![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SUT-L-padres-0906-002.jpg\")
Joe Musgrove #44 of the San Diego Padres looks on before the game against the New York Yankees at Petco Park on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)\nA true wild card?<\/p>\n
A hustle double on Saturday truly tested the plantar plate tear in Gavin Sheets\u2019 left foot. He also looked plenty comfortable jogging around the bases on Sunday after homering in a 9-4 win as the Padres did their part in eliminating the Diamondbacks from postseason contention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought yesterday he was just getting his feet underneath him again, playing in a Major League Baseball game,\u201d Padres manager Craig Stammen said. \u201cThen today, obviously had a home run, made it look like, \u2018All right, he\u2019s back to the old Gavin Sheets that we had.\u2019 I think he feels confident about it, and that has given us a lot of confidence also to be able to use him in the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Phillies No.6-seed-clinching, 7-3 win over the Rays officially snuffed out Arizona\u2019s playoff hopes in the seventh inning as Jake Cronenworth\u2019s bases-loaded walk pushed across the Padres\u2019 fifth run of the game. The Padres a day earlier had completed their surge back from a 50-53 record to leapfrog seven teams to claim home-field advantage in the NL Wild Card Series.<\/p>\n
That meant Sunday was a rest day for regulars and a tuneup for role players.<\/p>\n
Randy V\u00e1squez allowed three hits over six innings of one-run ball before right-hander Griffin Canning coughed up three runs over the final three innings in the team\u2019s 91st win.<\/p>\n
Manny Machado had an RBI single in two at-bats \u2014 two cracks at hitting his 400th homer \u2014 before he was lifted for a pinch-runner.<\/p>\n
Ty France, Dustin Harris and Austin Hays each had two hits and catcher Freddy Fermin doubled in a run and drove in two runs with a seventh-inning single. Hays\u2019 second single drove in two runs in the eighth.<\/p>\n
Sheets\u2019 fourth-inning homer off right-hander Michael Soroka (4\u2154 IP, 3 ER) \u2014 No. 17 on the season, two shy of last year\u2019s career-high \u2014 traveled 423 feet to center on a 106 mph line. He popped out in his first at-bat and was lifted for pinch-hitter Luis Campusano in the fifth. He had two homers in his previous 146 plate appearances (.167\/.301\/.242), dating back to July 1.<\/p>\n
Sheets was activated on Saturday after missing nearly a month and went 1-for-5 with what read as an RBI double in the box score.<\/p>\n
In truth, Sheets popped up to shallow center field, noticed both outfielders had lost the ball in the twilight and accelerated through first base to wind up on second.<\/p>\n
It was a good box to check as he prepares to help the Padres in the playoffs as a left-handed bat, either as a DH or in the pinch. He\u2019d certainly passed all the base-running tests while ramping up in Arizona, but \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do it in the majors leagues,\u201d Sheets said, \u201cit\u2019s a good test to do it in the game and get to full speed and be able to do leads and all that stuff. That was good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Musgrove #44 of the San Diego Padres looks on before the game against the New York Yankees at Petco Park on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nA true wild card?<\/p>\n
The Padres are evaluating what Joe Musgrove\u2019s next step is, but there is a sense of optimism he can help them out of the bullpen at some point in the postseason.<\/p>\n
Padres officials won\u2019t say what their plan is, but their tone discussing the possibility of Musgrove contributing has been different the past few days. Musgrove looked sharp throwing to hitters in an instructional league game and in live batting practice with two days\u2019 rest in between.<\/p>\n
It was the inability to bounce back after his rehab starts that caused Musgrove to be shut down in August. It was at that point that the effort shifted to his possibly working as a reliever in the short term.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the shorter outings or if we\u2019ve finally reached a point where my arm is just feeling healthy,\u201d Musgrove said. \u201c\u2026 I do feel the most optimistic I\u2019ve felt at any time in the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musgrove has not pitched in a major league game since Game 2 of the 2024 National League Wild Card Series. He underwent Tommy John surgery along with a procedure to repair his flexor tendon the next week. Complicating his recovery has been the lack of cartilage in his elbow.<\/p>\n
Musgrove was reaching 95 mph with his fastball and commanding his breaking pitches extremely well, according to those who watched him pitch last Tuesday and Friday. That greatly increased the belief he could provide three to six outs for them at some point in October.<\/p>\n
While indications are the Padres are thinking more about potentially using him in a longer series should they advance, Musgrove is shooting for sooner than later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been out a long time,\u201d he said Sunday. This team has gotten where they are without me. I just want to be part of it. \u2026 Physically, I don\u2019t feel like I need more time. Throwing more, there\u2019s a possibility for it to go sideways. I\u2019m hoping for a wild-card opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arrived?<\/p>\n
Harris was slotted in the leadoff spot for the regular season finale. Before that, the minor league journeyman had entrenched himself as the No. 2 hitter against right-handed starters.<\/p>\n
But you know you\u2019ve really arrived when your teammates start wearing a custom shirt made in your honor.<\/p>\n
To be clear, no one affiliated with the Padres produced the newest addition to a collection that includes multiple versions of \u201cHoly Sheets,\u201d \u201cBig Eiffel\u201d for Ty France and \u201cSwing Away Merrill\u201d to play off Mel Gibson\u2019s 2002 \u201cSigns.\u201d<\/p>\n
A fan reportedly dropped off a bag of Dustin Harris-themed shirts \u2014 \u201cWhite Dudes for Harris\u201d \u2014 in the bullpen, and they made their way into the clubhouse. The shirt is a play off the \u201cWhite Dudes for Harris\u201d fundraiser for Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n
Dustin Harris does not yet have the shirt, but the gesture is certainly appreciated by the 27-year-old outfielder.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust shows kind of how close the team is,\u201d Harris said of getting his own shirt in the clubhouse. \u201cJust kind of wearing each other\u2019s shirts \u2014 it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notable<\/p>\n
The San Diego chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America voted first baseman Ty France as the Padres\u2019 MVP and closer Mason Miller as the team\u2019s pitcher of the year. France paired a career-high 21 homers with a team-best .865 OPS. Miller struck out 129 batters over 70 innings (1.67 ERA) and was tied for the NL lead with 38 saves.
\nA sellout crowd of 44,471 was the 66th sellout of the season. The total regular-season attendance (3,347,081) was the second highest in franchise history, behind only the 2025 season (3,437,201). The 2026 home attendance also ranked second in the majors, behind only Dodger Stadium (4,034,219).
\nThe Padres haven\u2019t lost a series since dropping three straight sets to the Pirates, Rays and Reds from Aug. 24-Sept. 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A hustle double on Saturday truly tested the plantar plate tear in Gavin Sheets\u2019 left foot. He also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":["post-477769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}