Two ride out of the West
The old man knew how to rise to the occasion.
David Wells saved his best of the season for when it was needed most, a dominating performance that has the San Diego Padres in the postseason for the second year in a row.
The 43-year-old left-hander threw six scoreless innings, not even allowing an Arizona runner to reach second base, and the Padres clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks on Saturday.
“This is what I live for,” Wells said. “This is what I’ve played for is the opportunity to pitch in a big game when it counted. There’s nothing better.”
Wells, who missed his previous start with gout in his right foot, allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one in his 230th career win.
“I’ve been here plenty of times. I’ve failed and I have succeeded,” said Wells, who expects to retire after the playoffs. “I still had huge butterflies going out there today and it was even more emotional knowing that it was the last regular-season start of my career.”
Mike Cameron’s booming two-run homer was the difference as the Padres’ win clinched consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in franchise history.
Whether the Padres advance as N.L. West champions or as the wild-card team won’t be decided until today’s regular-season finales.
But that was no reason to squelch the celebration.
The San Diego victory eliminated Philadelphia from postseason contention, while the Padres and Los Angeles remained tied for the N.L. West lead.
Dodgers 4, Giants 2: At San Francisco, Greg Maddux pitched the Dodgers back into the playoffs, a key second-half piece on a remade roster that was put together to bring Los Angeles back to respectability after an awful 2005.
Maddux outdueled rookie Matt Cain, hit a single and even stole a base as the Dodgers won their sixth straight game, beating the San Francisco Giants.
And Maddux was among the first to make his way into the clubhouse for a raucous postgame party of champagne and beer after the Dodgers danced on the mound, celebrating in their archrivals’ ballpark.
“That’s the greatest thing that can happen to you,” said Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda, who guided the Dodgers to eight N.L. West championships in 20 years before stepping down in 1996 following a heart attack.
“If you’re going to cinch it, you want to cinch it against the San Francisco Giants,” he said. “That’s why this is sweeter than ever. … Everybody in Los Angeles thought we weren’t going to amount to anything.”
Who could blame the fans considering what the Dodgers did last year?
After winning the N.L. West in 2004, Los Angeles went 71-91 in 2005, among the worst seasons in franchise history.
The Dodgers’ victory ensured them at least the N.L. wild-card spot.
It was fitting that Maddux had much to do with the Dodgers’ return to the playoffs. They acquired the 300-game winner from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline to give them a veteran arm for the stretch run – and he won six games for them.