Padres finish off Braves in NL Wild Card; Dodgers await in NLDS - ESPN

SAN DIEGO — The latest stop of the San Diego Padres' redemption tour led them into a layer of champagne and beer Wednesday night, after they dispatched the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win to complete a two-game sweep in their NL Wild Card Series.

The floor of the Padres' clubhouse was covered in a sheen of alcohol, and underneath a thump of salsa music, Luis Arraez stood amid a circle of teammates and danced. When he was finished, Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped in and took a turn, and they kept it going like this for a while.

A year ago, the Padres were regarded as the most disappointing team in baseball, a working model of clubhouse dysfunction. Now, after a makeover of culture and personnel, they will face the Dodgers, baseball's No. 1 seed in this postseason. That best-of-five series will start in Los Angeles, and between the massive Dodger Stadium crowds and the parties that the Padres engender at Petco Park, it could draw a quarter-million fans in person and many millions in the broadcasts.

«We fought tooth and nail to get to the end of the season, for the division. But now we're in the part of the season where winner moves on and we wouldn't want it any other way,» Padres manager Mike Shildt said. «It's going to be a wonderful series. We're super excited about it. Can't wait.»

Right after the San Diego players sprawled on the mound here for a team picture, third baseman Manny Machado said, «This is what everybody wanted.»

Maybe not everybody. It's hard to imagine that anyone would openly wish for a series against the Padres, who have played better than just about any team since the All-Star break: 45 wins and 19 losses, including the two games against the Braves, a 113-win pace since the middle of July. Their lineup is