Ketel Marte’s two-run home run highlighted a six-run fourth inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks kept their wild-card playoff hopes alive with an 11-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
Eugenio Suarez and Randal Grichuk also homered for Arizona (89-73), which ends its regular season schedule in a three-way tie with the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves for the final two National League wild-card spots.
The Mets and Braves, both 88-72, have a doubleheader on Monday in Atlanta.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had an RBI triple among his three hits and Jake McCarthy drove in two runs for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt allowed (11-10) allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out nine. Ryne Nelson allowed one hit over three shutout innings to pick up his first save.
San Diego’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-3 with a double to win the National League batting title with a .314 average.
Arraez became the first player in major league history to win three consecutive batting titles with three different teams. He won the 2022 American League batting title with the Minnesota Twins and the 2023 NL batting crown with the Miami Marlins.
Martin Perez (5-6) allowed six runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings for San Diego (93-69), which will host a wild-card playoff series beginning Tuesday.
The Padres, who rested regulars Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jurickson Profar and Kyle Higashioka, took a 1-0 lead in the second when Jackson Merrill singled and scored on a double by Elias Diaz.
Arizona surged ahead after batting around in the fourth, which included a string of five straight hits over a nine-pitch span.
Christian Walker started the rally with a one-out double and went to third on a single by Grichuk. Suarez and McCarthy followed with RBI singles before Gabriel Moreno’s run-scoring double made it 3-1.
After Geraldo Perdomo drove in McCarthy with a groundout, Marte belted his 36th home run, a 443-foot, two-run blast to left-center.
McCarthy extended the lead to 7-1 with an RBI double in the fifth.
Arraez notched his 200th hit for the second straight season with a double into the gap in right-center leading off the sixth. He later scored on Jake Cronenworth’s groundout to cut the deficit to 7-2. Gurriel put Arizona ahead 8-2 with his run-scoring triple in the bottom of the frame.
Suarez led off the seventh with his 30th homer and Grichuk closed the scoring with a two-run shot in the eighth.
–Field Level Media