Chase Field- Downtown Phoenix

The Padres took the series against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, behind a late rally and lengthy bullpen dominance.

Starter Nestor Cortes allowed two runs without finishing the fifth, putting the Padres in battle mode. Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon, and Mason Miller combined to cover four and a third innings of shutout baseball, opening the window for the offense. Xander Bogaerts made it back-to-back nights with a home run, cutting the lead in half. In the ninth, San Diego came alive to take the lead, spearheaded by a game-tying blast from Ryan O’Hearn.

Nestor Cortes made his debut for San Diego after joining the club six days ago at the trade deadline. However, the start likely meant much more to the 30-year-old southpaw than just his first game with a new team. Cortes last appeared in an MLB game on April 3rd of 2025, and was recovering from elbow inflammation for the majority of the year. He was an All-Star in 2022 and went to the World Series with the Yankees this past year.

As for the Diamondbacks, Anthony DeSclafani made the start in place of the now-Texas Ranger Merrill Kelly. A rotation depth piece, he made just his third start of 2025. DeSclafani owns a 4.91 ERA across his 10 MLB seasons, totaling nearly 1,000 innings.

Cortes received a rude welcome in the first inning, as Corbin Carroll smacked a home run to right-center. Cortes delivered a fastball at 93 MPH, and Carroll sent it out at 110 MPH, for a distance of 443 feet. Geraldo Perdomo lined a single on the next pitch, but Cortes escaped with the help of a double play.

In the second inning, the Diamondbacks scored on Cortes again, although in a completely different manner. Tyler Locklear beat out a well-placed ground ball to shortstop to lead off the inning. Suddenly, things took a turn as Cortes hit back-to-back hitters with pitches to load the bases. Alek Thomas managed to hit a sacrifice fly, but Cortes limited the damage to just a run, as the Snakes jumped ahead 2-0.

Meanwhile, DeSclafani retired the first eight batters he faced, racking up three strikeouts. Freddy Fermin tagged him for a double, but Luis Arraez couldn’t drive him in, allowing DeSclafani to escape unscathed the first three innings. He located some beautiful backdoor breaking balls and kept fastballs away from the heart of the plate.

DeScalfani exited the contest midway through the fifth, after allowing just three hits and no runs. Oddly enough, lefty Jalen Beeks came on to face Jose Iglesias, who specializes in hitting lefties. Unsurprisingly, Iglesias drew a walk to join Jake Cronenworth on the basepaths. A batter after Cronenworth advanced to third on a fly ball, San Diego attempted a double steal play at home. Iglesias broke for second, and the throw followed him. However, Geraldo Perdomo noticed Cronenworth heading plate ward, stepped up, and fired a seed to cut him down at home.

Cortes departed with two outs in the fifth, after allowing runners to reach first and second. Relieving him was Jason Adam, who appeared much earlier than usual. Adam fired a couple of crispy changeups to retire Geraldo Perdomo via the punchout, ending the threat. Coming back out for the sixth, Adam nearly allowed a long home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but the ball just tailed foul. He capitalized on this by proceeding to strike out Gurriel, Locklear, and Blaze Alexander to strike out the side.

John Curtiss took over for Beeks in the seventh and failed to keep the Padres off the board. After Ryan O’Hearn just missed a pair of home runs— one just foul and one just short of the wall—they couldn’t keep Xander Bogaerts in the yard. For the second straight night, Bogaerts belted a no-doubt home run.

Another night, another Bogey bomb. pic.twitter.com/f2IAeSgzo9

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 7, 2025

With momentum starting to put on a brown-and-gold jersey, the high-leverage lefty Adrian Morejon entered the game. He allowed a leadoff hit to James McCann, who reached second on a sacrifice bunt. However, Ramon Laureano helped him escape by throwing out McCann, who tagged up on a fly ball. The inning came to an end, with the Padres trailing 2-1.

In the eighth inning, the Padres continued to press the attack. Freddy Fermin “singled” with the help of an errant throw after he laid down a good bunt to third. Then, Ramon Laureano reached on another error at third, the second of the inning, committed by Blaze Alexander. However, Kyle Backhus came on to face Jackson Merrill, and he retired him and Manny Machado efficiently.

Adrian Morejon covered double-duty, coming back out to orchestrate an eight-pitch inning. Leading off the ninth, Ryan O’Hearn came to bat amid a 1-12 start to his Padres tenure. He eliminated that dynamic in one swing, taking Backhus out of the yard to right field for a game-tying home run.

Ryan O’Hearn’s first homer with the @Padres ties it up in the 9th! ? pic.twitter.com/17OfqR1WKY

— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2025

Quickly afterwards, Bogaerts found the left field gap to knock a key double. Suddenly, the go-ahead run was in scoring position for Jake Cronenworth and the Padres. Jose Iglesias was next, and against the lefty Backhus, he won the battle. Iglesias lofted a single into right field, scoring the go-ahead run.

Just a night after allowing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to break the MLB record for the fastest pitch hit for a home run, Mason Miller returned for a round two. Not forgetting last night, Miller tossed three nasty sliders to Gurriel, striking him out handily. Then, Tyler Locklear followed him, striking out on three pitches as well. Blaze Alexander drew a walk, but pinch hitter Adrian Del Castillo joined the strikeout victims, proving no match for Miller’s stuff.

1️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ MPH

Mason Miller picks up his first save with the @Padres ?

(MLB x @Snapdragon) pic.twitter.com/jRat0m7Uj4

— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2025

Afterwards, Ryan O’Hearn expressed feelings of relief after coming through in the clutch. Feels good to finally contribute. Do something, you know”? Of the Padres’ hitter acquisitions, O’Hearn felt like the last to “make his splash”. He certainly that splash tonight.

Talking about his approach against the lefty Kyle Backhus, O’Hearn stated, “I was trying to hit a single to left field.” He noted that he hadn’t hit a home run off a lefty all season and felt fortunate to connect on the blast tonight.

San Diego will enjoy an off day and head back home to welcome the Boston Red Sox to town. Nick Pivetta will take the ball for the Padres on Friday and will face former Dodger Walker Buehler. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.

Willy Warren

A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a public baseball media account covering around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X. Willy is set to attend the Cronkite School of Journalism in the fall of 2026 at Arizona State University, where he’ll pursue a major in sports journalism.