PHOENIX (AP) — Luis Arraez hit two doubles and a triple, Yu Darvish pitched 5 1/3 gritty innings and the San Diego Padres used a four-run first inning to beat the sliding Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Friday night.
The Padres — who had already clinched a postseason berth earlier this week — secured the No. 4 spot in the National League bracket, meaning they’ll host a best-of-three Wild Card Series next week in San Diego.
As for the Diamondbacks (88-72), they sit just behind the Mets (87-71) and Braves (87-71) in a tight race for the final two NL wild cards. The D-backs — who have lost four of five — have a slightly lower winning percentage.
Atlanta and New York have played two fewer games because Hurricane Helene washed out two games of their crucial series earlier this week. The teams would play a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta if playoff positioning is still undecided.
The Mets and Braves hold tiebreakers over the Diamondbacks should they finish with the same record. Arizona lost the season series to both teams.
Arraez (.314) is trying to hold off Shohei Ohtani (.309) and Marcell Ozuna (.308) for the NL batting title. If he wins, it would be his third batting crown in three years for three different teams, which has never been done in MLB history.
Darvish (7-3) gave up three runs on three hits, walking three and striking out four.
The D-backs tried to rally in the ninth when Corbin Carroll drew a one-out walk, but Robert Suarez struck out Ketel Marte and retired Alek Thomas on a groundout to end the game. It was Suarez’s 36th save in 42 chances.
The Padres never trailed, jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning after Merrill Kelly gave up four hits, one walk and a hit by pitch.
Manny Machado ripped an RBI single that skipped past Marte at second base and then rookie Jackson Merrill followed with another run-scoring single to put the Padres up 2-0.
Marte threw a ball into the Padres’ dugout while trying to turn a double play, which allowed Machado to score, and then David Peralta’s RBI single made it 4-0. Machado has a team-leading 105 RBIs this season.
Merrill and Peralta both had two hits.
The D-backs cut the margin to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on Carroll’s solo homer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s sacrifice fly. They closed the gap to 5-3 in the sixth on Eugenio Suarez’s RBI single, but Jeremiah Estrada eventually worked out of the jam.
Kelly (5-1) gave up five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out eight.
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The Padres and D-backs play the second of a three-game series on Saturday. Neither team had announced a starting pitcher.
