The San Diego Padres bounced back from the last two defeats against the Los Angeles Dodgers as they took an early lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks to never look back and clinch home field advantage in the MLB Wild Card Series by beating the Arizona Diamondback 5-3 on Friday.
A four-run rally in the first inning set up the Padres good for the rest of the game, as Yu Darvish picked up the win and Luis Arraez got three hits to have a solid lead over Shohei Ohtani for the batting title in the National League trying for a third straight.
The Diamondbacks tried to build a comeback but fell short and now their season hangs on the balance as they are now on the outside looking in of the playoff race. They are tied for that second wild card spot and have more wins than the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves but also more losses.
Questions to be answered
With the win, the Padres will host the first playoff series at Petco Park, however they could not know who their opponent is until Monday. The New York Mets lost the change to host the Wild Card Series by losing against the Milwaukee Brewers, a team they could face in the playoffs.
The Atlanta Braves won their matchup against the Kansas City Royals to tie the Mets but besides the las two games of their respective weekend series, they still have two more games pending to be played on Monday and they could be decisive.
Milwaukee also does not know who they will face but it will also be in their home stadium, as they have secured the Central Division title and the third seed. The will face the lower seed and the Padres, that are the fourth seed, will face the fifth seeded team.
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