Padres secure home Wild Card Series with 5-3 win over Diamondbacks, who slide in NL playoff race
AP Baseball Writer
PHOENIX (AP) — Luis Arraez hit two doubles and a triple, Yu Darvish pitched 5 1/3 gritty innings and the San Diego Padres used a four-run first to beat the sliding Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Friday night.
The Padres — who had already clinched a postseason berth earlier this week — secured the No. 4 spot in the National League bracket, meaning they’ll host a best-of-three Wild Card Series next week in San Diego.
“It’s amazing,” outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “Can’t wait for that energy at Petco. The fans are going to be crazy and it’ll be a great atmosphere.”
As for the Diamondbacks (88-72), they sit just behind the Mets (87-71) and Braves (87-71) in a tight race for the final two NL wild cards. The D-backs — who have lost four of five — have a slightly lower winning percentage.
Atlanta and New York have played two fewer games because Hurricane Helene washed out two games of their crucial series earlier this week. The teams would play a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta if playoff positioning is still undecided.
The Mets and Braves hold tiebreakers over the defending NL champion Diamondbacks should they finish with the same record. Arizona lost the season series to both teams.
Arraez (.314) is trying to hold off Shohei Ohtani (.309) and Marcell Ozuna (.308) for the NL batting title. If he wins, it would be his third batting crown in three years for three different teams, which has never been done in MLB history.
The Padres will be able to rest their regulars over the next two days, but manager Mike Shildt said getting Arraez to sit might be a tough ask. He’s one hit shy of 200 for the season.
“We’ll talk to him,” Shildt said. “I know Louie — he’s going to want to play and get that 200 and add on to what he’s doing. He’s a warrior and a competitor. But we also need to monitor about making sure he feels good and is healthy.”
Darvish (7-3) gave up three runs on three hits, walking three and striking out four.
The D-backs tried to rally in the ninth when Corbin Carroll drew a one-out walk, but Robert Suarez struck out Ketel Marte and retired Alek Thomas on a groundout to end the game. It was Suarez’s 36th save in 42 chances.
The Padres never trailed, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Merrill Kelly gave up four hits, one walk and a hit by pitch.
Manny Machado ripped an RBI single that skipped past Marte at second base and then rookie Jackson Merrill followed with another run-scoring single to put the Padres up 2-0.
Marte threw a ball into the Padres’ dugout while trying to turn a double play, which allowed Machado to score, and then David Peralta’s RBI single made it 4-0. Machado has a team-leading 105 RBIs this season.
“It’s part of the game,” Kelly said. “At that point, we still had plenty of chances to win the game. My job is to pick them up. Everybody’s trying their hardest. Mistakes happen.”
Merrill and Peralta both had two hits.
The D-backs cut the margin to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on Carroll’s solo homer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s sacrifice fly. They closed the gap to 5-3 in the sixth on Eugenio Suárez’s RBI single, but Jeremiah Estrada eventually worked out of the jam.
“I think I felt a little stiff in the first inning,” Darvish said through a translator. “It was a little longer inning for me, so that maybe helped me loosen up a little. Starting in the second, I felt pretty normal.”
The win was Darvish’s 203rd as a professional pitcher, including 110 in the United States and 93 in Japan. That ties Hiroki Kuroda for the most pro wins for a Japanese-born pitcher between the two countries. Kuroda pitched seven years in the big leagues for the Dodgers and Yankees from 2008-14.
Kelly (5-1) gave up five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out eight.
“We had a lot of fight in us today,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “But we couldn’t close up that early deficit. I think that first inning took a little energy out of us.”
UP NEXT
The teams play the middle game of their series on Saturday. The D-backs will start lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (3-4, 5.56 ERA), while the Padres hadn’t announced a starter.
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