Friars Seal Their Fate in Glory: San Diego Heads Back to the World Series

The sun had barely dipped below the horizon at Petco Park when the final out nestled into Freddy Fermin’s mitt, a soft pop fly that carried the weight of another long season, another October climb, and another San Diego coronation. The Friars had done it again.

Six years, three World Series appearances. They’re not just built for October anymore; they belong to it.

This one didn’t come easy. It never does when the fog rolls off the bay and a team like the San Francisco Bays refuses to fade. But when the dust cleared on a crisp Southern California night, the scoreboard read San Diego 6, San Francisco 4, and the Friars’ dugout exploded like a firework stand.

They’d leaned on the old formula, poise on the mound, power at the plate, and the kind of composure that only comes from having been here before. Luis Castillo was the calm center of the storm, painting corners and forcing weak contact when it mattered most.

His line wasn’t perfect — five innings, six hits, two earned — but his heartbeat never spiked, even when the Bays tried to rattle him early.

The game turned, fittingly, on a moment of brilliance from Seiya Suzuki. Down 2–1, with two men aboard in the third, Suzuki coiled, uncoiled, and sent a fastball screaming into the night, a two-run single that turned the tide and sent Jameson Taillon to an early shower.

Later, Suzuki’s home run down the left-field line would all but seal the Bays’ fate. Four RBIs on the night, and a swing that may live forever in Friars lore.

Around him, the Friars were their steady, relentless selves. Ohtani reached base twice and scored twice. Correa chipped in another RBI. And when the Bays threatened, and they always seemed to, Kenley Jansen, Griffin Jax, and Raisel Iglesias tightened the screws like clockwork. Iglesias, the closer who never flinches, finished what Castillo started, recording the final six outs with a quiet fury that matched the tone of a team built to close.

The Bays fought until their last breath. Teoscar Hernández tried to will them back, going 3-for-5 with a homer and a double, but it was too little, too late. Their bullpen had no answers for San Diego’s rhythm, their bats just one clutch hit short of turning the night.

As the Friars celebrated, Ohtani found Suzuki in the mob, lifted him into the air, and shouted something that got lost in the roar of 42,000 people chanting Friars! Friars! Friars!

A season that started with expectations and endured loss, including Bryce Harper’s untimely injury, ended with the same sound it’s always supposed to: the pop of champagne, the echo of music down a tunnel, the hum of a city that believes.

San Diego isn’t chasing validation anymore. They’ve arrived. Again.

Final: San Diego 6, San Francisco 4 Series: Friars win, 4–1 Next Stop: The World Series — where, as always, the Friars plan to make a little noise.