know
Atlanta: Sale is the overwhelming favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award after going 18-3 with a league-leading 2.38 ERA in his first season in Atlanta, but his health is a major issue entering the playoffs.
Sale was scratched from his scheduled start in the second game of the Monday doubleheader against the Mets because of back spasms, and manager Snitker said he is unlikely to pitch against the Padres, a huge blow even for a team whose starters led the NL with a 3.56 ERA.
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Matt Olson was a constant for injury-depleted Atlanta, hitting 29 homers while playing all 162 … [+] games, (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
DH Marcell Ozuna (39 homers, 104 RBIs) and 1B Matt Olson (29/98) were two of the only three players with least 450 at-bats for the injury-ravaged Braves. RF Ronald Acuna, the 2023 NL MVP, has been out with a knee injury since May and 3B Austin Riley (19 homers) will miss the postseason with a broken hand suffered Aug. 18.
San Diego: 3B Manny Machado (29 homers), LF Jurickson Profar (24), CF Jackson Merrill (24) and RF Fernando Tatis Jr. (21) lead a balanced offense that got a bump when DH/IF Luis Arraez (.318) was acquired from Miami to fill the leadoff hole May 4. Arraez won his third batting title in three seasons.
Manny Machado helped San Diego take two of three from Arizona in the final series of the regular … [+] season. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Offseason acquisitions RHPs Dylan Cease and King anchor a solid rotation, and RHP Roberto Suarez had a career-high 36 saves in his first season as a closer. Merrill is a top candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, adding 90 RBIs.
The Padres are 43-19 since July 19, the best record in the majors over that span by three games. The Dodgers held them off in the division by going 41-23 in that same stretch. San Diego does a lot well. They lead the NL in batting average (263), are fifth in ERA (3.86), tied for first in shutouts (16) and fourth in fielding percentage.
Plenty of financial and regulatory hurdles still need to be cleared, but a fuels pipeline project that may lead to lower gas prices in San Diego and Southern California has received a healthy amount of interest from other companies.
Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan have proposed building what they’ve dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline that would use a combination of existing infrastructure plus new construction to establish a corridor for refined products that would stretch 1,300 miles from St. Louis to California.
If completed, one leg of the pipeline would be the first to deliver motor fuels into California, a state often described as a fuel island that is disconnected from refining hubs in the U.S.
The two companies recently announced the project “has received significant interest” from shippers and investors from what’s called an “open season” that wrapped up on Dec. 19 — so much so that a second round will be held this month for remaining capacity.
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“That’s a strong indicator that people would be willing to commit to put volume on that pipeline to bring it west long enough for them to be able to pay off their investment and provide a return for their investors,” said David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates, a transportation energy consulting company in Irvine. “They won’t build this thing on spec. They’ll need commitments from shippers to do this.”
The plans for the Western Gateway Pipeline include constructing a new line from the Texas Panhandle town of Borger to Phoenix. Meanwhile, the flow on an existing pipeline that currently runs from the San Bernardino County community of Colton to Arizona would be reversed, allowing more fuel to remain in California.
The entire pipeline system would link refinery supply from the Midwest to Phoenix and California, while also providing a connection into Las Vegas.
The proposed route for the Western Gateway Pipeline, a project announced by Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan designed to bring refined products like gasoline to states such as Arizona and keep more supplies within California. (Phillips 66)
A spokesperson for Kinder Morgan told the Union-Tribune in October that there are no plans for the project to construct any new pipelines in California and the proposal “should put downward pressure” on prices at the pump.
“With no new builds in California and using pipelines currently in place, it’s an all-around win-win — good for the state and consumers,” Kinder Morgan’s director of corporate communications, Melissa D. Ruiz, said in an email.
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The second round of “open season” will include offerings of new destinations west of Colton that would allow Western Gateway shippers access to markets in Los Angeles.
Even with sufficient investor support, the project would still have to go through an extensive regulatory and permitting process that would undoubtedly receive pushback from environmental groups.
Should the pipeline get built, Hackett said it’s hard to predict what it would mean at the pump for Southern California drivers. But he said the project could ensure more fuel inventory remains inside California, thus reducing reliance on foreign imports, especially given potential political tensions in the South China Sea.
“I’d much rather have our gas come from Texas or Missouri than from Asia, at least from a geopolitical strategic standpoint,” Hackett said.
