It feels as if the Arizona Diamondbacks’ season is over, and that’s not far from the truth. On Friday night, needing a win to stay alive in the playoff race, the D-backs fell 7-4 to their NL West rival San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
The game was an emotional one, as playoff hopes were officially doused. There will be no 2023-esque miracle postseason run this year.
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But there is still baseball left to play. Arizona faces two more games with the Padres before heading home to watch October baseball from afar.
Game two will take place at 5:40 p.m., with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez set to make his final start of the year.
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4.91 ERA) vs RHP Michael King (3.57 ERA)Rodriguez has not had a good overall season, but he’s looked almost like a new pitcher since being blown up by the Milwaukee Brewers on August 25.
Since that start, Rodriguez has allowed six total earned runs over five outings (29.1 innings). Five of those six runs came in one start against the Giants, which the Diamondbacks still managed to win.
Arizona is 5-0 in games started by the left-hander since his Brewers blowup. Rodriguez has pitched three six-plus-inning shutouts in that span.
With two years remaining on his lucrative contract, the D-backs need to see more extended success out of Rodriguez. Finishing 2025 on a high note would be a (small) encouragement for what may be to come in 2026.
Right-hander Michael King has had good results in his limited action. He’s only made 14 starts after spending two separate stints on the IL. Over 70.2 innings, he has a 3.57 ERA and 73 strikeouts.
King throws a mid-90s sinker/four-seam combo, with a changeup, sweeper and occasional traditional slider. Opponents are hitting just .202 against the sinker, and .190 against the changeup.
Saturday in San Diego.https://t.co/k9Xjx1ui6d pic.twitter.com/GyeoHa4Sy7
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 27, 2025The Diamondbacks’ lineup is one that might be expected for a game with no playoff implications. Connor Kaiser fills in at second base for Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll is spelled by Jorge Barrosa.
The Diamondbacks used Philip Abner, Juan Morillo, Andrew Saalfrank and Ryan Thompson on Friday. Barring an extremely short start by Rodriguez, it’s unlikely many, if any of those arms will throw a back-to-back, but Arizona may want more looks at younger pitchers like Abner and Morillo.
The Padres attempted to close Friday night’s game without going to too many of their leverage arms, but an eighth-inning rally forced Mason Miller to throw 1.1 innings. Bradgley Rodriguez, Wandy Peralta, Kyle Hart and David Morgan also pitched.
