Padres 4, Diamondbacks 3: Manuel Margot has a big day

The Padres season is now over, but they made the final game of 2018 worth every pitch. After playing a fifteen inning marathon on Friday, they went to extras one last time, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth and walking it off in a crazy finish. Joey Lucchesi shined in his last start of the year. He held the Diamondbacks to two runs on four hits while fanning eight. He left the game after the sixth inning without a decision, but he’ll be worth watching next spring. Manuel Margot got a well earned Gatorade bath, as he went 3-for-5 and came in a double short of the cycle before scoring the winning run in the tenth inning.

Margot got the scoring started in the second with his eighth bomb of the season. Robbie Ray served him a curveball in the middle of the zone and Manny crushed it right into center field. That solo shot put the Friars on top until the fourth, when Ketel Marte returned the favor with a bomb of his own.

A rally in the fifth put another run across the plate for San Diego, though it should have added a few more. Freddy Galvis and Wil Myers led off with a pair of singles, and a double from Franmil Reyes scored Galvis and put Wil on third. Unfortunately, Jimmy Sherfy came in from the bullpen and kept Myers from scoring. Hunter Renfroe popped out and Austin Hedges and Jose Pirela both struck out.

Lucchesi lost his lead in the sixth when Steven Souza Jr. pinch hit for Sherfy and hit another solo shot. That tied the game, and it would stay that way until the top of the ninth, when Kirby Yates had a rough end to his season. Ketel Marte led off with a single, and Chris Owings drew a walk. A ground out advanced both runners, and Socrates Brito hit a sacrifice fly to put the Diamondbacks on top for the first time this afternoon.

Down by one in the bottom of the ninth, the Padres were facing a rough end to a rougher season. Wil grounded out to start what looked to be their last inning, but Reyes and Renfroe hit a couple singles to put the tying run in scoring position. Javy Guerra took Franmil’s place on second, and he came around when Eric Hosmer put a bloop single into shallow left field. The Friars had a chance to end it there, but Hedges grounded into a double play and sent things to extras.

Jose Castillo sent the snakes down in order in the tenth, but Jake Barrett didn’t return the favor in the bottom half of the inning. Margot hit a one-out line drive that rattled around right field for his eighth triple of the year. Francisco Mejía came in to pinch hit for Castillo and struck out. But the third strike got past catcher John Ryan Murphy, and Mejía made the dash to first base. When Murphy made the throw to first, Margot saw his opportunity and ran for it. He beat the throw back to the plate and ended the season with a walkoff strikeout.

There’s no more Padres baseball until next spring, but there’s two games 163 to watch tomorrow and then a bunch of playoff baseball. So stick around!