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 Diamondbacks wins or Phillies losses equaling two means the Diamondbacks are in and the Phillies are out.
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.
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.