Had this all led to a loss, I\u2019d probably be more than the \u201cslightly irritated\u201d all of the above made me reach. In the fourth inning, the D-backs finally broke through against King. One of those Ketel walks led things off, and one out later, Adrian Del Castillo singled. Then, Tim Tawa blasted his fifth home-run of the year down the left-field line and into the home bullpen (below). It was one of Tawa\u2019s three hits on the day, and his OPS is now higher than that of Max Kepler. Also on form tonight was James McCann, a late replacement in the line-up after Gabriel Moreno had to go off and give birth (or something – I was in the kitchen\u2026). He had an RBI double plus a single, and is now batting .319 for the year.<\/p>\n
Pfaadt continued to cruise through six innings, with a two-out double in the fifth the only time a Padres got past first base. But he was beginning to look a little rosy-cheeked, and Pfaadt connoisseurs will be aware, that often indicates he\u2019s running out of gas. So it proved in the seventh. He allowed his first walk with one down, and a single followed one out later. A ball hit into the shortstop hole proved too difficult for Nolan Arenado, his throw sailing wide of Tawa, and putting the Padres on the board. Torey Lovullo had seen enough, and Pfaadt was lifted. His final line: 6.2 innings, with just five hits and a walk, and three strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Juan Morillo took over, and disposed of Xander Bogaerts on three pitches, the last a 100 mph fastball. Morillo then worked around a leadoff single in the eighth. Arizona added a pair of insurance runs to make the score 5-1, one on McCann\u2019s double mentioned above, and the other on a well-worked sacrifice fly off the bat of Jorge Barrosa. He was clearly hyped at getting the job done, and why not? But it wasn\u2019t all good news. Corbin Carroll went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in the leadoff spot, and some really bad choices<\/a>. Over his last 30 games, a spell now covering 137 PA, he is hitting just .148. It\u2019s the worst 30-game streak of his career.<\/p>\n Still, a four-run lead proved far more than adequate. New chairman of the closer committee, Brandyn Garcia, set down the Padres in order in the ninth, on 12 pitches – non-save situations apparently not proving an issue there. The win was an important one, over a wild-card rival and on a night where all the other active contenders won. It kept Arizona in a tie for the second wild-card spot with the Phillies, two games up on the Padres, who are now tied with the Marlins. The Diamondbacks are also \u201conly\u201d nine games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. Their lead in the division hadn\u2019t been that small since June 27.<\/p>\n I also want to call out the Arizona defense. Ryan Waldschmidt had a lovely running catch<\/a> in deep right center, and Max Kepler might have robbed a home-run<\/a> at the wall in left. There was also an excellent double-play turned, and despite his error, Arenado also made a play worthy of a man with ten Gold Gloves. All told, a solid game for Arizona on all sides of the ball, and a welcome win after the understandable disappointment of the team\u2019s limited moves at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/capture_5bc4b4.jpg\"\/)
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