'Good vibes' for D-backs as they battle Padres for wild card

After an eventful trade deadline day, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks return to the business of stalking the final two National League wild-card spots Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Diamondbacks (60-53) pulled two games ahead of the Padres (58-55) following the 5-1 victory for Arizona as the teams opened a four-game series on Monday. The Chicago Cubs occupy the top NL wild-card position, and Arizona remains tied with the Philadelphia Phillies (60-53) for the final two spots.

"The vibes are good," said Arizona's Tim Tawa, who had three hits, including a deciding three-run homer.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3, 2.48 ERA) will look to continue the best of his three seasons in Arizona, while right-hander Randy Vasquez (6-6, 4.45) will make his 18th start of the season as the Padres await the arrival of deadline acquisitions Robbie Ray and Casey Mize.

Vasquez recently has been part of the Padres' all-hands-on-deck approach on days when Michael King or Walker Buehler do not start. King took the loss Monday.

"We'll map it out and decide if we want to take (Vasquez) out after two innings, three innings, four innings, five innings," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. "Maybe he'll go nine.

"We'll figure that out as we go. He's built up. He's got enough rest that he could go long if he had to. As you guys know, the way we've been kind of doing things depends on the day."

The Padres acquired starters Ray and Mize for prospects in the final hours of the trade window Monday, and the Diamondbacks added outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the St. Louis Cardinals. Neither team lost a player from the active roster.

"We're trying to win," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. "We don't apologize for it. We're trying to win championships. We're trying to get to the postseason and do it year after year."

Ray and Mize will immediately step into a rotation that lost Nick Pivetta early in the season and has been without fellow right-hander Joe Musgrove, who underwent Tommy John surgery last October. Both were to begin rehab assessments Tuesday.

Nootbaar, a left-handed hitter, is expected to give the Diamondbacks another workable tool. Arizona entered Tuesday hitting .227 against right-handed pitchers and .276 against lefties.

"We've had some issues as we've gone through the season against right-handed pitchers," Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said. "So we felt that was one of the bigger issues we needed to address. I wish we were able to do more, but that's not the way it went."

Rodriguez had five double-digit win seasons in the American League, topping out at 19-6 with Boston in 2019. He is on pace to record the lowest ERA in his 11 major league seasons. His previous low was 3.30 when he went 13-9 with Detroit in 2023.

The Diamondbacks are 17-3 in his past 20 starts, and seven of his last eight outings have been quality starts. His 14 quality starts are fourth in the NL. He threw eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 win at Pittsburgh his last time out last Wednesday.

MLB Network commentator Jake Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner with the Padres, recently called Rodriguez the most valuable pitcher in baseball.

"I want (Peavy) to keep believing," Rodriguez said on MLB Network. "We have a couple of months to go and we are fighting to get into the postseason. I want him to keep thinking that way until that moment."

Rodriguez has not faced the Padres this year but lost both of his starts against the Padres last season, giving up nine runs and five homers in 10 innings.

He is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA in four starts against them in his career. Fernando Tatis Jr. is 2-for-4 with two homers and two walks in his career against him.

Vazquez has no decisions and a 3.71 ERA in six career outings (four starts) against the Diamondbacks. Corbin Carroll is 5-for-12 against him with three doubles.

--Field Level Media