Padres bury Diamondbacks’ seventh-inning rally with immediate three-run answer in 9-4 win

A lead assembled one inning at a time

San Diego did not need one explosive frame to seize control. The Padres scored in four straight innings, beginning in the third when Manny Machado singled to left and brought home Sung-Mun Song. Gavin Sheets added a cleaner blow in the fourth, driving a 423-foot home run to centre for a 2-0 lead, and Ty France stretched the margin in the fifth with a single to left that scored Dustin Harris.

That run support was enough for Randy Vásquez to settle the first two-thirds of the game. He worked six innings, allowed three hits, did not issue a walk and gave up only one run. Arizona finally broke through in the sixth when Ketel Marte singled to right to score Jordan Lawlar, trimming the deficit to 3-1, but the Padres answered again in the bottom half. Austin Hays scored on Fermin’s double to left, restoring a three-run cushion at 4-1 before the game turned sharply in the seventh.

The tie lasted only a half-inning

Arizona’s best stretch came all at once. Griffin Canning, who handled the final three innings for San Diego, saw the Diamondbacks climb back level in the seventh. Corbin Carroll doubled to centre to score Nolan Arenado, Tim Tawa followed with a single to centre that brought home Carroll, and Lars Nootbaar added another single to centre to score Tawa and move Lawlar to third. In the span of three scoring hits, a quiet Arizona offence had erased the entire deficit and tied the game 4-4.

San Diego’s answer was immediate and decisive. Justin Martinez recorded only one out in the bottom of the seventh and walked four batters, turning a tie into a traffic jam. Jake Cronenworth then drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in France; Arizona challenged the call, but the ruling on the field was upheld. That reopened the door for Fermin, who singled to left to score Luis Campusano and Hays and push the Padres back in front 7-4. What had looked like Arizona’s turning point became the inning that broke the game open for San Diego instead.

Fermin and Hays put the finish on it

The Padres were not done creating pressure. In the eighth, Hays singled to centre and drove in both Harris and France, extending the lead to 9-4. Hays finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs. Fermin went 2-for-4, drove in three runs and delivered the game’s most important hit after his run-scoring double an inning earlier. France added two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Harris scored twice and Sheets supplied San Diego’s only home run.

Altogether, San Diego sent 42 batters to the plate, collected 11 hits and drew six walks while also taking a hit-by-pitch. Arizona was far more dependent on stringing together base hits. The Diamondbacks finished with eight hits, one walk and no home runs. Carroll, Tawa, Nootbaar and Marte each drove in a run, but the comeback inning was their only sustained surge. Michael Soroka kept the damage manageable early, allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings, yet Arizona’s bullpen could not hold the game in place once the Padres started stacking baserunners in the seventh and eighth.

Our take

The most convincing part of this Padres win was their patience. San Diego saw 168 pitches, reached base seven times without a hit through walks and a hit batter, and kept forcing Arizona’s staff back into stressful counts. That approach mattered most when the game tightened. The Padres did not chase the moment after the Diamondbacks tied it; they accepted free bases, let Martinez lose the zone and then cashed in with Fermin’s single.

There is still a warning inside the final score for San Diego. A 4-1 lead became a 4-4 game in the seventh, and Canning’s three-inning finish included five hits and three runs. The offence covered that wobble comfortably, but cleaner late-inning work would make a game like this feel less complicated. For Arizona, the seventh showed the lineup had enough contact to threaten, yet one walk in 35 plate appearances left almost no room for error. When San Diego kept putting runners aboard, the Diamondbacks needed more than one good inning to keep up.

Scoring moments

1. 3rd Inning

   Machado singled to left, Song scored.

2. 4th Inning

   Sheets homered to center (423 feet).

3. 5th Inning

   France singled to left, Harris scored, Taylor to second.

4. 6th Inning

   Marte singled to right, Lawlar scored.

5. 6th Inning

   Fermin doubled to left, Hays scored, Cronenworth to third.

6. 7th Inning

   Carroll doubled to center, Arenado scored.

7. 7th Inning

   Tawa singled to center, Carroll scored.

8. 7th Inning

   Nootbaar singled to center, Tawa scored, Lawlar to third.

9. 7th Inning

   Cronenworth walked, France scored, Hays to second, Campusano to third. Arizona Diamondbacks challenged: call on the field was upheld.

10. 7th Inning

    Fermin singled to left, Campusano scored and Hays scored, Cronenworth to second.

11. 8th Inning

    Hays singled to center, Harris scored and France scored.