Michael King was just as good in his first postseason start as he was in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run in his first playoff at-bat in front of fans at Petco Park.

Kyle Higashioka drove in a run with an early sacrifice fly and another with a late home run.

The Padres won a game that was gift-wrapped for them.

They struck out quickly against a Triple-A pitcher and then their most consistent pitcher struck out a lot of batters, essentially earning a 4-0 victory over the Braves in Game 1 of their National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.

Tatis’ two-run home run in the first inning sent the ballpark packed with 47,647 fans into a frenzy with gold towels waving. And the largest crowd in Petco Park history made almost as much noise during each of King’s five inning-ending strikeouts and again when he walked off the field in the top of the seventh inning after striking out a total of a dozen batters.

King’s seven scoreless innings in which he allowed five hits made him the third pitcher in franchise history to go that long without allowing a run in a postseason game. He joined Kevin Brown (nine innings and eight innings in 1998) and Joe Musgrove (seven innings in 2022).

Musgrove begins Game 2 on Wednesday with a chance for the Padres to advance to the National League Division Series, where they would face the Dodgers.

King was asked after Tuesday’s win if he had dreamed it.

“It was definitely pretty close,” he said. “I think I dreamed of a perfect game instead of a few goals that I gave up. But I think taking a 1-0 lead in a three-game series is huge, that was the goal and we achieved that. So we have our horse Joe tomorrow and I have a lot of confidence in us.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt called King “fantastic.”

“Everything worked,” said Schildt. “His mistakes were where he wanted them to be. … He was really good (with the) sinker, you could see a lot of movement. The change was messy. And the sweeper/scraper was good too. He really pitched exceptionally well.”

Tuesday was a game the Padres practically had to win.

A team that’s positioned like this in the postseason doesn’t come along very often.

The Braves needed to win the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets on Monday to secure their postseason berth. Chris Sale was not on board their flight, which landed in San Diego around midnight, as the presumptive NL Cy Young winner is sidelined by back spasms.

The combination of a deficit in the starting lineup and two make-up games the day before left the Braves with a void, which they filled by making AJ Smith-Shawver their Game 1 starter.

The 21-year-old right-hander started and finished the season in Triple-A. In between, he started one big league game and spent two months on the IL with an oblique strain.

He was gone after getting four outs and the Padres leading 3-0 in the second inning.

After Luis Arraez led off with a single to left field in the bottom of the first, Tatis gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with a home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning.

The pitch was a 94 mph fastball up the middle. The ball left Tatis’ bat at 112.8 mph and traveled 154 feet into the air and projected 415 feet into the second seating deck behind left field.

“It was very special,” Sheldt said. “I said it from the start, laser to the left. And Tati didn’t waste any time. I have a pitch that you can hit and take a big swing on. That was huge to lift us up.

“It’s nice to add a few good attempts at batting to the second inning as well. And Solano with a good shot and Higgy with the sac fly and Higgy with the damage late. That was enough.”

Tatis went 4-11 against the Cardinals in the Padres’ wild-card series here in 2020, but no fans were allowed in the ballpark due to COVID restrictions.

The Padres added a run in the second inning when Jake Cronenworth was hit by the first pitch of the second inning, Donovan Solano followed with a single that sent Cronenworth to third, and Higashioka hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

That was it for Smith-Shawver, who was replaced by left-hander Aaron Bummer.

The Padres didn’t get a hit and had just one baserunner from Smith-Shawver’s departure until Higashioka’s home run off Luke Jackson to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning.

Arraez grounded in an inning-ending double play to end the second game. And after accompanying Tatis to start the third, Bummer got out of that inning with a fly ball out by Profar and a double-play grounder by Manny Machado.

At that point he was at 12 pitches and despite an eight-pitch start, he made it to the third period with a total of 28 pitches.

It was a much-needed reprieve for the Braves’ pitching staff.

Every member of their bullpen worked Monday, and their two highest-leverage relievers played in both games against the Mets.

On Tuesday, they finally had to use only two pitchers.

The Padres got a scoreless eighth inning from Jason Adam, who struck out the first two batters he faced before Ozzie Albies singled and stole second base. Adams then struck out No. 3 batter Marcel Ozuna.

Robert Suarez allowed a one-out single in the ninth before bringing the crowd to its feet and securing the playoff victory.

“We knew they could do it. But that was really a really electrifying night, an electrifying scene,” Sheldt said. “Really loud. This place gets so loud and they just love it.

“This is as loud a stadium as we are going to play. And it’s good to have it on our side.”

Originally published: October 1, 2024 at 7:53 p.m