Padres head home needing just one win to clinch postseason spot

CHICAGO -- It’s in the Padres’ hands now: With a win over the Brewers on Monday at Petco Park, they will be headed back to the postseason.

The Padres lowered their magic number to 1 by defeating the White Sox, 3-2, at Rate Field on Sunday afternoon in their final regular-season road game. The win, coupled with a Mets loss, means the Padres clinch with one more victory. They begin a six-game homestand at Petco Park on Monday night.

“[The home fans] have been awesome all year,” said right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. “But now, knowing that we’re at one … game to go in, it’s probably going to be a little more crazy.”

Indeed, San Diego took a major step toward securing its place in the postseason on Sunday. The club also took a major step toward solidifying its starting rotation.

Right-hander Michael King worked five-plus scoreless innings, his best outing since he returned from the injured list earlier on Sept. 9. King wasn’t quite at his dominant best. But it was a marked improvement over his last start, in which he allowed a career-high eight runs to the Mets at Citi Field.

“I felt good,” King said. “Still, the timing of my mechanics are a little weird. But it’s definitely a much better step than the last one, so I was happy.”

King struck out four, walked four and allowed four hits on Sunday. He allowed the first three White Sox hitters to reach base in the sixth before Adrian Morejon -- probably the most valuable reliever in the Padres’ ‘pen this season -- escaped the jam.

“Cy Young,” said Tatis when asked to assess his longtime teammate’s performance -- with a wry grin that indicated he was only half-kidding.

Tatis hit his 23rd home run of the season and the 150th of his career, giving San Diego a 3-0 lead in the third. That run would ultimately prove decisive. From there, the Padres held on for dear life. They walked nine White Sox hitters -- a season high. But, repeatedly, San Diego’s pitchers worked in and out of trouble.

It wasn’t a flawless performance. But look at the rest of the sport. The Mets and Tigers, long presumed to be playoff locks, have fallen to the verge of missing the postseason entirely. Wins matter above all else, and the Padres have racked up enough of them to pop champagne if they can get one more on Monday.

“We’re definitely not taking anybody for granted,” Tatis said. “It’s baseball. We went out there and found a way to win ball games.”

Meanwhile, it’s suddenly possible to envision a Wild Card Series at Petco Park -- a scenario that seemed implausible just a few days ago. To be clear, it remains unlikely, as homefield advantage goes to the top Wild Card seed. But after the Cubs were swept by the Reds in a four-game series, San Diego now trails Chicago by three games for the top Wild Card spot. (The Padres would hold the tiebreaker as well, which would come down to intradivision record.)

Whether they catch the Cubs or not, the Padres would greatly prefer to enter the postseason playing winning baseball. They haven’t done that for large stretches of the past month, and on Friday, they dropped their series opener against the last-place White Sox. But perhaps things began to turn this weekend.

“I liked the way we’ve gone about things the last couple days,” said manager Mike Shildt. “Some real toughness with the at-bats. Defense [has been] really good the last several days. … The bullpen’s in a good spot, starting pitching’s rounding into shape and the offense has continued to take consistent at-bats. That’s the recipe.”

Speaking of quality at-bats, Ryan O’Hearn, who entered the weekend mired in a month-long slump, posted his second consecutive three-hit game on Sunday -- after only one of those across his first 42 games with the Padres.

That could give San Diego a proverbial good-problem-to-have when Xander Bogaerts (left foot non-displaced fracture) returns from the injured list. Presumably either O’Hearn or Gavin Sheets will be the odd man out in the starting lineup -- though that lineup might fluctuate over the final week once the Padres clinch.

It’s possible Bogaerts will be back for Monday’s potential clincher. Ace Nick Pivetta, who would presumably start Game 1 of a Wild Card Series, will get the ball before what figures to be a raucous crowd.

“It’s Petco Park,” Shildt said. “It feels like an environment that every night you feel you’re going to clinch a playoff berth. Every night feels like a game of significance. The Friar Faithful will be out.”