Diamondbacks Rout Padres 11-4, Delaying Top Wild Card Clinch
The short version
- The Diamondbacks beat the Padres 11-4 in the series opener at Petco Park.
- Lars Nootbaar homered on Casey Mize's first pitch of the game.
- Mize allowed seven runs over four innings with three home runs.
- Tatis Jr., Song and Bogaerts each had two hits; San Diego went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
- The Padres can still clinch the NL's top Wild Card spot with a win on Saturday.
Arizona jumped on Casey Mize early at Petco Park and handed San Diego a loss that keeps the National League's top Wild Card spot unsettled.
The San Diego Padres missed their first chance to lock up the top Wild Card spot in the National League on Friday night, falling 11-4 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of their series at Petco Park.
Arizona struck immediately. Leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar homered on the very first pitch of the game from Padres starter Casey Mize, putting the Diamondbacks in front 1-0 before San Diego recorded an out.
Mize never settled in. He gave up three runs in the first inning, then allowed single runs in the second and fourth and two more in the third, finishing with seven runs allowed over four innings. He walked two, struck out one, and surrendered three home runs in total, including the Nootbaar leadoff shot.
The Diamondbacks kept adding on after Mize departed, scoring three more runs in the sixth inning and a final run in the seventh. That gave Arizona more than enough cushion on a night when the Padres' offense never found consistent traction.
San Diego did push runs across at several points. The Padres cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the second inning and added runs in both the seventh and the eighth. But the lineup went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, stalling potential rallies.
Fernando Tatis Jr., Sung-Mun Song and Xander Bogaerts each collected two hits in the loss. Tatis was the only Padres player to record an extra-base hit in the game.
Despite the defeat, San Diego's situation is straightforward. A win in the rematch would still secure the top National League Wild Card spot, giving the Padres a second chance to seal the position at home.
Elsewhere around baseball, the American League Central remains undecided between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians. The Philadelphia Phillies were shut out at a critical point with their playoff hopes in the balance, while Houston lost to the Athletics in a game that could matter in the AL West race. Texas fell 10-2 to Minnesota, and Boston completed a two-game sweep of the Cubs that damaged Chicago's bid for the NL's top Wild Card spot.
Fans can watch the Diamondbacks and Padres meet again on Saturday, September 26 at 8:40 PM EDT at Petco Park, with the game available on MLB.TV, Padres.TV and DBACKS.TV.
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