PHOENIX -- As early August regular-season baseball games go … they don’t get much bigger than this one.
The Padres and Diamondbacks are vying for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. And, yes, there are other teams in the mix. But these two are currently at the center of that race. Come late September, there might only be room for one of them at the postseason table.
They’ve played three series this season. And, after the Padres’ 5-1 victory Thursday night, they’ve split all three of them. It sure looks like this race might go down to the wire -- a season-ending three-game series between the two NL West rivals at Petco Park.
“We've played these guys pretty even all year round,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “We'll see them again later in the year in a three-game series. Could be the decider of it all.”
A critical Padres victory
Why, exactly, was this particular game so important? Call it a three-game swing. The Padres gained a game. The D-backs lost a game. And the head-to-head series -- which is used as the first postseason tiebreaker -- is tied once again.
“Obviously a leverage-y kind of game for us -- and one that we couldn’t lose,” starter Walker Buehler said. “I’m glad we played well.”
The Padres and Diamondbacks split two games in April, four in July and four this week at Chase Field. Which means the winner of that late-September series is going to win the season-series tiebreaker. The way things are going, that tiebreaker might end up mattering an awful lot.
“We're in this last stretch -- every detail, every game matters,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “So it's definitely way better being just one game behind.”
There are, of course, 43 games before the Padres and Diamondbacks meet again. Both teams will use those 43 games to try and build a gap large enough to make that final weekend irrelevant. Or at least, to put themselves in the best position possible for that final weekend.
“We better be six games or eight games ahead,” Tatis joked.
Seems unlikely. But that (potentially fateful) final series is still a long way away. The Padres will first turn their focus to a homestand featuring two more contenders -- the Astros and Brewers.
“We've got a lot of work to do,” Stammen said. “But today's a good step in the right direction.”
Managing for the occasion
On a different night, Buehler almost certainly pitches the fifth inning. But -- for reasons noted above -- there was an awful lot riding on Thursday’s game. Stammen managed like it.
Buehler was solid across four innings, as the Padres built a 3-1 lead. But the D-backs were starting to hit him a bit, and the top of their order was due up in the fifth.
And, really, what’s the point of having a super-bullpen if you’re not going to use it on a night like this one?
“We had the horses in the stable,” Stammen said.
Indeed, the Padres’ four highest-leverage arms were all rested. So Stammen used them. Bradgley Rodriguez picked up the next six outs, as the Padres grew their lead to 5-1. Even with the four-run lead, Jeremiah Estrada covered the seventh, Adrian Morejon got the eighth and Mason Miller nailed down the ninth.
“Being able to have different weapons at the disposal … whatever the situation is, whatever the situation we have in front of us, we’re able to compete,” said Rodriguez, through interpreter Pedro Gutierrez.
Bradgley’s big moment
In a bullpen that features a handful of the best relievers in the game, the Padres have placed an awful lot of faith in a 22-year-old rookie this season. Rodriguez has delivered.
In 48 appearances, Rodriguez has posted a 2.29 ERA. Considering the circumstances, the six outs he recorded on Thursday -- facing the top six hitters in the Arizona lineup -- might have been the biggest six outs he’s ever recorded.
“I’m ready whenever I’m called,” Rodriguez said. “Today, it happened to be early.”
The Padres relief corps has been hit hard by injuries this year. Jason Adam and David Morgan remain on the IL, and Estrada missed plenty of time as well. Yet the San Diego bullpen has been one of the best in baseball nonetheless. Miller and Morejon have a lot to do with that.
So does Rodriguez.
“We're sticking him at the top of the order in a big situation,” Stammen said. “He's turned himself into one of the best relievers in baseball.”
It’s truly an embarrassment of riches in the San Diego ‘pen.