PHOENIX — Ketel Marte’s two-run homer capped a six-run fourth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks stayed alive in the National League wild card race with an 11-2 rout of the playoff-bound San Diego Padres on Sunday in their regular-season finale.
Arizona finished 89-73 and won't know if it reaches the postseason until a makeup doubleheader Monday between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who are both 88-72.
If either team sweeps, the Diamondbacks reach the playoffs, but if the doubleheader is split, the Mets and Braves advance and Arizona is out.
“It’s weird. We don’t even know who to root for,” Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll said. “You just wait to see who wins the first game and root for them in the second. We’ll work out here and be ready to go.”
Arizona can only wait to find out if it travels to Milwaukee for a best-of-three Division Series against the Brewers.
“It sucks,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. We made this bed. We got to sleep in it, but we’re going to hope for the best. They’re two great franchises, two great managers, and I don’t think either have the gene of laying down.”
Lovullo knows how hard it is to sweep a doubleheader.
“It’s always to challenge," he said. "It’s going to be a battle of will, and the fatigue factor, but they’re both going to be hungry.”
San Diego (93-69) won’t learn until Monday whether its Wild Card Series opponent will be the Mets or Braves.
Luis Arraez of the Padres doubled in the sixth inning to finish 1 for 3 and move to the verge of his third consecutive batting title at .314. He's the first since 1900 to win three batting titles with three different teams.
Brandon Pfaadt (11-10) allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts for the Diamondbacks, who had lost five of six.
“We used a little bit of everything,” Pfaadt said of his pitch selection. “When they put up a 6-spot in the fourth that kind of helps the pitching side.”
Ryne Nelson, activated from the injured list on Friday, pitched three innings for his first big league save, finishing a four-hitter.
Christian Walker’s double began a run of five straight hits in the fourth off Martín Pérez (5-6). Eugenio Suárez’s single drove in Walker and gave him 100 RBIs for the season.
Jake McCarthy's run-scoring single, Gabriel Moreno’s RBI double and Geraldo Perdomo's run-scoring grounder built a 4-1 lead, and Marte hit his 36th homer, a drive into the left-field second deck.
Pérez gave up six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Suárez hit his 30th homer off Matt Waldron to dead center field leading off the sixth and Randal Grichuk connected for his 12th with a man aboard in the eighth, also off Waldron.
Suárez hit 20 home runs after the All-Star break. Only Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge had more.
“After I have that first half, I wasn't that good, and then be able to have 30 homers, it's awesome,” he said.
Arizona finished with five more wins than last year, when the Diamondbacks earned the last wild card and reached the World Series, where they lost to Texas.
Elias Diaz and Jake Cronenworth drove in runs for the Padres, who won 11 more games than last year and finished with their second-highest total behind 98 by the 1998 NL pennant winners.
A crowd of 38,892 gave Arizona a season attendance of 2,341,876, the Diamondbacks’ highest total since 2008 when they drew 2,509,924.
UP NEXT
Padres: Host a wild card series beginning Tuesday.
Diamondbacks: Await the results of Monday’s Mets-Braves doubleheader.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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