This past summer, Reuters reported that California’s fuel imports hit their highest levels in four years.
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About 70% of the imports — roughly 187,000 barrels per day — came from South Korea and other Asian countries that have long been top trading partners for California and other states along the West Coast, according to Kpler, an international firm that tracks global shipping and trade.
Fuel supplies and gasoline prices have received greater focus in the wake of a pair of refinery closures in California.
Phillips 66 planned to shutter operations at its twin refinery in the Los Angeles area by the close of 2025, and Valero is scheduled to close down its 145,000-barrel-per-day facility in the Northern California city of Benicia in April. The Valero and Phillips 66 facilities combine to account for about 18% of the state’s crude oil capacity.
The average price for a gallon of gasoline is higher in California than in any other state in the continental U.S., according to AAA.
On Tuesday, the average price in the Golden State was $4.254 while the national average came to $2.815. Hawaii had the highest average in the country, at $4.423 per gallon.
The city of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the federal government that alleges the construction of a razor wire fence near the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes trespassing on city property and has caused environmental harm to the land.
The complaint filed Monday in San Diego federal court states that razor wire fencing being constructed by U.S. Marines in the Marron Valley area has harmed protected plant and wildlife habitats and that the presence of federal personnel there represents unpermitted trespassing.
The lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense among its defendants, says that city officials first discovered the presence of Marines and federal employees in the area in December.
The fencing under construction has blocked city officials from accessing the property to assess and manage the land, and the construction efforts have” caused and will continue to cause property damage and adverse environmental impacts,” according to the lawsuit.
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The suit seeks an injunction ordering the defendants to cease and desist from any further trespass or construction in the area.
“The city of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage city property,” City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. “We are taking decisive action to protect sensitive habitats, uphold environmental commitments and ensure that the rights and resources of our community are respected.”
Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song – San Diego Union-Tribune
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SUNG-MUN SONG
Position(s): Third base, second base
Bats / Throws: Left / Right
2026 opening day age: 29
Height / Weight: 6-foot / 194 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2025
Contract status: A four-year, $15 million deal will see Song make $2.5 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $3.5 million in 2028 and $4 million in 2029 if he does not opt out of last year; Half of his $1 million signing bonus is due in January 2026 and the other half in 2027; There is a $7 million mutual option for 2030.
.214 — Song’s isolated power in 2025, a career high as he prepared for a jump to the majors. Isolated power measures a player’s raw power (extra bases per at-bat) and Song had a .190 OPS in 2018, in his third year as a pro in Korea, before it dropped to .101 in 2019 and then a career-low .095 in 2023. Hitting 19 homers pushed Song’s isolated power to .178 in 2024 and then a career-high 26 homers push it even higher in 2025.
TRENDING
Idle — Drafted by the Heroes in 2014, Song debuted in the KBO the following year but didn’t become a regular until 2019. A drop-off in production — he had an .884 OPS in 78 games in 2018 and a .597 OPS in 103 games in 2019 — was followed by losing the 2020 season and a chunk of the 2021 season to military service obligations. Then three straight sub-.700 OPS seasons forced Song to rethink his approach to professional baseball, especially in the face of the likes of Ha-Seong Kim,Jung Hoo Lee and Hyeseong Kim generating big-league buzz. Song started with weight training and nutrition. A hitting coach also helped him with balance, pull-side power and the ability to catch up with the sort of fastballs that seem to dog Korean players when they arrive in the States. It all added up to a breakthrough year in which Song paired 19 homers, 104 RBIs and 21 steals with a .340/.409/.518 batting line. To prove it was no fluke, Song followed up his 2024 season with another strong effort that solidified his wish to try his hand in the majors. The ensuing, four-year, $15 million deal that Song signed with the Padres in December cost his new employer a $3 million posting fee to be paid to the Kiwoom Heroes.
2026 OUTLOOK
Like Kim before him, Song appears to be joining the Padres as a utility player with the hope that he blossoms into more as he gets comfortable in a new country and league. Song had experience in Korea at third base (500 starts), second base (149 starts) and first base (38 starts). Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller even mentioned outfield reps in passing as he assessed how Song could help the Padres in 2026.
Former KBO player Sung-Mun Song shakes hands with Padres vice president of amateur and international scouting Pete DeYoung after signing a contract with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Saturday. (Photo by Armond Feffer/San Diego Padres)
