San Diego, CA
Padres rally to walk-off win over Reds in extra innings
The Padres did not exactly get to the Reds bullpen as much as the Reds bullpen was given to them on Monday night.
With 18 games remaining in the regular season and a division title and playoff seeding in the balance, the particulars don’t matter.
What does matter is that the Padres took advantage of the circumstances and came back to beat the Reds 4-3 in 10 innings.
The Padres had done nothing most of the night and trailed 3-0 before scoring three times in the sixth inning and winning in the 10th on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s walk-off sacrifice fly.
“It’s a blast,” Gavin Sheets said. “Every game is extremely important. The crowd knows it, both teams know it. Obviously, these guys are in the hunt as well. And so this is great September baseball.”
As they often have this season, the Padres were able to finagle the final outcome against relief pitchers.
The difference in this game was that recent issues with a blister and a bout of the flu had Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo limited in how far he could go Monday.
The left-hander controlled the Padres through five innings as if he had every one of them besides Sheets hypnotized.
The Padres got their first ball out of the infield in the third inning. Sheets, who walked in the second inning and doubled in the fourth, was their only baserunner until Jake Cronenworth’s bunt single with two outs in the fifth inning.
But the fifth would be the last inning for Lodolo, who had thrown just 78 pitches but was making just his second start in a little more than a month.
So the Padres were into the Reds’ bullpen at the start of the sixth inning. Tatis led off the sixth with a single against Scott Barlow. He stole second base with Luis Arraez up. And after Arraez flied out to left field and Manny Machado struck out, Sheets drove in Tatis with his second double.
After a walk by Ramón Laureano, which prompted a pitching change, Jackson Merrill launched a drive into the gap in right-center field against Brent Suter. The ball caromed off the glove of diving center fielder TJ Friedl to bring in Sheets and Laureano and tie the game, 3-3.
“I think we just strung together good at-bats and just rode out the momentum from there,” said Sheets, who finished 3-for-3 with a walk. “It was just a string of really good at-bats, whether it was Lodolo or the bullpen arms right there. But obviously, (the Reds used) a lot of their bullpen arms tonight, which is great for us.”
After a strikeout by Jose Iglesias stranded Merrill, the Padres turned to the back end of the bullpen after Yu Darvish and Alek Jacob got them to that point.
Darvish allowed two runs through five innings, the first on Friedl’s leadoff home run and the second on an RBI single by Elly De La Cruz in the third inning.
He was given the chance to get through six innings, but Austin Hays hit a sinker up and in off the front of the lowest balcony on the Western Metal Supply Co. building with one out in the sixth. After retiring the next batter, Darvish was replaced by Jacob, who got the only batter he faced to pop out.
Jeremiah Estrada retired the first two batters in the seventh before yielding a double to No. 9 hitter Matt McLain.
That prompted Padres manager Mike Shildt to go to left-hander Adrian Morejón to face the left-handed-hitting Friedl, who lined out to Tatis in right field.
Mason Miller struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Robert Suarez got a strikeout and two groundouts in the ninth.
Having done so in just nine pitches, Suarez also was sent back out for the 10th. Tyler Stephenson began the inning with a groundout to shortstop, which kept automatic runner Ke’Bryan Hayes at second base. Suarez then struck out McLain before being lifted for lefty Wandy Peralta, who got Friedl on a flyball out to left field.
Cronenworth began the bottom of the 10th at second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Freddy Fermín, who ended up safe at first when pitcher Nick Martinez’s throw was dropped by first baseman Spencer Steer. Not that it mattered after Tatis lofted a ball deep enough to left-center to easily bring in Cronenworth.
“Freddy’s bunt and Tati’s nice piece of situational hitting, not trying to do too much,” Shildt said. “It was, is a really good baseball game.”
Unlike their previous nine games, which were against losing teams, Monday was also highly significant for the Padres’ opponent.
It was arguably even more important for the Reds, who began Monday tied with the Giants for the first spot on the outside looking in at the NL playoff picture.
They arrived from Cincinnati after winning the previous two days against the Mets, the team they are chasing for the final NL wild-card spot. With the Mets already having lost again Monday before first pitch at Petco Park, the Reds could have pulled to within three games of playoff position. Instead, they fell a game behind the Giants, who beat the Diamondbacks.
