Padres 9, Diamondbacks 4: Sheets Goes Deep, San Diego Closes 91-71

A 91-win finish, with the regulars already looking at October

September 27, 2026 - San Diego - Gavin Sheets led off the fourth with a 423-foot fly to the beach in right-center. It was his 17th homer, and it was the swing the San Diego Padres wanted to see from a bat that just came off the injured list. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4 at Petco Park and closed the regular season at 91-71.

Cloudy. 78 degrees. Wind 7 mph left to right. First pitch 12:10 p.m. Attendance 44,471. The game lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes. San Diego had already locked home-field in the Wild Card Series. Manager Craig Stammen still needed nine innings from a staff he is lining up for the Chicago Cubs.

"It's been a lot of fun," Stammen said of his first year as Padres manager, per MLB.com. "And you win 91 games, it makes it a lot more fun."

In the first 55 seasons of the franchise, San Diego won 90 games four times. The last three years, they have done it every season. This one started 11th in the National League in late July, three games under .500. Then they went 41-18.

Vásquez gave them six. Martinez gave Arizona the game.

Randy Vásquez threw six innings: three hits, one run, no walks, two strikeouts, 68 pitches. Ketel Marte singled Jordan Lawlar home in the sixth. That was Arizona's first run. Vásquez handed a 4-1 lead to Griffin Canning and still did not get the decision, because Canning later blew the save and then outlasted the mess.

Michael Soroka started for Arizona and lasted 4 2/3: three hits, three earned, two walks, four strikeouts, 77 pitches. Manny Machado singled Sung-Mun Song home in the third. 1-0. Sheets went deep in the fourth. 2-0. Ty France singled Dustin Harris home in the fifth. 3-0. Freddy Fermin doubled Austin Hays home in the sixth. 4-1.

Arizona's seventh looked like a stolen afternoon. Corbin Carroll doubled Nolan Arenado home. Tim Tawa singled Carroll home. Lars Nootbaar singled Tawa home. 4-4. Canning took the blown save (5-9, BS 1) on three innings, five hits, three earned, one walk, two strikeouts.

Then Justin Martinez (the loss, 3-1) walked four batters in one-third of an inning. Twenty-two pitches. Sixteen balls. Jake Cronenworth walked, France scoring. Fermin singled Campusano and Hays home. 7-4. Hays singled Harris and France home in the eighth. 9-4.

Fermin went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Hays went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. France went 2-for-4. Harris went 2-for-5. Sheets went 1-for-2 with the homer. Arizona had eight hits and never led.

"This is the best I've felt, the best my swing's felt in a while," Sheets said, per MLB.com. "I feel like I can get my 'A' swing off consistently. It was good to square one up today."

Fresh arms, a home Wild Card, and a franchise that finally has a floor

Stammen used the finale the way a club with a series already on the calendar should. He rested regulars where he could and still found enough offense to bury a 4-4 seventh. "You're trying to figure out a way to keep everybody fresh as much as possible, but you've got to get through the game," he said, per MLB.com. "You've got to find nine innings in the game. Randy did a great job."

San Diego hosts the Cubs in the Wild Card. Arizona finished 86-76 and spent the last week trying to steal the final National League playoff spot from Philadelphia. The Diamondbacks' seventh inning was the closest they came to wrecking Petco's party. Martinez's four walks closed the door from the other side.

"We finished the season playing great baseball, probably our best of the season," Stammen said, per MLB.com. "Hopefully that carries on in the postseason."

Ninety-one wins is tied for the fourth-best season in Padres history by the win column. The missing piece is still a pennant. That is next week's problem. Sunday was a 9-4 that looked like a club that already knew where it was sleeping in October.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put San Diego at 17 team fantasy points, second on Sunday. Vásquez had 17 pitching FP. Hays and Fermin each had 6 hitting FP. Sheets had 6.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; AthX Engine daily scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*