Diamondbacks' Season On the Brink in San Diego

If the D-backs lose to the Padres on Friday, and either of the Mets or Reds win, they're eliminated. Even if they sweep the Padres, they need both New York and Cincinnati to go no better than 1-2.

The Padres have clinched the second Wild Card spot. They are two games back of the Chicago Cubs, who hold the first Wild Card. Barring a sweep of the D-backs by San Diego and the Cubs getting swept over the weekend, the Padres will be playing in a best of three Wild Card series at Wrigley Field.

Diamondbacks and Padres Starting Pitching Matchups

Zac Gallen was supposed to start on Thursday against the Dodgers but got pushed out to Friday in a controversial move by the Diamondbacks, who went with a bullpen game instead.

That ended in a disastrous 8-0 loss. Gallen is a free agent after the season and missed a chance to have a moment with the Chase Field fans should he not return.

Editorial Note: Gallen has been everything you'd want in a Diamondback in every way throughout his career here. He has been a good teammate and representative of the organization. Good outing or bad, he always stood in front of his locker with dignity and patience, for however long it took to answer reporters' questions.

Gallen is 65-48 with a 3.57 ERA and 20 Baseball-Reference WAR as a D-back. He ranks third on the Diamondbacks' franchise list in wins, behind only Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb. He's also fourth in WAR behind Johnson, Webb, and Curt Schilling.

Yu Darvish missed the first half of the season, and didn't make his season debut until July 2 against the D-backs.

This is actually his third start against Arizona this year. He pitched 7.2 innings in those games, giving up five runs. He's been inconsistent all year, but is getting tuned up for a possible game three Wild Card start

The best thing that can be said about Eduardo Rodriguez's season is that it's been relatively healthy, as he'll be making his 29th start. He's been on a run of mostly good outings of late, and would love to keep his ERA under 5.00 when it's all said and done.

Michael King has missed time with injury, and was hit hard recently by the Mets giving up eight runs, blowing up his ERA. But he answered the bell by throwing five shutout innings against the White Sox his last outing. King is in line to be the Padres' game two starter in the Wild Card series.

Brandon Pfaadt has a chance to get his ERA under 5.00 with a good outing, which would be a great way for him to end his season and take the positivity into the off season.

While it's not been a great year for Pfaadt, he's been durable. He'll end the year with the second-most starts in the National League with 33.

The Padres have not picked a starter for Sunday's matchup. Nick Pivetta would normally pitch in this slot, but he's going to be held back to pitch game one of the NL Wild Card series.

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