Pfaadt, Tawa lead Diamondbacks past Padres 5-1 in NL wild-card position matchup

PHOENIX — Tim Tawa hit a three-run homer and Brandon Pfaadt carried a shutout into the seventh inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 Monday night in the opener of a 10-game homestand against NL West rivals.

The victory moved the Diamondbacks two games ahead of San Diego in the NL wild-card race. Arizona (60-53) is tied with Philadelphia for the final playoff spots.

Tawa’s three-run homer in the fourth over the Arizona bullpen in left field put the Diamondbacks ahead to stay. Ketel Marte drew a walk from Michael King leading off the inning and, one out later, Adrian Del Castillo singled. Tawa, who had three of the Diamondbacks' nine hits, followed with his fifth homer of the season.

James McCann's RBI double and Jorge Barrosa's sacrifice fly against Wandy Peralta in the eighth added to the Arizona lead.

Pfaadt (6-1) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and one unearned run. He walked one and struck out three. Since returning from the minor leagues on June 30, Pfaadt is 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA.

Juan Morillo got four outs for Arizona and Brandyn García pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

King (6-8) labored through five-plus innings, throwing 31 pitches in the first inning and 104 pitches overall. He gave up five hits, walked four and struck out five.

Diamondbacks left fielder Max Kepler’s leaping catch took a home run away from Jake Cronenworth to end the Padres' sixth.

Arizona is 14-6 in its last 20 games. San Diego had won eight of its previous nine.

Up next

Diamondbacks All-Star LHP Eduardo Rodríguez (10-3, 2.48) starts Tuesday against Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (6-6, 4.45).