Padres 5-3 Diamondbacks (September 27, 2024) Game Recap

PHOENIX – Luis Arraez hit two doubles and a triple, Yu Darvish pitched 5 1/3 tough 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 fourth place in the National League, meaning they will host a best-of-three wild-card series next week in San Diego .

“It’s unbelievable,” said outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. “I can’t wait for the energy at Petco. The fans will be crazy and it will be a great atmosphere.”

The Diamondbacks (88-72) trail 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 played two fewer games because Hurricane Helene wiped out two games of their crucial series earlier this week. The teams would play a doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday with playoff positioning still undecided.

The Mets and Braves have a tiebreaker against the reigning NL champion Diamondbacks should they finish with the same record. Arizona lost the season series to both teams.

Arraez (.314) is trying to stop Shohei Ohtani (.309) and Marcell Ozuna (.308) in the fight for the NL batting title. If he wins, it would be his third batting crown in three years for three different teams, something unprecedented in MLB history.

The Padres will be able to rest their starters over the next two days, but manager Mike Shildt said getting Arraez to sit could be a difficult task. He is one hit shy of .200 this season.

“We’ll talk to him,” Schildt said. “I know Louie – he’ll want to play, get the 200 and add to what he’s doing. He is a warrior and a competitor. But we also have to make sure that he is well and healthy.”

Darvish (7-3) gave up three runs on three hits, walked three and struck 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 with a groundout to end the game. It was Suárez's 36th save in 42 chances.

The Padres never trailed, taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Merrill Kelly gave up four hits, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Manny Machado hit an RBI single that skipped past Marte at second base, and then rookie Jackson Merrill followed with another run-scoring single that gave the Padres a 2-0 lead.

Marte threw a ball into the Padres' dugout while trying to turn a double play that allowed Machado to score, and then David Peralta's RBI single made it 4-0. Machado has a team-leading 105 RBI this season.

“It’s part of the game,” Kelly said. “At that point we still had a lot of chances to win the game. My job is to pick them up. Everyone does their best. Mistakes happen.”

Merrill and Peralta both had two hits.

The D-Backs cut the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on Carroll's solo home run and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s sacrifice fly. They cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth on Eugenio Suárez's RBI single, but Jeremiah Estrada finally managed to get out of the jam.

“I think I felt a little stiff in the first inning,” Darvish said through a translator. “For me the inning was a little longer, so that maybe helped me loosen up a little bit. By the second one I felt pretty normal.”

The win was Darvish's 203rd as a professional pitcher, including 110 in the United States and 93 in Japan. This makes Hiroki Kuroda the most professional wins by a Japanese-born pitcher between the two countries. Kuroda played seven years in the major leagues for the Dodgers and Yankees from 2008 to 2014.

Kelly (5-1) gave up five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings, drawing one walk and recording eight strikeouts.

“We had a lot of fighting spirit today,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “But we couldn’t make up for this early deficit. I think the first inning took a little energy out of us.”

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 had not announced a starter.

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