a three-game sweep of the Brewers<\/a> at Petco in early August. The Padres eventually won their final seven series and finished with 91 victories, surging past the Cubs and the Phillies to claim the first wild-card berth and homefield advantage in the opening round.<\/p>\nThat\u2019s a big deal to the Padres, who won 51 games at Petco Park during the regular season in front of the fans who turn this downtown stadium into a lively party each night during the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning, it was tough \u2014 it was rough,\u201d said Tatis, who finished with 25 homers despite inexplicably not hitting his first until June 1. \u201cWe were looking really ugly. I was looking really ugly. We decided to turn it around, and with this group, nothing is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even the improbable happens with regularity for the Padres these days.<\/p>\n
For instance, Gavin Sheets stepped up to the plate on a plantar plate tear in his left foot in Game 2 and blasted a pinch-hit homer on his only swing of the Wild Card Series.<\/p>\n
Sheets was determined not to miss the playoffs, and he fought his way back onto the Padres\u2019 roster on the last weekend of the regular season even though he probably isn\u2019t healthy enough to play defense in October. He got just one chance to contribute against the Cubs, and he set off a celebration.<\/p>\n
Sheets said the Padres are glad they didn\u2019t have an opening-round bye. They wanted to keep their roll going \u2014 and this demolition of the Cubs only boosted San Diego\u2019s confidence in its ability to beat the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you gain a lot of momentum from series like this,\u201d Sheets said. \u201cObviously the Brewers are a 1 seed for a reason. They\u2019re a great team. They\u2019ve got great arms. We\u2019ve played them strong all year, and we know what they offer. \u2026 We\u2019re going to start in Milwaukee, and it\u2019s going to be just like here. It\u2019s going to be rocking. But I think there\u2019s some momentum that gets built when you play these two games.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
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