Game 162 of the regular season was not a meaningful game in terms of making the postseason or determining playoff seeding for the San Diego Padres, but a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks would allow them to finish the regular season with a series win and maintain momentum as they prepare for their Wild Card Series matchup with the Chicago Cubs.
The Padres took advantage of the opportunity to get some of their regulars off their feet, but the players who took the field on Sunday took a professional
approach to a game that was considered “meaningless” especially once the Philadelphia Phillies topped the Tampa Bay Rays to clinch the final postseason berth in the National League, eliminating the Diamondbacks from playoff contention. San Diego won a 9-4 back-and-forth game over Arizona to give manager Craig Stammen 91 wins in his first year at the helm.
Randy Vasquez started the game for the Padres and he showed why the expectations for him were so high at the start of the season. The right-hander pitched six strong innings and walked off the field with San Diego leading 3-1. Vasquez allowed one run on three hits over six innings with no walks allowed and two strikeouts. He gave way to Griffin Canning in the top of the seventh who came on after the Padres added a run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-1 lead.
Canning ran into trouble immediately and surrendered back-to-back doubles to open the inning and the Diamondbacks cut the score to, 4-2. Canning then recorded a strikeout for the first out of the inning, but then allowed an RBI-single to Tim Tawa and a single to James McCann to put runners at first and second for Arizona. Canning got Jordan Lawlar to ground into a forceout which left runners at the corners for the Diamondbacks. The former starter turned reliever then gave up an RBI-single to Lars Nootbaar and the Padres saw their 4-1 lead turn into a 4-4 tie. Canning got Ketel Marte to line-out to Dustin Harris in right field to end the inning.
San Diego quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to command issues from Arizona reliever Justin Martinez. After Samad Taylor flied out to start the inning, Ty France, Luis Campusano and Austin Hays all drew walks to load the bases. Jake Cronenworth earned the fourth consecutive walk to force home a run to give the Padres a 5-4 lead. Martinez was replaced on the mound by Kevin Ginkel and Freddy Fermin smacked a single through the left side of the infield to score two runs and put San Diego up, 7-4. A force-out and a strikeout ended the inning but the Padres were back in front for good.
Canning allowed a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth but erased the base runner when he induced a ground ball double play. He then struck out the third batter of the inning. The Padres had two on with two outs after four batters in the bottom of the eighth inning and Hays provided some additional run support with a two-run single that gave San Diego a 9-4 lead en route to the win.
The Padres have an off day today before they host the Cubs for the first game of the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
Baseball News:
- The Houston Astros clinched the AL West with a win and a Texas Rangers loss.
- Pete Alonso had the most RBI in the American League and became the first player to do so in both leagues.
- Dan Wilson will not return as the manager for the Seattle Mariners after disappointing season.
- Alex Bregman hit two home runs to help the Chicago Cubs top the Boston Red Sox.
