Manny's side step, Tatis' stutter step put Padres one stride from NLCS

SAN DIEGO -- There had been so much off-the-field noise in the previous 48 hours -- so much bickering over which baseballs had been thrown in whose direction and how hard -- that Mike Shildt sat at the podium in the Petco Park auditorium on Tuesday afternoon and made it clear what he (and everybody else) really wanted.

"Let's just go play baseball," the Padres’ manager said with an exasperated smile.

When they, at last, just played baseball, the Padres and Dodgers delivered another instant classic in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

And now, following their dramatic 6-5 victory on Tuesday night at Petco Park, the Padres find themselves one win from a second trip to the NL Championship Series in three seasons.

“It’s a beautiful time to be here,” Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. told FS1 after the game. “Man, what can I say? We’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Tatis’ two-run homer, punctuated by his signature stutter step near third base, capped a six-run second inning, which marked the Padres’ highest-scoring postseason inning in franchise history. San Diego rode that early offense, plus four lockdown frames from its bullpen, as Petco Park spent most of the night in a frenzy.

Not that the San Diego crowd needed any extra motivation for a game like this one. But during Monday’s off-day, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he felt Manny Machado had thrown a baseball at him between innings during Game 2 on Sunday night. Shildt came to Machado’s defense prior to Game 3, and Roberts was booed heartily during introductions.

Afterward, asked about the controversy, Machado said: “It feels great to win.”

Perhaps naturally, Machado found himself at the center of one of Game 3’s pivotal moments Tuesday. After Machado opened the second inning with a single off Walker Buehler, Jackson Merrill bounced a grounder to first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Freeman, in front of the bag, turned to throw from his knees to second. Machado altered his running lane onto the infield grass -- within the rules, so long as that lane isn’t altered to avoid a tag. Freeman’s ensuing throw caromed off Machado’s back, and the Padres had two men aboard with nobody out.

“We've been practicing that all Spring Training,” Machado said. “Finally, it came up in a big situation there. We're able to create our own lane. ... Ground ball to Freddie, I'm just trying to make a tough throw for him to second base.”

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Freeman tipped his cap.

“I've looked at it many, many times, replayed it in my head many times,” Freeman said. “I would have done the same thing as a baserunner, to banana it.”

First-base coach David Macias, who works with San Diego's baserunners, drills that very play each spring. Doesn’t happen often. But who knows when it might come up? As the Padres have done all season long, they took advantage on the margins.

“Manny is one of the more instinctual players in the game,” Macias said. “That was just the perfect one, where he got in [the lane] enough and made it really tough for [Freeman]. Not surprising. Because he’s just so instinctual.”

Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas followed by attempting to turn an ill-advised double play on Xander Bogaerts’ grounder. Rojas was late to the second-base bag, then late with his throw to first. The Padres had been gifted another out.

And they pounced.

“We’ve been talking all year about having quality at-bats and passing the baton,” said second baseman Jake Cronenworth. “Once that first guy has a quality at-bat, and you see a little crack in the door, it seems like every guy is as locked in as possible.”

The Padres didn’t exactly hit Buehler hard in the frame -- aside from Tatis’ towering two-run homer to cap the scoring. But they made contact. No team in baseball did so at a higher clip this season, and, as the Padres like to say, good things happen when you make contact.

Like Freeman throwing the ball into Machado's back. Like Rojas’ poor decision. Like David Peralta sneaking a double inside the first-base bag. Like Cronenworth legging out an infield hit, and Kyle Higashioka hitting a sacrifice fly.

And then, of course, Tatis' moonshot, setting off pandemonium at Petco Park.

“When I hit it, I don't know, I just blacked out,” Tatis said. “Started screaming at my dugout, just the energy through the roof.”

The pandemonium subsided relatively quickly. Teoscar Hernández responded with a grand slam in the third inning, cutting the Padres’ lead to one run. But starter Michael King pitched through the fifth.

Then, the Padres’ lock-down bullpen locked it down. After scoreless ball from Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Tanner Scott, closer Robert Suarez punctuated a four-out save by punching out Gavin Lux to end it. Petco Park reached its crescendo.

“Seems like they notched it up every inning,” Cronenworth said. “Kept getting louder and louder. That was pretty special.”

Might get louder still on Wednesday night. Dylan Cease takes the ball on short rest for Game 4, with the Padres on the cusp of eliminating the rival Dodgers for a second time in three seasons.