The Padres had a chance to turn a strong week into something even better Friday night: home-field advantage for the NL Wild Card Series. Instead, Arizona crashed the party.
After the Cubs were swept in a doubleheader in Boston and the Phillies were shut out at home by Tampa Bay, a win over the Diamondbacks would have sent the first round of the postseason to Petco Park. But the DBacks played like a team with no margin for error and came away with an 11-4 win.
The damage started immediately. Casey Mize gave up a home run to Lars Nootbaar on the very first pitch of the game, then surrendered solo shots to Jordan Lawlar in the 2nd and Nolan Arenado in the 3rd. By the time Mize was done, he had allowed seven runs in 4.0 innings, and his spot on the postseason roster is now in some doubt.
Arizona kept pouring it on in the 6th. Kyle Hart retired the first two batters, then walked the bases loaded before Geraldo Perdomo lined a ball toward deep center field.
Jackson Merrill had a shot at a highlight-reel running catch, but the ball tipped off the side of his glove as he slammed into the wall. All three runners scored on the double, and the Padres were left to regroup for Saturday.
Walker Buehler is set to start the penultimate game of the regular season, which would put him on regular rest for a possible and decisive Game 3 in the Wild Card Series - the kind of assignment he would almost certainly prefer to handle at home.
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Padres Just Got A Huge Standings Break Before First Pitch
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Philadelphias loss to Tampa Bay added to the good news for San Diego, giving the Padres a cleaner path in the chase for October positioning. It is the kind of scoreboard help teams love to get this late in the year, especially when every result can reshape the wild-card picture and affect where the Padres sit as the final stretch tightens. [Read more 🡒]