PHOENIX – The San Diego Padres hit two homers in a five-run ninth inning against Arizona Diamondbacks star AJ Puk to earn a 5-0 victory in the penultimate game of the regular season on Saturday.

Kyle Higashioka and Brandon Lockridge broke the scoreless tie with consecutive hits against Puk in a meaningless game for the Padres’ postseason prospects. Donovan Solano countered with a two-run shot against Scott McGough.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, didn’t record a single hit until the sixth inning and finished the game with just two.

The D-Backs have lost five of their last six games since an 8-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Sunday. Arizona’s postseason chances aren’t zero, but they’re bad.

D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo on what he saw from his offense tonight. pic.twitter.com/fWonKlpHpc

– Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 29, 2024

“On offense, I think we all try a little too much,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

“My message would be if I spoke to the players now like I speak to you: just go out there, control the zone, control the shot by controlling the zone. Don’t try to do too much. Don’t be the hero. Give it to your brother. Understand it’s a process… We’re a heck of an offensive team and I know their pitcher got it done today, but I felt like we tried to roll it all up into a ball and make it happen right away .”

The D-backs lead the MLB in runs scored but have been shut out twice in their last four games.

San Diego’s rookie starter Randy Vasquez failed to hit the Diamondbacks in five innings until Corbin Carroll hit a double in the sixth inning to take the lead.

For five frames, Vasquez walked batsman and dropped two, but only one runner reached scoring position. Ketel Marte was one of those hit by a pitch, and he stayed down after taking a curveball to his left lower leg, the same leg where he was dealing with ankle problems. Marte jumped up and stayed in the game.

In the sixth, Carroll and Joc Pederson made a double steal to put runners on second and third with two outs, but Vasquez struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to end the threat.

The young starter left the game after six shutout innings.

“He just threw multiple shots, left nothing up the middle, he beat us today,” Pederson said.

The Padres bullpen picked up right where Vasquez left off, as a Christian Walker single leading off the ninth inning was Arizona’s only hit in three frames.

Geraldo Perdomo led the way in eighth place, one ahead of the top of the leaderboard. Carroll popped up, Marte grounded in a fielder’s choice and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk hit a line drive that caught on a dive by Padres third baseman Manny Machado.

Manny makes plays. pic.twitter.com/YzjPV5iTLo

– San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 29, 2024

“Everyone wants to be the guy that takes us into a good situation and opens it up,” Walker said. “But it doesn’t feel like anyone is putting too much pressure on themselves. This is a really good team. They’ve been playing really well lately. I definitely want to take responsibility. I missed some opportunities tonight to drive in pitches and drive in runs, but in the same spirit, we prepare properly and things just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Eduardo Rodriguez is doing his job for Diamondbacks

On the other hand, D-backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez excelled with four shutout innings. He ran into trouble with two outs in the fifth, and Lovullo brought up the first catch while managing Saturday like an elimination game.

Rodriguez said Saturday was one of his best days, feeling and things, and Lovullo knew he didn’t want to give up after just 62 pitches.

“I don’t want to be out of the game, but he makes the decision and I respect it,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just frustrating at the moment, maybe because I want to move on, but I respect it and understand it.”

Kevin Ginkel left two runners stranded and Rodriguez finished with 4.2 shutout frames in his final start of the regular season.

AJ Puk’s perfection ends

Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez kept the Padres off the field until Puk singled with one out in the ninth inning against former Diamondback David Peralta.

Puk had a streak of 25 scoreless games through Saturday, one streak shy of breaking the franchise record. The left-hander went nearly two months without an earned run, most recently giving up one on August 2nd.

He missed up the middle with two sliders to Higashioka and Lockridge, the latter hitting his first MLB home run. Puk said fatigue had nothing to do with it.

“It’s baseball. Things like that happen and I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow and trying to get the win so we can get into the playoffs,” Puk said.

AJ Puk on the events of today’s defeat. pic.twitter.com/pGNKS2eljG

– Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 29, 2024

Checking in on the Braves and Mets

The Atlanta Braves (88-71) defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Saturday, while the New York Mets (87-72) lost 0-6 to the Brewers.

Those scores fell as the Diamondbacks (88-73) and Padres entered the later innings.

The wild card impact of the Mets’ loss was that the Diamondbacks were able to secure a spot with two wins to end the season. They got the help they needed to get back to a position where it didn’t matter what happened to the other teams in the future as long as they took care of business on Saturday.

The three teams competed in a virtual duel for the final two wild card spots on Saturday, but the D-Backs were behind on percentage without any of the tiebreakers.

With the loss, the D-Backs will once again need help from other teams to get to the postseason.

“We’re going to need a lot of help, and I don’t like relying on other people, but the only thing we can control is the San Diego Padres tomorrow at 12:10 p.m.,” Lovullo said.

The Diamondbacks’ win scenarios have been updated

The Diamondbacks can still secure victory on Sunday if they finish the regular season with a win, a Mets loss and a Braves loss.

Why? Well, the D-Backs would finish with 89 wins, while the Mets would go into the doubleheader with 87 and the Braves with 88. The Mets and Braves wouldn’t both be able to finish at 89.

Arizona can also secure a spot with a win if the Mets lose two of their last three games or the Braves lose.

If the D-Backs lose on Sunday, the only way they could win is if the Mets lose their final three games.

FanGraphs lowered the D-Backs’ playoff odds to 24.3%.

“We’ve played 161 games this year, I mean it’s not the first loss we’ve had this year,” Walker said. “We show up and prepare the same way, we do things the right way here, we have a good leadership group. We prepare properly. Guys work hard. We’re good at clearing the page, turning the page and moving on, and that’s exactly what we plan to do.”

Diamondbacks season finale

The D-Backs will end the regular season on Sunday with first pitch at 12:10 p.m

If Monday’s doubleheader is significant to the Diamondbacks’ postseason ambitions, the team will gather at Chase Field to practice and watch its fate on television.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports App.

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