Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a grand slam home run in the bottom of the 4th inning- right after Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI single- to give the Padres a 5-2 lead, Yu Darvish settled down after giving up 2 early home runs, Mason Miller bailed out Kyle Hart, David Morgan and Mike Shildt after a pair of bases-loaded walks in the 8th and picked up a 4-out save, and the San Diego Padres survived the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 and eliminate them from playoff contention in the opener of the final series of the season, in front of another sellout crowd at Petco Park.

Jackson Merrill’s 2-out single knocked in Luis Arraez- who had just ripped a 2-out double to cap a 4-hit night- to push the Pads’ lead to 7-4.

The D’Backs scored 2 runs- on NO hits- in the 8th inning, sending 8 hitters to the plate. Kyle Hart and David Morgan walked 5 hitters combined before Mike Shildt (finally) brought in Miller, who struck out Jorge Barrosa on a full-count pitch.

The Padres trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the 4th, on solo homers by Ketel Marte (1st inning) and Jake McCarthy (3rd inning) off Darvish. (win, 5-5) Yu went 5 innings, giving up those 2 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 4 and walking 2.

Arraez- the 3-time batting champion- pushed his MLB-longest hitting-streak to 14 games.

Xander Bogaerts and Gavin Sheets chipped in 2 hits apiece for the Padres.

Tatis Jr. struck out 3 times in his return from the illness that kept him out of the lineup for the entire series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Miller’s save gives him 22 on the season. Bradgley Rodriguez and Wandy Peralta each pitched a scoreless inning for the Padres.

The Padres will play the Chicago Cubs in the wild card round of the NL Playoffs starting Tuesday.

***** ‘LIVE’ Instant Post-Game Reaction from Jim “GRIES” Grieshaber

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The Pads and Diamondbacks play the 2nd game of this 3-game series tomorrow at Petco Park, with 1st pitch at 5:40 pm PT.

RHP Michael King (5-3, 3.57 ERA) will take the mound for the Padres. The D’Backs will go with LHP Eduardo Rodriguez. (9-8, 4.91 ERA)

We will be here right after the game with your PADRES POSTCAST, hosted by Jim "Gries" Grieshaber.

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