Petco Park –

Thursday night’s contest at Petco Park marked the fourth and final game of a hard-fought series between the San Diego Padres (50-43) and Arizona Diamondbacks (46-48). With Arizona taking two of the first three, the Padres entered the finale looking to salvage a split and avoid losing more ground in a tightly packed National League Wild Card race.

San Diego sent right-hander Randy Vásquez to the mound, entering with a 3–4 record, 3.80 ERA, and a 1.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Opposing him was Arizona’s veteran left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez, who came in at 3–9 with a 5.71 ERA but a solid 3.48 K/BB. Both teams were looking to lean on their starters to set the tone in a game brimming with postseason implications.

The Diamondbacks opened the scoring in the third inning. A single by Geraldo Perdomo and a walk to Ketel Marte set the table, and back-to-back sacrifice flies from Corbin Carroll and José Herrera gave Arizona a 2–0 lead. Vásquez labored through 4.1 innings, walking four and allowing five hits and two earned runs, while throwing 86 pitches (52 strikes).

But the Padres responded quickly in the bottom of the third. Leading off the inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a 420-foot home run to dead center field to cut the deficit in half, 2–1. It was Tatis’ 16th homer of the season and 21st of his career against the Diamondbacks, the most he has against any single team. His 48 RBIs vs. Arizona and 1.100 OPS also represent personal bests against any opponent.

No doubter. pic.twitter.com/ZdJJhWT9Iq

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 11, 2025

The Padres kept the pressure on in the fourth. Jackson Merrill walked and moved to third on a single by José Iglesias. Jake Cronenworth followed with an RBI groundout to first, to tie the game 2–2.

Rodríguez was lifted in the fifth after allowing a solo blast to Manny Machado—his 12th homer of the year and second extra-base hit of the night. The 391-foot shot to left put San Diego up 3–2.

Go ahead and tell everybody, he’s the man, he’s the man, he’s the man. pic.twitter.com/Ap8jRQbzzo

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 11, 2025

Adrian Morejon provided 1.2 innings of steady relief, retiring five of six batters on just 19 pitches while striking out two and walking one. Jason Adam took over in the seventh but allowed a leadoff single to Carroll, who stole second and scored on a two-out RBI double by Perdomo, cutting the Padres’ lead to 4–3. Adam recovered to strand the tying run at second.

Jeremiah Estrada handled the eighth and worked around a single and a throwing error by catcher Elías Díaz after Blaze Alexander stole second and reached third. With the tying run 90 feet away, Estrada got a foul out from Randal Grichuk and a groundout from Jake McCarthy to preserve the one-run lead.

Offensively, San Diego had numerous chances to break the game open. In the seventh, they loaded the bases with one out but came up empty. In the eighth, Machado and Trent Johnson (pinch-running for Trenton Brooks) singled, and Tatis advanced them with a fly ball to center. But with two runners in scoring position, Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the threat. The Padres finished just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.

Robert Suárez slammed the door in the ninth, getting Josh Naylor to ground out to Jake Cronenworth at first base to secure a 4–3 Padres win and a hard-earned series split against the Diamondbacks. Suárez notched his 27th save of the season, the second-most in franchise history before the All-Star break, trailing only Kirby Yates’ 30 in 2019.

San Diego improves to 20–13 in one-run games, the second-most such wins in MLB behind only the San Francisco Giants (21).

Gavin Sheets, who went 3 for 3 tonight, on how important it was to split the series, “Yeah, it’s a huge series. It’s a division opponent. We had our big four pick us up in the bullpen. Timely hitting, and I thought we did a good job up and down the lineup tonight.”

Looking Ahead

With the series against Arizona wrapping up, the Padres now shift their focus to a key three-game set against the NL-best Philadelphia Phillies beginning Friday night. Rookie right-hander Ryan Bergert will take the mound for San Diego, returning from the injured list to face a powerful Phillies lineup led by Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. Philadelphia counters with Ranger Suárez, who enters the game with a stellar 10–2 record and a 1.99 ERA.

The Padres, winners of three of their last five, will look to build momentum and continue climbing in a crowded NL Wild Card race. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. at Petco Park.

J.J. Rodriguez

J.J. Rodriguez is a passionate sports writer making his debut with East Village Times. Born and raised in Southwest Florida, he is a father of four and an eight-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has lived in Southern California since 1996. A devoted fan of the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Florida Gators, J.J. brings a lifetime of sports enthusiasm to his writing. He’s currently pursuing a degree in elementary education and enjoys life as an empty-nester with his wife of 19 years, Lisa.