MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tim Tawa hit a grand slam to highlight Arizona's six-run seventh inning, Ildemaro Vargas homered to extend his hitting streak to 23 games and the Diamondbacks rallied Sunday to defeat the San Diego Padres 12-7 and split the two-game series at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium.
With Arizona trailing 7-2 in the seventh, José Fernández, Nolan Arenado and Alek Thomas hit consecutive one-out singles against David Morgan to load the bases. Tawa
followed with a liner over the left field wall for his first homer of the season to get the Diamondbacks within a run.
Bradgley Rodríguez (0-1) came in and gave up a double to Vargas, who finished a single shy of hitting for the cycle. One out later, Rodriguez walked Corbin Carroll and then allowed a go-ahead two-run double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Vargas, who went 3 for 5, added a three-run triple off Ron Marinaccio in the eighth for the Diamondbacks. His solo homer in the sixth inning against Michael King gave him a 23-game hitting streak, dating to last season. It's the longest in the majors since the start of the 2024 season behind only Bryan Reynolds’ 25-game streak in June 2024.
Vargas has also hit safely in all 20 games he has played this season, tied for the longest to begin a season since Pablo Sandoval also hit in 20 straight for San Francisco in 2012.
Ryan Thompson (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief for the win. Fernández also hit a home run for Arizona.
Manny Machado hit two home runs and drove in five runs and Luis Campusano also homered for the Padres.
Although the teams combined for six home runs Sunday, it was far short of the 11 that were hit in Mexico City when the Padres played the San Francisco Giants in 2023.
Mexico City is in the Valley of Mexico on a high central plateau at an elevation of 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) above sea level. The Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium, which hosts MLB's Mexico City Series games, is higher than Coors Field in Denver (the highest stadium in MLB at about 5,200 feet).
The game was the last of a three-game series in Mexico City, but MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said there are plans to return.
Padres: RHP Randy Vázquez (2-0, 1.89) starts the first game of the series Monday night against the Chicago Cubs in San Diego.
Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (1-1, 9.31) starts Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
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This story has been corrected to fix Vargas' hitting streak to 23 games instead of 24 and removes incorrect reference to Vargas being tied with four others for the longest hitting streak since 2024. It also corrects spellings of Gurriel and Merrill.
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