Machado homers as Padres beat D-backs 10-7 to clinch home field in wild-card round vs Cubs

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manny Machado hit a three-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-7 on Saturday to secure the No. 4 seed in the National League playoffs.

San Diego will host every game in a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the fifth-seeded Chicago Cubs beginning Tuesday. The winner will face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-five Division Series.

The Cubs eliminated the Padres 2-1 in the wild-card round at Chicago last season.

Xander Bogaerts also went deep for the Padres (90-71), who clinched their club-record third straight 90-win season and seventh in team history. They earned their franchise-best third consecutive postseason berth with a 4-2 win Thursday night at the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks had their six-game winning streak snapped but remain alive for the NL's third wild-card spot. They are one game behind Philadelphia going into Sunday's season finales and hold the tiebreaker. The Phillies lost their fourth straight game, 12-1 to AL East champion Tampa Bay.

Arizona's Gabriel Moreno hit an RBI single and went 1 for 3 with a walk to keep his average at .311, just ahead of injured Phillies infielder Luis Arraez (.310) in the race for the NL batting title.

Moreno's spot in the order came up after Mason Miller loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, but the Diamondbacks sent pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo to the plate and he struck out. Miller allowed three runs.

Machado hit a 1-1 pitch from Jose Cabrera (0-4) into the home run porch in the right-field corner for a 6-4 lead in the fourth. That gave Machado his eighth career 30-homer season, tying Arizona's Nolan Arenado and Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber for the most among active players.

It was his fourth 30-homer season with San Diego, tying Adrian Gonzalez for the most in team history.

The Diamondbacks went ahead 4-3 in the top of the fourth on James McCann's two-run homer to straightaway center off Walker Buehler.

Arizona led 2-1 in the third before the Padres went in front on Ty France's RBI groundout and Gavin Sheets' RBI double that center fielder Tim Tawa lost in the lights and twilight sky.

Bogaerts hit a solo homer in the two-run fifth, and Jake Cronenworth added a two-run single in the sixth.

Yuki Matsui (5-1) got the win in relief.

Diamondbacks RHP Michael Soroka (9-5, 3.31 ERA) is scheduled to pitch the season finale Sunday. The Padres hadn't announced a starter.

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San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler, cengter, throws to Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, third from left, in the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after scoring off Manny Machado's two-run home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado runs to third base off Jackson Merrill's single in the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado celebrates after his three-run home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola was hit hard on two days' rest and the Phillies' bullpen unraveled in a 12-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night, forcing Philadelphia to try and salvage a final-week collapse and play for an NL wild-card berth on the last day of the season.

Philadelphia had a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL wild card on Sept. 1 before going into a tailspin that now includes four straight losses. The Diamondbacks lost 10-7 at San Diego on Saturday night and remain one game back of the Phillies for the final wild card.

The Diamondbacks hold the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, so the Phillies still need a win Sunday or an Arizona loss to reach the postseason.

Philadelphia will turn to Zack Wheeler on Sunday to try and finally clinch its fifth straight playoff berth and avoid the franchise's worst collapse since 1964. The Phillies are 9-14 in September.

With the Phillies’ attempt at clinching an NL wild card teetering on an epic meltdown, Nola (7-12) was hit hard on just about every ball in play and left trailing 3-0 after pitching only one inning.

Junior Caminero hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Richie Palacios added an RBI double for a 3-0 lead. Caminero’s 42nd homer gave him 101 RBIs for the AL East champion Rays.

Palacios had four RBIs and Victor Mesa Jr. had his first four-hit game.

The Phillies used six relievers. José Alvarado was voraciously booed off the mound after the beleaguered lefty gave up three runs in the fifth inning. José Urquidy allowed three runs in the sixth to make it 10-0 and most Phillies fans — some of whom wore brown paper bags over their heads — fled for the exits on a rainy night.

Rays starter Griffin Jax took a line drive from Philadelphia’s Trea Turner off his lower back and left the game after three innings.

The Phillies had a runner on second and two outs when Turner drilled a 104-mph line drive off Jax. The ball ricocheted to shortstop Taylor Walls, who threw out Turner for the third out of the inning.

Jax was relieved by Steven Matz (6-6), who pitched a scoreless inning.

The Phillies snapped their 21-inning scoreless streak on an unearned run in the seventh.

The Rays finish with RHP Nick Martinez (15-5, 2.94 ERA) on the mound.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Diaz reacts after his double during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero hits a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero, left, runs after his two-run home run against Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola, back right, during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Tampa Bay Rays' Richard Palacios hits an RBI double during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Tampa Bay Rays' Cedric Mullins, right, follows through on a single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)