The San Diego Padres are heading back to the National League Championship Series after eliminating the Dodgers over the weekend.
Bob Melvin's team outed the Dodgers with a 5-3 score to punch a ticket to the Championship Series where they will face the Philadelphia Phillies this week.
Padres knew all along that in order to break through into a shot at a championship, they were going to have to face the Los Angeles Dodgers at some point into the post-season.
Musgrove, hometown star, said after the game that even though the job isn't finished, winning this particular series is huge for the ball cup after losing the majority of the games against the Dodgers this season, and in recent years.
“As much as we know there’s a lot of baseball ahead of us and more games to be played, this is something that needs to be celebrated,” Musgrove said after the game. “Because for a long time those guys up north have been beating us down and knocking us out of playoff contention and taken the division from us every year.
This season has been full of ups and downs for San Diego, especially after Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended for 80 games regarding a PED-related case. Which, by the way, 11 games have been cut from that 80-game suspension already with the Padres making a deep playoff run, and will be a minimum of two more after this series.
Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said that all the trades made within the past few seasons have paid off in order to compete at the highest level of the game.
"They're phenomenal players," A.J. Preller said. "That's why we made the trades, honestly. It's pretty simple — they're the best at what they do in the world. If you're gonna beat a team like that, you need guys that are the best in the game."
