The Padres score 5 runs in the 9th inning and the Diamondbacks’ postseason hopes fade

PHOENIX – The San Diego Padres hit two homers in a five-run ninth inning against Arizona Diamondbacks star AJ Puk to earn a 5-0 victory in the penultimate game of the regular season on Saturday.

Kyle Higashioka and Brandon Lockridge ended the scoreless ballgame with back-to-back hits against Puk in a meaningless game for the Padres’ postseason prospects. Donovan Solano countered with a two-run shot against Scott McGough.

The Diamondbacks didn’t record a single hit until the sixth inning and finished the game with just two.

Arizona’s postseason chances aren’t zero, but they’re bad.

San Diego’s rookie starter Randy Vasquez failed to hit the Diamondbacks in five innings until Corbin Carroll took the lead with a double in the sixth inning.

For five frames, Vasquez walked batsman and dropped two, but only one runner reached scoring position. Ketel Marte was one of those hit by a pitch, and he stayed down after taking a curveball to his left lower leg, the same leg where he was dealing with ankle problems. Marte jumped up and stayed in the game.

In the sixth, Carroll and Joc Pederson made a double steal to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Vasquez struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to end the threat.

The young starter left the game after six shutout innings.

Vasquez had previous success against the Diamondbacks. San Diego recalled him from Triple-A Reno before Saturday’s game, but he had spent much of this season in the majors. He delivered two quality starts against Arizona earlier this summer.

On the other hand, D-backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez excelled with four shutout innings. He got into trouble with two outs in the fifth, and manager Torey Lovullo brought the early catch while managing Saturday like an elimination game.

Kevin Ginkel left two runners stranded and Rodriguez finished with 4.2 shutout frames.

Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez kept the Padres off the field until Puk entered the game with one out in the ninth inning.

Puk had a streak of 25 scoreless games through Saturday, one streak shy of breaking the franchise record.

Checking in on the Braves and Mets

The Atlanta Braves (88-71) defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Saturday, while the New York Mets (87-72) were beaten 0-6 by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Those scores fell as the Diamondbacks (88-73) and Padres entered the later innings.

The wild card impact of the Mets’ loss was that the Diamondbacks were able to secure a spot with two wins to end the season. They got the help they needed to get back to a position where it didn’t matter what happened to the other teams in the future as long as they took care of business on Saturday.

The three teams competed in a virtual duel for the final two wild card spots on Saturday, but the D-Backs were behind on percentage without any of the tiebreakers.

With the loss, the D-Backs will once again need help from other teams to get to the postseason.

Diamondbacks season finale

The D-Backs will end the regular season on Sunday with first pitch at 12:10 p.m

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