![\"Arizona](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SUt-l-zac-gallen-04242026.jpg\")
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)\nPitching matchups<\/p>\n
San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks<\/p>\n
At Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu<\/p>\n
Game 1: 3:05 p.m. Saturday (Padres.TV)
\nGame 2: 1:05 p.m. Sunday (Padres.TV)<\/p>\n
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In the standings<\/p>\n
San Diego Padres (17-8, 1st in NL West)<\/p>\n
While the Padres were off on Friday, the Dodgers lost to fall a half-game behind San Diego in the division. The Padres have the second-best record in baseball and have won six straight series. The Padres won eight of 13 meetings last year with the Diamondbacks, the host team of this series.<\/p>\n
Arizona Diamondbacks (14-11, 3rd in NL West)<\/p>\n
The Diamondbacks are three games behind the Padres in the division. They have a minus-8 run differential, rank 10th in OPS (.723), 20th in rotation ERA (4.49) and 19th in bullpen ERA (4.60).<\/p>\n
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Trending<\/p>\n
San Diego: The Padres have a .608 OPS over their last three series, with many of their main producers slumping\u2014OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (.558, 26 PA), OF Jackson Merrill (.205, 26 PA), 3B Manny Machado (.367 OPS) and OF Ram\u00f3n Laureano (.481 OPS). SS Xander Bogaerts has been the most productive bat over that stretch (1.026 OPS). In the bullpen, RHP Mason Miller (0.00 ERA) leads the team with 12 appearances, followed by 11 each from LHPs Adri\u00e1n Morej\u00f3n (6.39 ERA) and Wandy Peralta (2.31 ERA) and 10 from RHP Bradgley Rodriguez (0.73 ERA).<\/p>\n
Arizona: 1B Ildemaro Vargas has three homers, eight RBIs and a 1.000 OPS over his last six games, while 3B Nolan Arenado has two homers, five RBIs and a 1.240 OPS over that stretch. OF Alek Thomas (1.423 OPS), SS Geraldo Perdomo (1.388 OPS) and OF Corbin Carroll (.900 OPS) are also hot over the last week. In the bullpen, RHP Ryan Thompson (4.66 ERA) leads the team with 14 appearances, followed by 13 from RHP Juan Morillo (2.13 ERA) and 12 each from RHPs Paul Sewald (4.50 ERA), Taylor Clarke (3.55 ERA) and Jonathan Loaisiga (3.86 ERA).<\/p>\n
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Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)
\nPitching matchups<\/p>\n
Saturday<\/p>\n
Padres RHP Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez (2-1, 3.86 ERA)\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s got a 2.30 ERA over his last three starts, sandwiching two scoreless road appearances around five innings of four-run ball against the Rockies at Petco Park. M\u00e1rquez has a 15-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 18\u2154 innings. M\u00e1rquez has a 4.62 ERA in 132 \u2153 career innings against the Diamondbacks, although he allowed seven runs \u2014 five earned \u2014 in three innings in a start last year.<\/p>\n
D-backs RHP Zac Gallen (1-1, 3.51 ERA)\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 After dangling in free agency with a qualifying offer, the 30-year-old returned to Arizona on a one-year, $22.025 million deal. Gallen\u2019s strikeout rate (4.9 per nine innings) is well below his career average (9.4), while his hit rate (10.9 per nine innings) is well above his career rate (7.6). Gallen has one quality start through five starts this year. He has a 3.49 ERA in 15 career starts against the Padres, but he had a 4.86 ERA in three starts last year.<\/p>\n
Sunday<\/p>\n
Padres RHP Michael King (3-1, 2.28 ERA)\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s only gone six innings twice this year, largely because he\u2019s averaging 4.6 walks per nine innings, well above his career rate (3.2). King is allowing opponents a .185\/.315\/.272 batting line so far this year, with a .587 opponent OPS below his career numbers (.652). King has thrown 13 \u2154 shutout innings at the Diamondbacks \u2014 all in the Padres rotation \u2014 striking out 11 against three walks.<\/p>\n
D-backs RHP Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.97 ERA)\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0 The former second-rounder had a 3.54 ERA through four starts before allowing eight runs in one-third of an inning on Sunday against the Blue Jays. Nelson hasn\u2019t allowed a home run since allowing two in each of his first two starts. Nelson has a 4.83 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) in his career against the Padres. He posted a 1.69 ERA over two starts (10\u2154 IP) last year.<\/p>\n
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2026 team leaders<\/p>\n
OPS: Padres\u2014SS Xander Bogaerts (.810), OF Ram\u00f3n Laureano (.804), 1B Gavin Sheets (.733); D-backs\u2014OF Corbin Carroll (.976), SS Geraldo Perdomo (.768), 3B Nolan Arenado (.713).
\nHRs: Padres\u2014Bogaerts (4), Laureano (4), Sheets (3), OF Jackson Merrill (3); D-backs\u20141B Ildemaro Vargas (5), Arenado (4), 2B Ketel Marte (4).
\nRBIs: Padres\u2014Laureano (17), Bogaerts (16), Merrill (14); D-backs\u2014Carroll (17), Vargas (16), Arenado (14).
\nSteals: Padres\u2014OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (6), Merrill (5), Laureano (3), OF Bryce Johnson (3); D-backs\u2014Perdomo (6), Carroll (4), OF Alek Thomas (4).
\nSaves: Padres\u2014RHP Mason Miller (9-for-9, 0.00 ERA); D-backs\u2014RHP Paul Sewald (7-for-7, 4.50 ERA).
\nHolds: Padres\u2014RHP Jason Adam (4, 1.93 ERA), LHP Kyle Hart (4, 4.91 ERA), three tied with 3; D-backs\u2014RHP Juan Morillo (6, 2.13 ERA), RHP Taylor Clarke (5, 3.55 ERA), two tied with 4.<\/p>\n
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Training room<\/p>\n
San Diego: RHP Jeremiah Estrada is on the 15-day injured list with elbow tendinitis, but he began a rehab assignment on Friday in Lake Elsinore (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, K). RHP Nick Pivetta may miss \u201cweeks and maybe months\u201d with a flexor strain sustained on Sunday. RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) has made four rehab starts for Triple-A El Paso. LHP Yuki Matsui (groin) is also rehabbing with El Paso. RHP Joe Musgrove (Tommy John surgery) is playing catch but has not returned to throwing off a mound following spring setback.<\/p>\n
Arizona: C Gabriel Moreno (oblique) could return to the active roster when the D-backs return from Mexico City, but 1Bs Pavin Smith (elbow) and Carlos Santana (remains without a timetable. OF Jordan Lawler (wrist fracture) is out until at least June. Among the pitchers making their way back, RHPs Coribn Burnes (Tommy John surgery) and Justin Martinez (Tommy John surgery) and LHP A.J. Puk (elbow surgery) could return by midseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks At Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu Game 1: 3:05 p.m. Saturday (Padres.TV) Game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-285653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-san-diego-padres","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}