THIS DAY IN BASEBALL October 1: Fernando Tatis Jr. homers twice to win 2020 AL Wild Card elimination game

A national TV audience got to witness what San Diego fans had been enjoying all year on this day in beisbol, October 1, 2020. Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. turned in a clutch postseason performance, hitting two home runs in an 11-9 victory in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card series against the Cardinals.

Teammate Wil Myers also slugged two homers, with Padres third baseman Manny Machado hitting another. Down 0-1, San Diego was facing elimination in the two-out-of-three series created for an extended field of playoff contenders during the COVID-shortened season.

Tatis and Myers, who together accounted for nine RBI, were the first teammates to each homer twice in the same postseason game since Yankees greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did it in the 1932 World Series vs. the Cubs.

Tatis, a blossoming star, would go on to slam an NL-leading 42 home runs in 2021 at just 22 years old, but his achievement was tainted when he underwent a PED suspension the following season.

Also on this day: Pittsburgh Pirates star Roberto Clemente is handed the reins and deemed manager for one game. Clemente, who won the NL batting title with a .357 average, wisely put himself in the lineup. The right fielder hit his 23rd homer and tenth triple and drove in three runs in a 10-3 drubbing of the Houston Astros in the final game of the season. The victory lifts the Pirates record to 81-81-1.

In 2023, Cooperstown-bound superstar Miguel Cabrera plays the final game of his career at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers DH and former first baseman goes hitless in three at-bats against the Cleveland Guardians and plays a third of an inning at first, where he makes an unassisted putout in the Tigers 5-2 win.

Ryan Casey Aguinaldo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; LatinoBaseball illustration