The visiting San Diego Padres ended the San Francisco Giants' season Sunday afternoon, riding Wil Myers' double, home run and two RBIs to a 5-4 victory on the final day of the regular season.
While the Padres (37-23) were already locked into the National League's No. 4 playoff position, the Giants (29-31) needed a win and a Milwaukee Brewers loss at St. Louis to claim a wild-card spot in the new eight-team format.
The Cardinals did their part for the Giants, beating the Brewers 5-2, but San Francisco couldn't complete a rally from an early 5-1 deficit.
As a result, the Giants and Brewers (29-31) tied for the final spot, with Milwaukee earning the tie-breaker edge based on division record. The clubs never met during the regular season.
The Padres, meanwhile, will take a three-game winning streak into their best-of-three home series against the fifth-seeded Cardinals, beginning on Wednesday.
Myers, who sat out Saturday's win with tightness in his quad, smacked his 15th homer of the season, a solo shot, to open the game's scoring, then added an RBI ground-rule double to cap a three-run seventh inning that opened a 5-1 lead.
The Giants rallied, getting within 5-3 on a two-run homer by Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the seventh, then within 5-4 on a solo shot by Wilmer Flores in the eighth.
But Tim Hill and Emilio Pagan retired the next three Giants in the eighth, before Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth for his fourth save.
Mitch Moreland, Jorge Mateo and Greg Garcia also drove in runs for the Padres, who pulled stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. early to avoid possible injuries on the eve of the postseason.
Mauricio Dubon also homered for the Giants, who as it turned out needed just one win in their last three games at home to make the playoffs.
The homers were No. 8 for Crawford, No. 12 for Flores and No. 4 for Dubon.
Starter Drew Smyly (0-1) took the loss for the Giants, allowing two runs and three hits in five innings, He walked one and struck out 10.
Dan Altavilla (1-1), the second Padres pitcher, was credited with the win, San Diego's eighth in 10 head-to-heads with the Giants this season.
San Diego starter Adrian Morejon worked 2 2/3 innings and was charged with one run on three hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
--Field Level Media
