Padres clinching at Dodger Stadium helped suck the joy out of LA's first-round bye

The Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Thursday night marked their first series loss to their hated division rivals of the season and, to make matters worse, it gave those rivals license to party in LA.

Tyler Glasnow racked up a season-high 11 strikeouts in 6⅓ innings but left two men on base for Justin Wrobleski, who promptly gave up three runs. Two of them were added to Glasnow's ledger. The Dodgers' offense didn't strike back until the eighth, thanks to a balk from Adrian Morejon. Shohei Ohtani doubled in another run with two outs in the ninth, but Mookie Betts couldn't turn it into a rally.

The Padres got to celebrate their Wild Card clinch on the field at Dodger Stadium and in the visiting clubhouse, donning new gear, whipping out a beer bong, and staging a dance party right in the Dodgers' faces. Former Dodger Walker Buehler even passed the funnel over to new Padres owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones at one point.

The Dodgers also clinched the first-round bye they've desperately wanted thanks to the Cincinnati Reds knocking off the Atlanta Braves, but there was far less aplomb in their clubhouse.

Padres throw infuriating Wild Card clinch celebration on the field at Dodger Stadium after series win

That Padres win clarified the NL Wild Card picture a little more, but San Diego isn't totally out of the woods yet. The last spot is still up for grabs, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks still jockeying for position. The Chicago Cubs are in, but their three-game series against the Boston Red Sox this weekend (currently being jeopardized by a nor'easter heading for the east coast) will help determine seeding and home field advantage in the Wild Card.

The Dodgers have nothing left to prove before the regular season is over. They could still get to 100 wins on the season with a sweep of the San Francisco Giants, but that may be too much to ask for. Given their performance over the last two days, fans would really just like to see them hit with runners in scoring position.

As things stand right now, the Dodgers will see either the Phillies or Braves in the NLDS and would have to wait until the NLCS face off against the Padres again, if and only if San Diego can get around the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.

As much as fans would like to see the Dodgers thump the Padres in October (again), watching them suffer another early exit would be just as satisfying, especially after that display on Thursday night.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow