Fernando Tatis Jr.’s blast to left field sent Petco Park into pure pandemonium.
The Padres slugger sent a 94 mph fastball from Braves starter AJ Smith-Shawver into the second deck in left field for San Diego’s first two runs of the game — making the first home run of the 2024 MLB playoffs — on Tuesday in what ended as a 4-0 San Diego win.
The sold-out crowd roared in unison as the ball came off of Tatis’ bat and the right fielder admired the hit before leaping excitedly down the first base line.
“He sends one high and deep to left. He’s watching, and so are 44,000 others!” play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech said during the home run call for ESPN. “Oh what a start for the Padres as Tatis leaves the building. And this place is on its feet. Padres lead it 2-0.”
The Padres added a third run in the bottom of the second inning when former Yankee Kyle Higashioka hit a sac fly to center to drive home a baserunner, and they scored a fourth when the backstop homered in the eighth.
“It’s beautiful energy. I love this type of situation,” Tatis said. “It definitely brings the best out of me. And just looking forward to way more experiences like this.”
He said he was hunting a fastball.
“I was going for it probably before he released the pitch. But looking for my fastball, he left it over the plate, and had definitely great results,” Tatis said. “I knew it was going to go out. I didn’t know it was going to land in the second deck just because how high it was.”
Former Yankee Michael King to the ball for the Padres and struck out 12 over seven innings.
The Braves were playing the first game of their wild-card series after a thrilling doubleheader against the Mets on Monday, where both teams had to win one game in order to reach the postseason.
The Mets faced the Brewers earlier in the day on Tuesday and won 8-4.
Joe Musgrove is expected to start for the Padres against Max Fried in Game 2.
— with AP
