The Padres strike big in extra innings to force a rubber match with Diamondbacks on Wednesday night
The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks met for Game 2 of a 3-game series at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
The D-backs took Game 1 of the series and entered Tuesday with a chance to win the series against their division rivals. As for the Padres, they aimed to fight back and even the series ahead of a crucial three-game set at Petco Park against the flaming hot Boston Red Sox.
Yu Darvish toe’d the slab for the Friars aiming for his second win of the season. For Arizona, Ryne Nelson was the starter looking for win No. 7.
Darvish pitched well in this one, but was tagged for three earned runs in four innings. Darvish allowed three hits and walked two, however, did strike out five with a few nasty pitches. The two-run homer in the first inning off of Lourdes Gurriel’s bat was the only real major blow for Darvish, outside of a wild pitch to score their third run. The right-hander threw 72 pitches but did not see the fifth inning. Adrian Morejon replaced him in the fifth.
Ryne Nelson pitched a solid outing for the Diamondbacks. In 5.2 innings, Nelson allowed six hits, two earned run, and stuck out eight Friars on 100 pitches. Nelson lowered his ERA to 3.20 on the season and has solidified himself as a starter once again for the rotation. In 23 appearances this season, Nelson has only started 13 of them.
The Padres offense started early also, when Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run to kick off the second inning. Ramón Laureano followed with a triple and then Jake Cronenworth scored him with a double. The Padres and D-backs were tied at two until Darvish allowed the go-ahead run with a wild pitch in the 4th inning.
Xander answers back. pic.twitter.com/Mxx2xQ8GwV
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 6, 2025
In the 6th, with two out and no ducks on the pond, southpaw reliever Kyle Nelson (who replaced Ryne Nelson) issued three straight walks to load the bases. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo had enough of that and immediately pulled him for Andrew Hoffman. With Fernando Tatis Jr up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs, Hoffman walked Tatis Jr. to even the score at three.
The following inning is when the Padres took their first lead of the ball game. Machado just barely missed a solo home run that resulted in a double off the left-field wall. Jackson Merrill walked, and then Laureano smacked his second extra-base hit of the night to score Machado and Merrill to take a 5-3 lead.
Top Ramón pic.twitter.com/kyNysSIPz7
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 6, 2025
Morejon, Jason Adam, and Jeremiah Estrada all had clean innings for the Padres. In the bottom of the 8th, it was Mason Miller’s time to set up for Robert Suarez. After getting the first two hitters out, Miller ended up walking Geraldo Perdomo on a questionable call. That proved to be costly. Gurriel Jr. then smashed his second home run of the night on a 104 mph pitch from Miller. The game was tied once again at five runs each.
After the Friars failed to score in the 9th, San Diego started the bottom half with Wandy Peralta. Peralta allowed two base runners and manager Mike Shildt walked out and called for Suarez. The closer got out of the inning in a tough situation and forced extra innings. Suarez was needed again in the 10th and kept his team alive with a clean inning.
The 11th was where all the magic happened. The Friars torched reliever Jake Woodford for five runs and all nine hitters stepped up to the plate. Luis Arraez, Machado, Laureano, Cronenworth, and Freddy Fermín all contributed with RBIs.
Laureano has established his presence quickly in a Padres uniform. The new left-fielder is 8-21 with one home run, two triples, one double, five RBIs, and four runs scored so far in the Brown and Gold.
“Yeah, we did a tremendous job collectively controlling the zone,” Laureano said postgame when asked about fitting in with his approach at the plate. “Just attacking what the game gives you. I think today was a great example of that.”
San Diego has evened the series with a 10-5 win. The Padres will rely on Nestor Cortes on Wednesday in the rubber match. Arizona will go to Anthony DeScalifani. This sets up Nick Pivetta and Dylan Cease to face the Red Sox over the weekend.
Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.
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