Diamondbacks' Chase Even Record in Final Game of Season

The Arizona Diamondbacks have stumbled upon what will be the final game of their 2025 season. After being eliminated from playoff contention on Friday night, Arizona faces only one more contest.

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They lost to the Padres in a flat 5-1 contest on Saturday night, but will attempt to end their season at an even 81-81 on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 12:10 p.m. MST.

Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt will get the final start of the year for Arizona.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs San Diego Padres Pitching Matchup

RHP Brandon Pfaadt (5.00 ERA) vs LHP J.P. Sears (5.12 ERA)

Pfaadt is coming off a solid six-inning Quality start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The young right-hander has had an exceptionally up-and-down 2025 season, with eye-popping performances coming in between ugly starts.

In a start on July 9, Pfaadt delivered eight innings of two-run baseball against these very same Padres. At the time, it was the longest outing of his major league career.

But Pfaadt shattered that performance two starts ago, pitching nine scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the San Francisco Giants on September 17. He allowed one hit and one walk, but Arizona lost that game.

Pfaadt is one of the bigger question marks on the D-backs' pitching staff. He's certainly shown signs of being an extremely solid major league pitcher, but he's also had many puzzlingly poor performances. Consistency has eluded him, to say the least.

Whether or not the D-backs win on Sunday will not affect their offseason. But a strong performance from Pfaadt could offer an encouraging look at the 2026 season. Signed to a five-year, $45 million extension, Pfaadt is an investment that Arizona expects to pan out in the long run.

Lefty J.P. Sears came over from the Athletics in the deal that sent closer Mason Miller to the Padres. He's pitched to a 6.16 ERA with San Diego in four starts.

One such start came against Arizona, who got to him for five runs in five innings on 10 hits. Sears throws a deep arsenal, using his lower-90s fastball, sweeper and changeup most of the time. He also has a slider, sinker and curve.

Diamondbacks vs Padres Lineup

(Check back later for lineups.)

Diamondbacks vs Padres Bullpens

Despite a poor beginning to Eduardo Rodriguez's start on Saturday night, the D-backs still managed to get six innings out of their veteran left-hander. That allowed manager Torey Lovullo to rely on only two bullpen arms.

Right-hander Andrew Hoffmann (who was called up on Friday) threw 24 pitches, but worked out of a walk and single for a scoreless inning. Taylor Rashi finished the game with a baserunner-free frame.

The Padres pulled starter Michael King after only 2.2 innings, looking to preserve him for the postseason. Yuki Matsui and Adrian Morejon bridged to Mason Miller (on a back-to-back). Jeremiah Estrada and closer Robert Suarez also got work in.

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