SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason start as the San Diego Padres beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Atlanta Braves 4-0 in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series on Tuesday night.
Tatis' 415-foot shot landed in the second deck in left field at Petco Park and sent the towel-waving, sellout crowd of 47,647 into a frenzy. The 25-year-old star, who missed just more than 2 1/2 months this season with a stress reaction in his right thighbone, watched the ball fly away, tossed his bat aside, gestured toward the home dugout and did his signature stutter-step around third base.
Game 2 in the best-of-three playoff is Wednesday night. If the Padres win the series, they'll face their biggest rivals, the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the National League Division Series. The Padres eliminated the 111-win Dodgers in a 2022 NLDS.
King was brilliant in becoming the first pitcher to have 12 strikeouts with no runs and no walks allowed in his first career postseason start. He joined Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock as the only Padres pitchers with double-digit strikeout games in playoff history. He allowed five hits and walked none.
King made his playoff debut with the New York Yankees in the AL playoff bubble in 2020 at eerily empty Petco Park, where the only "fans" were a few thousand cardboard cutouts. He pitched two innings in a loss in Game 3 in a Division Series that Tampa Bay won in five games.
The right-hander came over in the blockbuster trade that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees on Dec. 7.
The Padres were the only one of the four home teams to win Tuesday.
The Braves clinched a playoff berth by winning the second game of a makeup doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday in Atlanta. They are without NL Cy Young Award favorite Chris Sale for this series. The left-hander was scratched from the late game Monday with spasms.
Tatis homered on a 94 mph four-seamer from the 21-year-old Smith-Shawyer, one of the Braves' top prospects who was making his first playoff start and just his second this season.
Luis Arraez was aboard on a leadoff single. Arraez, obtained in a trade with Miami in early May, became the first player since the 1800s to win three batting titles with three different teams.
Tatis experienced his first playoff game with fans in the stands. His first playoffs were in 2020 after the pandemic-shortened season. He missed the 2022 run to the National League Championship Series after receiving an 80-game PED suspension from MLB that August.
His home run came on the anniversary of his two home runs in 2020 in a Wild Card Series game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mike Shildt, in his first season managing the Padres, was St. Louis' skipper then.
Kyle Higashioka homered in the eighth and had a sacrifice fly in the second. He is 3 for 30 against Atlanta, with three homers.
Smith-Shawver allowed three runs and four hits in 1 1/3 innings
Manager Brian Snitker said Smith-Shawver didn't know he was starting until the manager called him Tuesday morning.
"It might have been a shock when we put him on the plane last night," Snitker said.
The Padres opened their National League Wild Card Series Tuesday at Petco Park, facing an Atlanta Braves team that will be playing its third game in two days on two coasts.
The Braves had to play a makeup doubleheader against the New York Mets on Monday in Atlanta, with both teams needing one victory to be assured of a postseason berth.
The Padres were 4-3 against Atlanta in the regular season, including a 1-2 record at Petco Park, where the entire best-of-three series will be played.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday and Game 3, if necessary, Thursday. The winner will face the Dodgers in a National League Division Series set to begin Saturday.
All tickets for the series have been sold, the Padres announced early Monday evening, while a limited number of suites remain available.
Gallagher Square will open at 3 p.m., which includes access to the Padres team store and Power Alley in right field. There will be a special Postseason Pregame Party in Gallagher Square prior to each game beginning two- and-a-half hours before first pitch featuring live music, photo opportunities and drink specials.
All remaining gates at the ballpark with access to the seating bowl will open at 3:30 p.m.
Fans should be in their seats no later than 40 minutes prior to the first pitch of each game to enjoy the entire pregame ceremony.
The 5:38 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN.
Padres Postseason ticket information at Padres.com/Postseason
Padres National League Wild Card Series Schedule:
Game 1: Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 5:38 PM PT- Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 5:38 PM PT
- Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 3 at 4:08 PM PT*
*Game 3 start time is subject to change pending the outcome of other Wild Card games.
How the Padres got here
San Diego had locked in the top NL Wildcard spot before the season ended, but they had to wait till Monday afternoon to find out that they would be hosting the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the best-of-three National League Wild Card Series.
The Padres first round opponent was decided by a doubleheader played on Monday between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets in Atlanta. After the Mets won game one 8-7, they clinched their spot in the postseason. The Braves followed up with a win in the second game, clinching their spot in the playoffs against the Padres and also knocking the reigning NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks out completely.
Even with the loss to finish the season, the team's record of 93-69 is the second-best in franchise history, only trailing the magical 1998 season when they finished 98-64 and went all the way to the World Series, eventually losing to the New York Yankees.
The Padres' Luis Arraez finished his season going 1 for 3 on Sunday finishing with a .314 batting average, just enough to beat out Shohei Ohtani and set to win the NL batting title, set to become the first player since the 1800s to earn batting titles with three teams and he will have done it in three consecutive seasons in two different leagues.
Arraez won the AL batting title when he was in Minnesota and hit .316 in 2022, The following year he won the NL batting title with Miami hitting .354. He was traded to the Padres in May.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.