Diamondbacks hold on to beat Rockies, keep elimination number at 2

The Arizona Diamondbacks held on for dear life in the ninth inning to beat the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, 5-3, keeping their elimination number for the postseason at two.

Relief pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga stranded runners on second and third to end the ballgame, as the D-backs improved to 84-74, matching their 2023 win total.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Chicago Cubs fell to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Philadelphia and Chicago (both 87-71) dropped to three games ahead of Arizona in the National League Wild Card race with four to play, although the Cubs own the tiebreaker and a magic number of one.

The Diamondbacks have the tiebreaker over the Phillies.

If the D-backs win on Thursday, they would enter the final weekend of the regular season still mathematically alive for the playoffs despite long odds.

The San Diego Padres (88-70), meanwhile, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday to lower their magic number to one.

Since the D-backs finish the season in San Diego, a win on Thursday paired with a Padres loss would set Arizona up to attempt the playoff-clinching sweep at Petco Park. If the D-backs lose or the Padres win on Thursday, San Diego clinches a playoff spot.

The Diamondbacks have won four straight games to continue playing competitive baseball here in late September. They have not swept an opponent since beating the Dodgers from July 10-12, but they will need to on Thursday to keep this late surge alive.

Diamondbacks get it done vs. Rockies

The Diamondbacks benefitted from a couple mistakes by Rockies left fielder Zac Veen to rally for four runs in the first inning off pitcher Mason Adams. Nolan Arenado continued his surge with an RBI single, while Corbin Carroll brought home two more with his 17th triple of the year.

Carroll became one of two players in the Integration Era (since 1947) to collect at least 17 triples in consecutive seasons (Jose Reyes in 2005-06).

From there, Arizona’s offense went silent as Adams settled in, leaving it up to the pitching staff to hold the Rockies down at Coors Field.

Merrill Kelly bent but did not break early, letting in two runs in 5.1 innings. If that concludes his regular season, Kelly ends with 162 innings and a 4.94 ERA.

Justin Martinez, Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo bridged the gap to the ninth inning with an Ezequiel Tovar home run off Garcia the only run that group allowed.

Loaisiga was in trouble with the tying run in scoring position, but he drew a pop-up from Tovar to end it.

Gabriel Moreno went 3-for-4, raising his batting average to .310. Luis Arraez of the Phillies leads the National League at .312, as the door is open for Moreno to snatch the batting title.

A key swing came from Tim Tawa, whose solo home run in the eighth inning gave the D-backs some breathing room.

What the Diamondbacks need to happen

In order to catch the Phillies:

• Diamondbacks go 4-0, Phillies go 1-3 or worse
• Diamondbacks go 3-1, Phillies go 0-4

In order to catch the Cubs:

• Diamondbacks go 4-0, Cubs go 0-4

In order to catch the Padres:

• Diamondbacks go 4-0, Padres go 0-4

Schedule for Thursday

The Diamondbacks finish their series in Colorado on Thursday at 12:10 p.m. MST.

The Phillies do not face Milwaukee until 3:05 p.m. and the Padres wrap up in Los Angeles at 7:10 p.m.

Whether the Diamondbacks win or lose, there will be a lot to sort out in the late afternoon and evening as the team heads west to San Diego.

Eduardo Rodriguez (2.89 ERA) will pitch for Arizona in the finale at Coors Field. Right-hander Tanner Gordon (6.01 ERA) will go for Colorado.

Padres, Phillies Thursday probables

Milwaukee RHP Bryce Wilson (3.67 ERA) vs. Philadelphia RHP Andrew Painter (5.59 ERA)

San Diego RHP Nick Pivetta (3.30 ERA) vs. Los Angeles RHP Tyler Glasnow (3.46 ERA)

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