SAN DIEGO (AP) — Rookie Ethan Salas singled in Jake Cronenworth from third base with one out in the 10th inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins 7-6 on Saturday night to lower their magic number to three for clinching their third straight postseason berth.
Salas, the Padres' top prospect who was called up Sept. 1, punched a single up the middle on an 0-2 pitch from Josh Ekness (2-4) and his teammates mobbed him in a wild celebration that ended up in the outfield.
Cronenworth, the automatic runner, advanced on a wild pitch. David Morgan (4-1) got the victory.
The winning hit came an inning after pinch-hitter Griffin Conine drove a towering, tying homer off Mason Miller with one out in the ninth.
The Padres won for the 12th time in 13 games and remained tied with the Chicago Cubs at 86-69 for the National League's top wild-card spot, although the Cubs hold the tiebreaker. The Philadelphia Phillies lost 10-3 to the New York Mets to drop a game back.
The earliest the Padres can clinch a wild-card spot is Tuesday night at the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Miller was trying for a five-out save when Connine hit a 102-mph four-seamer an estimated 427 feet to right, his 17th.
Fernando Tatis Jr. tied it at 5 with a solo homer leading off the fourth off Eury Pérez for the Padres, who on Sunday will go for their second sweep of the Marlins this season.
Ty France then punched an opposite-field double over the outstretched glove of right fielder Esteury Ruiz with two outs in the sixth to bring in Dustin Harris, who was aboard on a one-out opposite field double to left. Harris extended his hitting streak to nine games.
The Marlins roughed up Casey Mize through three innings to take a 5-1 lead, including Otto Lopez's two-run home run, his 11th, in the second.
San Diego's Samad Taylor homered off Pérez in the second, his second, and the Padres scored three in the third, including on Jake Cronenworth's bases-loaded walk.
Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara (13-10, 3.85 ERA) and Padres RHP Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.58) were scheduled to start Sunday in the series finale.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
San Diego Padres pitcher Yuki Matsui takes a breath as he works against a Miami Marlins batter during the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres' Ty France watches his RBI double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
San Diego Padres pitcher Adrian Morejon celebrates the third out during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Flyweight Champion Joshua Van erased the controversy surrounding his first victory over Alexandre Pantoja by defeating the former champion over five rounds Saturday, then declaring that his UFC flyweight title could no longer be dismissed as the product of an accidental injury.
“A lot of people said that was an accidental win the first time,” said Van (18-2). “Now doubt me now.”
Van said critics had questioned his legitimacy after Pantoja (30-7) suffered an injury early in their first meeting. The rematch gave the champion the opportunity to prove himself in a complete fight against the division’s former standard-bearer.
Van, who had his boxing skills and takedown defense on full display, finished with 140 significant head strikes, to Pantoja’s 99.
The champion praised Pantoja’s durability and championship-level skill, particularly after the Brazilian escaped a submission attempt Van believed would finish the fight.
“Shoutout to Pantoja,” Van said. “Nothing but respect from me."
Van’s decisive victory strengthened the legitimacy of his championship reign, while Pantoja’s toughness added significance to the performance.
In the co-main event, No. 2-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan (24-3) strengthened his claim to the next title shot with a dramatic first-round knockout of No. 7 Mauricio Ruffy (14-3), who was coming off a TKO victory over Michael Chandler at UFC Freedom 250.
Ruffy successfully defended Tsarukyan’s early takedown attempts, but the Armenian changed levels late in the round before switching to an elbow that landed flush. With Ruffy badly hurt, Tsarukyan followed with another elbow that knocked the Brazilian unconscious at 4:56, just four seconds before the horn. The victory extended Tsarukyan’s winning streak to six.
“Of course, for my next fight, for the title fight, I needed that finish, and I knew that I’m gonna finish him,” Tsarukyan said. “It was a little bit difficult in the first round, but I knew I had five rounds, and my time was going to come. So I was patient.”
Tsarukyan later joked that he wanted either a lightweight championship fight or a showdown with Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg.
No. 15-ranked featherweight Patricio Pitbull (38-9) reinforced his place in the rankings with the 13th first-round finish of his career — and his first knockout since joining the UFC. The former two-division Bellator champion rocked Dooho Choi (17-5-1) with a crushing right hand, then swarmed “The Korean Superboy” with follow-up punches, forcing referee Mike Beltran to stop the fight at 3:28. Pitbull called the performance his “real debut” in the UFC before challenging Jean Silva.
Sean Sharaf (5-2) produced one of the night’s biggest shocks, knocking out heavily favored heavyweight prospect Gable Steveson (4-1) just 12 seconds into their bout. Sharaf connected with a clean 1-2 combination, with the left hook turning Steveson’s head and leaving the Olympic gold medalist unconscious on the canvas. Referee Frank Trigg immediately stopped the fight, giving Sharaf his first UFC victory and a finish tied for the third-fastest knockout in UFC heavyweight history.
“I’m not surprised,” Sharaf shouted before explaining that he continued believing in himself when few others did. Steveson left the Octagon before the official announcement, drawing criticism from several fighters and social media observers.
No. 14-ranked light heavyweight Alonzo Menifield (19-6-1) overcame a gruesome hand injury and a difficult opening round to hand Iwo Baraniewski (9-1) his first professional defeat. A ringside physician examined Menifield’s badly damaged left thumb before the third round, but the Los Angeles native insisted on continuing. Menifield ultimately prevailed by split decision, with two judges scoring the fight 29-28 for him and the third returning a 29-28 card for Baraniewski. The victory was Menifield’s second straight. The severity of the injury became apparent during Menifield’s post-fight interview, when he revealed that he had broken the thumb in the opening round and displayed what appeared to be bone protruding through the skin.
See AP’s full sports coverage here
FILE - UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, left, of Brazil, and Joshua Van, originally of Myanmar, face off during a ceremonial weigh-in for UFC 323 Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Las Vegas (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP,File)
