Fernando Tatis Jr. only needed one pitch to make his presence felt Tuesday night. By the end of the Padres’ 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs, his career postseason numbers had climbed closer to two of the greatest hitters baseball has ever seen.

Tatis now owns a 1.178 postseason OPS, ranking third in MLB history among players with at least 70 plate appearances. Only Babe Ruth at 1.211 and Lou Gehrig at 1.208 sit ahead of him. His career playoff line includes a .333 batting average, .432 on-base percentage, and .746 slugging percentage across 17 games.

Even with a smaller postseason sample than Ruth or Gehrig, Tatis has produced enough to put himself in extraordinary company. Tuesday offered another example of how quickly he can take over a playoff game.

He homered on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd, giving San Diego an immediate lead and igniting Petco Park. Tatis also singled, walked and scored three times as the Padres moved within one victory of advancing from the National League Wild Card Series.

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His final run showed that pitchers are only part of the equation. After stealing second in the seventh inning, Tatis raced home when the throw skipped into the outfield. His speed turned an attempt to get into scoring position into another run, adding a different kind of highlight to his first-pitch blast.

What makes his career OPS even more striking is that it includes last year’s disappointing Wild Card Series against Chicago. Tatis went 1-for-12 in that three-game defeat, yet still entered this postseason among baseball’s most productive playoff hitters. A few more times on base in that series would have made an already remarkable résumé stronger.

Now he has an opportunity to keep building it. San Diego can eliminate Chicago on Wednesday, and another productive night would help extend both the Padres’ season and Tatis’ pursuit of that historic company. Ruth and Gehrig remain ahead, but the Padres’ star has made the gap worth watching.