Padres have Dave Roberts mistake to thank for their postseason-clinching triple play

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been in first place in the NL West all season long, yet with six games to go in the regular season entering Tuesday's series opener against the second-place San Diego Padres, the Dodgers hadn't clinched the division. The Padres trailed the Dodgers by three games and looked to make things more interesting with a win on Tuesday.

The Dodgers struggled all night with runners in scoring position, and despite five scoreless innings from their bullpen, they trailed San Diego 4-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. They'd immediately cut into the lead with three straight singles, shaving one run off of their deficit and having the tying run on base with the No. 9 hitter, Miguel Rojas, due up.

Understandably, Rojas showed bunt on the first pitch thrown by Padres closer Robert Suarez, but he took that pitch for a strike. Rather than showing bunt again, the light-hitting shortstop swung away and grounded into what turned out to be a game-ending triple play, becoming the first team in MLB history to clinch a postseason berth that way.

After the game, Dave Roberts confirmed that he asked Rojas to bunt when he saw the first pitch but took the bunt sign off for the second one, pointing out that bunting against the Padres' defense would've been "bunting into an out." The Padres were able to clinch a playoff spot and trim their deficit to just two games in the NL West with two more against these Dodgers to play, and Roberts' decision played a huge role.

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Padres can thank Dave Roberts for late-game blunder in crucial win

Bunting with Rojas was absolutely the right call, and it makes no sense that Roberts changed his mind based on positioning. Isn't the whole point of a sacrifice bunt to "bunt into an out?" A successful bunt would've put both of the base runners into scoring position with the lethal top of this Dodgers order consisting of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman due up. Even if the Padres elected to walk Ohtani, they would've put the winning run on base with Betts and Freeman up next. We've seen that decision come back to bite teams before.

For whatever reason, Roberts was worried about Rojas bunting into an out as if the Padres weren't going to be playing for the bunt, to begin with, and allowed his shortstop to hit into a triple play. The worst case of Rojas potentially "bunting into an out" would've been the Padres getting a force out at third base, still sending Ohtani to the plate with a chance to do serious damage. Instead, Ohtani ended the game in the on-deck circle.

The one thing Roberts had to avoid here was ending this game before his best players got a chance to hit in the biggest moment. The odds for a triple play in any scenario are obviously slim, but he opened the door to that possibly occurring by having Rojas swing away instead of getting a bunt down, and it cost them dearly.

The Dodgers are still in the driver's seat to win the NL West and have already punched their postseason ticket, but if they fail to seal the deal on a division title and likely bye, they'll have this decision to look back on.