SAN DIEGO – As it has been for much of 2025, the San Diego Padres got a bit from a bunch.
Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jake Cronenworth and Jose Iglesias each drove in multiple runs as the Padres passed their final test before the postseason with flying colors in a 12-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
San Diego (90-72) scored 10 or more runs for the 10th time and closed the regular season with wins in seven of their last eight, reaching the 90-win plateau in back-to-back seasons for the first time and sixth overall in franchise history. Arizona (80-82), who saw their playoff chances end with the loss on Friday, dropped their final five games of the campaign.
“It’s a big accomplishment as a team setting out to be consistent and year-in, year-out play baseball that this city can be really proud of and this organization can be pleased about, and it’s a good time to reward our fans,” said manager Mike Shildt.
Prior to the game, MLB announced the start times for the first two games of the four Wild Card Series. Game one on Tuesday, Sept. 30 and game two on Wednesday, Oct. 1 will both begin at 1:08 p.m. Pacific, with ABC television carrying the national broadcasts for the opening round series at the Chicago Cubs.
After getting dinged for a first inning home run by Ketel Marte, the Padres opened their half by getting hits from the first six batters. Machado drove in the first two by singling to center field, then Merrill cracked a double to right field for another score, Bogaerts followed by lacing his 30th double of the season for two more RBIs and designated hitter Cronenworth completed it with a sacrifice fly for a 5-1 lead.
“The biggest thing is confidence, you can put stock in that, but the postseason is the postseason, it’s completely different,” Cronenworth said of the team’s recent offensive success, averaging 5.9 runs per game over the final eight.
Arizona continued to generate chances against San Diego starter JP Sears, loading the bases in the second but coming up empty, before converting a third-inning runners on the corners with nobody out situation by inducing a double-play ground out.
Machado answered nearly immediately, jumping on the second pitch from Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt and extending his arms to rip an outside-third sweeper to left field for his team-leading 27th home run of the season. After the inning and holding a 6-2 lead, the Padres would replace Machado, Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr. with Will Wagner, Mason McCoy and Bryce Johnson.
“I think everyone has been working on their things and things are starting to click, so just continue to play,” Machado said.
Tatis, who finished with a hit and a run scored in two at bats, is now alone in fourth place all-time on the Padres single season runs register, with his career-best 111 scores one better than Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s 1996 season.
After having chased Pfaadt by getting the first two men aboard in the fifth, San Diego loaded the bases against reliever Philip Abner to set the table for Merrill’s second double of the day for a pair of RBIs. After a walk reloaded the bases, Gavin Sheets worked a 12-pitch at bat before hitting into an RBI fielder’s choice.
“It feels good every day we do this, but we’re in a good spot, need to stay right there, keep our heads high and stay strong,” Merrill said.
Sears made it through 5 ⅔ innings, striking out four and walking three while allowing two runs on seven hits and throwing a season-high and one off his career-high 113 pitches. After returning to the roster from Triple-A El Paso as part of a move that saw Kyle Hart optioned to the Arizona Complex League, Sears earned his ninth win of the season and second as a member of the Padres.
Cronenworth added his second RBI of the day, lining a two-out single to center field in the seventh to score Merrill. Iglesias followed up by driving in a pair on a two-RBI double to left field.
“Some of my favorite at bats of the season were late in the season, talk about normalizing excellence and competing regardless of circumstances, I just loved the at bats that Jackson, Sheets, O’Hearn and (Cronenworth) took off some tough lefties,” Shildt said. “That’s just show they are, they compete regardless or score, circumstance, and it speaks to who we are and how we got to how we are and where we’re going.”
Bradgley Rodriguez did not allow a hit with three strikeouts and a walk in 1 ⅓ innings, while David Morgan had a K and yielded a hit in the eighth. Randy Vásquez threw the final inning, allowing three hits and two runs with a strikeout.
Luis Arraez and Elias Díaz were both available for the game, but did not play — though Díaz did catch a warmup between innings after Freddy Fermin had an at bat. Shildt said they put a stop to that, but said Díaz was feeling better and that it’s “a constant monitoring.”
The MLB Postseason begins on Tuesday, when the No. 5 seed Padres travel to Wrigley Field to face the No. 4 seed Cubs. The teams split their regular season series 3-3, with the home teams taking each respective series 2-1, with all six games taking place over a 12-day stretch from April 4 to 16 and before the 20th game of the season.
“At the end of the day the season is over, it was a great season for all of us. We had our bumps and bruises, our ups and downs…overall as a group I think we’ve accomplished a lot,” Machado said.
“The season’s over now, and now it’s time to go out there and just leave it on the field and play some good baseball.”
This story was updated at 4:54 p.m.