The Arizona Diamondbacks pounded the San Diego Padres 11-2 on Sunday at Chase Field, ending the regular season. The National League Wild-Card playoff series between the Padres and a to-be-determined opponent will be played at Petco Park.
Padres starter Martin Pérez (5-6, 4.53 ERA) started the game off with three shutout innings before allowing six runs in the fourth. Pérez ended the day giving up six runs and eight hits in 3 ⅔ innings.
San Diego, who rested starters Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jurickson Profar and Kyle Higashioka, took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Jackson Merrill singled and scored on a double by Elias Díaz.
The Padres (93-69) have landed the top wildcard spot in the National League thanks to their incredible 2024 season. They will look to carry their momentum into the postseason when they will get to host the opening playoff series on Tuesday night.
Here are the takeaways:
ONTO THE PLAYOFFS
San Diego won 11 more games than last year and finished with their second-best regular season in franchise history behind 98 wins by the 1998 NL pennant winners. That includes several injuries to key players, including Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Ha-Seong Kim.
The Padres will not know its Wild Card Series opponent until after the makeup doubleheader Monday between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who are both 88-72. If either team sweeps, the Diamondbacks reach the playoffs but if the doubleheader is split, the Mets and Braves move on and Arizona’s season is over.
ARRAEZ MAKES HISTORY
Luis Arraez doubled to right-centerfield in the sixth inning, his 200th hit of the season. Arraez became the third Padre ever to reach 200 hits in a season, joining Tony Gwynn. The sixth-inning knock also gave Arraez a third straight batting title.
The San Diego leadoff hitter is the first player to win three straight batting titles with three different teams in two different leagues. He won the 2022 American League batting title with the Minnesota Twins and the 2023 NL batting crown with the Miami Marlins.
Arraez ended the season with a .314 average.
KIM TO MISS POSTSEASON
Ha Seong-Kim, who injured his right shoulder diving back to first base on pickoff atempt on August 18th, will miss the postseason with a season-ending surgery. The surgery is to repair a small tear in the labrum in his right shoulder.
Kim slashed .233/.330/.370 with 11 homers and 47 RBI, and ranks seventh on the team in fWAR with 2.6.