What a sport. What a sequence. What a season. What a means for the San Diego Padres to clinch their spot within the 2026 postseason. The Friars sealed a sequence victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night time, incomes a Wild Card berth and sustaining a one-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the highest spot within the NL Wild Card.
Regardless of being no-hit by Tyler Glasnow via 5 1/3 innings, the Padres shortly started working with back-to-back singles earlier than the primary run crossed residence plate on a Dustin Harris sac fly. Nick Pivetta labored out and in of bother via 4 2/3 scoreless innings earlier than turning it over to the bullpen. The Friars’ offense stored it going with a three-run seventh, capping off an enormous sequence win with main playoff implications.
San Diego now returns residence to Petco Park for the ultimate sequence of the 2026 common season. They’ll play the Arizona Diamondbacks with Wild Card seeding on the road. The Padres have to win each sport to make sure that they preserve the highest Wild Card spot. The Dbacks, in the meantime, are enjoying their means into the playoffs. They’re two video games again of the Philadelphia Phillies for the final spot.
Taking the mound
Brandon Pfaadt (AZ) v. Casey Mize (SD)
Pfaadt has had a resurgent yr with Arizona this season. He recorded a 5.25 ERA in 2025 however has pitched to a 3.72 ERA this yr throughout 128 1/3 innings. He missed most of June after being demoted to Triple-A to determine his mechanics and it labored. Since coming again on June 30, Pfaadt owns a 2.79 ERA (90.1 IP).
The precise-hander has confronted the Padres thrice this season and gotten the higher of them twice. After tagging Pfaadt for 4 runs in three innings on April 25, the Padres haven’t scored an earned run towards him since. They’ll have to reverse that with the intention to notch a win within the sequence opener tonight.
Mize is scheduled to make his closing begin of the common season tonight. It’s exhausting to understate simply how a lot he has struggled since becoming a member of San Diego. It’s tanked his inventory as an impending free agent in addition to any potential to belief him as a playoff starter. That stated, Mize has an awesome observe report within the postseason and will shove when the lights are brightest.
The righty is coming off of considered one of his roughest outings, surrendering 5 runs to the Miami Marlins final Saturday. Fortunately, the Padres managed to come back out with the win in further innings. Since becoming a member of the Friars, Mize has pitched to a 6.64 ERA (40.2 IP), surrendering three or extra runs in six of these outings. He’ll want to show the tables tonight to revive some religion in his pitching.
Batter up!
The offense cooled off a bit in L.A., however that didn’t cease the Padres from scoring. After being shutout within the sequence opener, San Diego scored 9 runs within the closing two video games. Towards a pitching workers just like the Dodgers’, that’s implausible manufacturing. They’ll want their lineup to maintain that up towards Arizona if they’re to retain their present seeding.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
- Dustin Harris, LF
- Manny Machado, 3B
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Luis Campusano, C
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jake Cronenworth, 2B
- Ethan Salas, DH
Salas has become an extremely potent hitter in the previous few weeks. In his final seven video games, he’s recorded a blistering .389/.421/.722 slash line with 5 RBIs and a stroll. He’s raking his solution to a spot on the postseason roster, and will see loads of time behind the dish this weekend.
Aid corps
After Pivetta’s stellar (albeit brief) outing on Thursday night time, Yuki Matsui, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller nailed down the ultimate 4 1/3 innings. Adam, in his long-awaited return from the injured checklist, pitched an ideal body on simply 5 pitches. Miller struck out Tommy Edman to finish the sport, however the pitch was so filthy that the ball bought away from Salas, permitting Edman to achieve first. Miller ended the sport shortly thereafter regardless of permitting a run to cross on a Shohei Ohtani double.
Tonight, San Diego can breathe a sigh of reduction as they hope to present their high-leverage arms some relaxation in anticipation of the approaching playoff sequence on Tuesday. The Friars could have Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta, Bradgley Rodriguez and Randy Vásquez obtainable out of the ‘pen tonight. Adam will doubtless be obtainable as effectively given his low pitch depend final night time.
