Padres Roll, Fernando Tatis Jr. Marks Playoff Return With HR

SAN DIEGO -- Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason start as the Padres beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Braves 4-0 in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.

King made his postseason debut with the Yankees in the American League playoff bubble in 2020 at eerily empty Petco Park, where the only "fans" were a few thousand cardboard cutouts. He pitched two innings in a Game 3 loss during a division series that the Tampa Bay Rays won in five games. 

Getting the quick 2-0 lead "made it so I could really attack my fastball and stay ahead in the counts and put the pressure on," King said. "Feeling the crowd noise, knowing how big postseason games are, it all played into my mentality throughout the whole game."

The Braves clinched a playoff berth by winning the second game of a makeup doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday in Atlanta. But they are without NL Cy Young Award favorite Chris Sale for this series. The left-hander was scratched from the late game Monday with back spasms.

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Luis Arraez was aboard on a leadoff single. Arraez, obtained in a trade with the Miami Marlins in early May, became the first player since the 1800s to win batting titles with three teams.

Game 2 in the best-of-three playoff is Wednesday night. If the Padres win the series, they will face their biggest rival, the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Division Series. The Padres eliminated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.