Arizona’s season has been carried all the way to the final afternoon, with one last opening still visible after Saturday’s 10-7 loss to San Diego at Petco Park.
The defeat ended a six-game Diamondbacks winning streak and left them facing elimination, but Philadelphia’s 12-1 loss to Tampa Bay kept the National League’s last Wild Card race unresolved. Arizona did not surrender position in the standings, though it did lose another day with the Phillies still holding control of the outcome.
How the final day shapes up
- The Padres beat Arizona on Saturday night, 10-7, while clinching the top NL Wild Card berth.
- San Diego will host the Cubs in the Wild Card Series at Petco Park, leaving the Padres with no remaining seeding issue to settle on Sunday.
- The Phillies were routed 12-1 by the Rays, extending their late stumble and preserving Arizona’s chance.
- Philadelphia can end Arizona’s hopes by beating Tampa Bay on Sunday. Zack Wheeler is set to start for the Phillies.
- If Philadelphia loses, the Diamondbacks must beat the Padres to reach the postseason because Arizona owns the tiebreaker over the Phillies.
- A loss by both clubs would still send Arizona home.
Arizona prepares to empty the bullpen
The Diamondbacks have spent the past five days playing with elimination close enough to hear it breathing. They kept finding another win, another night, another way to remain in the conversation. Now there is only Game 162.
Michael Soroka will start for Arizona, having been among the club’s more reliable pitchers this season. But this will not be a day for a conventional starter’s workload. Manager Torey Lovullo is expected to treat the game as a full-staff assignment, going to his relievers early if the situation calls for it.
Eduardo Rodriguez is also expected to be available, even though Arizona would prefer to line him up for Game 1 of a Wild Card Series against Atlanta should it get that far.
San Diego, meanwhile, is expected to use a bullpen game and give several regulars time off after locking up its postseason position. That does not make the assignment easy, but it changes the backdrop: the Padres have earned their October ticket, while Arizona is trying to keep its own season from ending in the visitors’ clubhouse.
The Diamondbacks lost some control of their postseason path more than a week ago. Their response was to extend the fight until the last possible date. Sunday will decide whether that stubborn run becomes an October trip or the final page of the season.
