Manny Machado has four RBIs, Padres beat D-backs 9-4 to gain ground in NL wild card race

PHOENIX — Manny Machado had three hits and four RBIs, Randy Vásquez threw six scoreless innings and the San Diego Padres jumped out to a big early lead in a 9-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

The Padres won for the ninth time in 11 games, moving one game behind the D-backs for the third and final National League wild-card playoff spot.

Jackson Merrill had three hits and two RBIs, while Jake Cronenworth also had a three-hit night. Vásquez (7-6) gave up just two hits and walked one while striking out one.

The Padres jumped all over All-Star Eduardo Rodríguez in the first inning with leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. starting the game with a double to left. Machado followed with an RBI double before Merrill and Xander Bogaerts added run-scoring singles for a 3-0 lead.

San Diego extended its advantage to 6-0 in the second, partly because of Arizona's sloppy defense. Jase Brown reached on a bunt single when there appeared to be confusion on who was covering first base and Ketel Marte's error on a grounder led to a pair of unearned runs.

Rodríguez (10-4) gave up a season-high seven runs on 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings, though only five of those runs were earned. The left-hander was coming off one of his best outings of the season, when he pitched eight innings in a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Arizona's Nolan Arenado and James McCann hit two-run homers in the seventh off Germán Márquez to cut the deficit to 8-4. Geraldo Perdomo added two hits.

Up next

Diamondbacks LHP Mitch Bratt (0-1, 5.23 ERA) will start on Wednesday against RHP Casey Mize (4-6, 2.70), who is making his San Diego debut.