Little Miss Scarlett and I watched six Padres games this week. It was a good week. We didn’t watch Albert Pujols hit his 700th home run. We did watch his Cardinals lose two of three to the Padres, which was imminently more satisfying. And then we watched the Rockies do the same. Scarlett is convinced the Padres will lock up the number five seed this week. You see, she has no shell shock of last year’s collapse since she is only a mere four months old. She has only seen the Padres play excellent baseball. This is her norm. Must be nice.

The magic number for the Padres to clinch a playoff spot is now six with nine games to go. That feels nice. Look at us, talking about magic numbers at the end of September. First up this week is the Dodgers. Capital D. I’ll call them by their name because I’m no longer acting like I’m twelve. The Padres have matured into a very good baseball team. I might as well mature into a very good blogger. Besides, it’s also time for the Padres to take a series from the vaunted squad from up North. No, they are not Vikings, but they do have some ugly gingers and are oddly very white.

The Padres have arrived at the cusp of a playoff berth because they have been playing solid baseball. Two weeks of 4-2 ball has them in the number five seed spot and headed to either Atlanta or New York for a three game set. The Braves have lost Spencer Strider due to oblique strain and the remaining starting pitching staff is probably not as ominous as having to face the Mets duo of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Both teams will be tough, but I like the Padres chances because it truly feels like they are finally putting together a decent tear with both the offense and their pitching.

The upcoming nine game home stand will be a great opportunity for the Padres to clinch a spot early and then set the rotation for the three game first playoff series. It also will see the Padres go over the three million attendance mark for the first time since Petco Park opened. It’s been great seeing the support San Diego fans have shown this team and would be terrific to have some playoff games played in front of the home town crowd. But I shouldn’t get to far ahead of myself. First order of business is getting in. Next week I can worry about rotation match ups and winning a playoff series. But it’s nice to think about. I’m a bit more jaded than little Miss Scarlett. She expects a championship. She doesn’t know anything else.