Making the postseason is almost certainly not the issue for the Padres, who sit in the fifth of six playoff spots with a three-game lead over the Mets and six-game advantage over the Giants.
They remain one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings. Los Angeles beat the Rockies 3-1 after carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning for the second time in three games.
The Padres gained ground in the wild-card race, as the team directly in front of them (the Cubs) and directly behind them (the Mets) both lost Monday.
Originally Published:
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
The top teams in the West Coast Conference are jockeying for position in the standings as the regular season draws to a close, and the Oregon State women took care of business Thursday night, blowing out the San Diego Toreros 83-49 to move to 21-9 on the season, and 13-4 in conference play.
Oregon State’s Tiara Bolden Grabs WCC Honor After 44 Points Over Two Games
The Toreros have been a basement dweller in the conference for the last few seasons, so this result isn’t surprising, though it’s magnitude is a bit eye-raising. The Beavers wasted no time putting San Diego into a hole, opening the first quarter on an 8-0 run that Tiara Bolden and Kennedie Shuler getting involved early. Oregon State held a 14 point, 26-12 lead after one.
The second quarter wasn’t as lopsided, but San Diego wasn’t able to make much headway into the Beaver lead. Six points from Olivia Owens kept San Diego within shooting distance, but defensive pressure from Kennedie Shuler and strong rebounding from Lizzy Williamson kept the Toreros under control. Oregon State ended the first half up by 13, 40-27.
Oregon State Dominates Cougars in 79-51 Blowout
Oregon State tightened their grip in the third. While Olivia Owens and Kylie Ray managed to give the Toreros some hope early in the quarter, Oregon State went on a run late in the period to get their lead to 21 at the highest. San Diego finally snapped the Beaver hot streak, but a three from Kennedie Shuler ended the quarter in a 61-43, 18 point Beaver lead.
The bottom seemed to fall out of San Diego in the fourth, with the Toreros only putting six points on the board. Tiara Bolden and Kennedie Shuler kept the points flowing for the Beavers, while Lizzy Willilamson continued to dominate the boards. A layup with an and one from Elisa Mehyar were the last Beaver points of the game, giving Oregon State a 34 point, 83-49 win.
Oregon State Takes Down Portland 64-54 in Season Saving Game
It was a good night for several Beavers, with Kennedie Shuler once again leading the team in scoring. She finished the night with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. She can do just about everything on the court.
Tiara Bolden continued her hot streak with a 17 point night, along with four rebounds and four assists. Jenna Villa added 14 points, one rebound and one assist. Lizzy Williamson added another double double to her resume, with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Oregon State’s Winning Streak Ends With 55-51 Loss to LMU
There’s one last item on the agenda for Oregon State, a season-closing meeting with the Loyola Marymount Lions Saturday at Gill Coliseum. The Lions handed Oregon State their first WCC loss of the season back in January, so getting some revenge before the conference tournament would be a good statement from the team. Tip off is set for 1 PM PT.
Mayor Todd Gloria sought the public’s feedback Thursday in shaping San Diego’s 2026-27 fiscal year budget, as the city launched a digital survey to help determine which programs and services are prioritized and which are reduced.
The survey is available at datasd.typeform.com/2027budget.
Officials will use responses in crafting the new budget, which takes effect on July 1. The City Charter deadline to release a draft budget is April 15, “allowing ample time for resident feedback to be considered during budget discussions,” officials said.
Gloria said that the city has already “closed hundreds of millions of dollars of a longstanding structural deficit, but we are not done. The next budget will require even tougher choices, and I want to be clear with residents: We will not be able to do everything we might like to do.
“I’m asking San Diegans to take a few minutes to tell us what matters most to them, and what they’re willing to forgo, as we build next year’s budget,” he added.
The five-minute survey is open to residents living within San Diego city limits. Those without home computer access can fill out the survey at any city library.
According to Gloria’s office, the city’s projected deficit is $120 million for the next budget, which the city is required by law to keep balanced.
In addition to asking what residents’ top priorities are, the survey asks if the city “should generate more revenue to protect services.”
Offered in English and Spanish, the survey is available until the start of May.
Officials said residents can also sound off on the budget process by attending City Council budget meetings either in person or via Zoom.
Council members will discuss the budget during their March 10 meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at the City Administration Building downtown.
Public library locations can be found at sandiego.gov/public- library/locations.
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