'Something magical' going on as surging D-backs narrow Wild Card gap to 1

SAN DIEGO -- Their postseason chances continue to grow as the wins stack up, but the Diamondbacks still have some work left to do – and need some help from their expansion brothers in Tampa Bay.

The Diamondbacks roughed up Casey Mize from the first pitch of the game as they rolled to an 11-4 victory over the Padres in front of a packed house at Petco Park on Friday night.

The win, combined with the Phillies’ 2-0 loss to the Rays, pulled the Diamondbacks to within one game of the Phillies in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot, with two games left to play.

Despite having won six games in a row, the Diamondbacks still do not control their own fate. They do, however, own the tiebreaker with the Phillies, and the math now is incredibly simple.

Any combination of Philadelphia wins or Diamondbacks losses equaling two means the Diamondbacks are out, and the Phillies are in.

But as the Diamondbacks continue to roll, their confidence building with each win, the Phillies are feeling the heat and going in the opposite direction, having dropped three straight games.

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"Something magical is going to happen here," Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said.

Fresh off a three-game sweep over the Rockies in which they scored in the first inning of every game, the Diamondbacks similarly got off to a good start Friday as Lars Nootbaar hit Mize's first pitch of the game into the right-field bleachers.

Arizona went on to score three runs in the first, one in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to go on cruise control.

The big lead allowed Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt to settle in, and he was able to go 7 2/3 innings. That’s important, because with Corbin Burnes being placed on the IL instead of making the start Saturday night -- and the rest that Pfaadt gave the relievers on Friday -- it allows the Diamondbacks the flexibility of going with a bullpen game with all their top arms available.

As of right after the game, the team was still talking over its options, but Pfaadt's outing gave them "four or five pathways" to choose from, manager Torey Lovullo said.

Before he took the mound, Pfaadt saw the Phillies score displayed on the ribbon board above the right-field wall at Petco Park, so he knew the stakes. At the 160-game mark, the Diamondbacks are still alive in the playoff hunt.

"We go into Spring Training every year to be in this position," Pfaadt said. "Everybody knew what we were up against coming in today, and the bats came out swinging. That kind of alleviated a lot of pressure for me and I just attacked the zone, tried to go as deep as I could. It was a good day for everybody."

Not so much for the Phillies, who have watched the 6 1/2-game lead they had over the Diamondbacks on Sept. 1 reduced to one with two games to play.

The Diamondbacks know how the Phillies feel. They coughed up a Wild Card lead in the final week of the 2024 season, only to lose four of their final six and miss the postseason. Perdomo was asked what that was like.

"It feels crazy," he said. "Especially when you have a [four-game lead with a week left in the season]. You feel the pressure. But right now, I don’t feel like anyone is feeling pressure [on our team]. We’re just having fun and going out there and trying to win a game. That’s all that matters to us. It doesn’t matter how we’re going to do it. We’re going to go 100 percent and maybe 101 or 110. We’re going to be there and show up. All we want is to win."