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“PADREVILLE-PLACE TO BE”
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So how did you like that opening playoff game?

It started with the ESPN salute to the legacy of the late-great Peter Seidler

From the electricity in the opening inning, to the first pitch, 2nd deck, 2-run home run of Fernando Tatis, it was a night never to forget.

Padres (4-0) victory over the Atlanta Braves.

When they were done, no one wanted to leave Petco Park, though there is a second game hours from now back downtown.

The Braves had to turn the night into a bullpen game, after the emotional 24-hours of doubleheader baseball, the loss and the gut-wrenching comeback win in the second game against the Mets.

I thought they would be drained, with the twinbill, the cross country night trip, and the loss of their Cy Young ace Chris Sale, who will miss the entire playoff series with back issues.

A stunning 5-innings of near perfect relief kept the Braves in the game.

But they were never in the game, because Michael King was the king on the mound.  You name it, he got it done.

Atlanta had runners on 1st and 3rd..1st and second, and then again on second thru the first four innings.  Those guys were left on base, because King got stronger and stronger as the night went on.

King was dazzling…a 12-strikeout night, and no walks in his 7-innings, and by the way, no home runs balls either.  He has become an elite starter who has worked thru what few stressful innings he encounters, but dominates in so many of the other innings.

Heroes this season have come from all parts of the roster.  How about Kyle Higashioka’s insurance sealing home run?  How about the bullpen being so dominant?

How about the intensity in the dugout.  The energy within the stadium was spectacular.

A great win by the Friars.  A pretty credible fight put up by the Braves.

Oh a couple of other items.

Did you have a Greg Maddux flashback, watching King paint the black, and dominate with ball movement.  Looked one and same to me.  It was not a no hitter but it was damn close to that type of outing.

Speaking of the past, anybody miss Juan Soto on the roster, in the batters box, in the clubhouse.

And how cool was it to see Padres fans send a message to the nation, San Diego is a great baseball city.

And I had a payback reaction to the crowd at Petco Park.

It felt like an NFL playoff crowd.  You remember when the self-serving-greedy minded Dean Spanos turned his back on Chargers fans to go to Los Angeles, where he is on the perimeter of fan interest, where Chargers football is not all that important.  He had that fan support in San Diego.  That support now wears Brown & Gold.

Bring on the 1st pitch-Wednesday night.

Padreville sure makes you feel good… about the state of the team and about being in San Diego.

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