Machado homers as Padres beat D-backs 10-7 to clinch home field in wild-card round vs Cubs

Manny Machado powered the San Diego Padres to a 10-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, securing the No. 4 Wild Card seed in the National League playoffs. The Padres will host the Chicago Cubs in a best-of-three series, with Game 1 set to begin on Tuesday. A win will advance the Padres to a best-of-five Division Series against the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs previously defeated the Padres 2-1 in the wild-card round in Chicago last season.

Xander Bogaerts contributed with a three-run homer, while fellow Padres' star Manny Machado went yard with a three-run homer, giving the San Diego team a 6-4 lead in the fourth inning. The Diamondbacks, however, managed to tie the game at 6-6 in the top of the fourth when James McCann hit a two-run homer to straightaway center field. Later, the Padres took the lead again with Ty France's RBI groundout and Gavin Sheets' RBI double off the center fielder. Yuki Matsui secured the win in relief.

This win solidified the Padres' third consecutive 90-win season, their seventh in team history, and their franchise-best third consecutive postseason berth. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks' six-game winning streak was halted, but they remain in contention for the NL's third wild-card spot. They are one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost their fourth straight game 12-1 to AL East champion Tampa Bay.

Arizona's Gabriel Moreno contributed an RBI single and went 1 for 3 with a walk, keeping his batting average at .311. The Phillies' tiebreaker over Arizona is the Phillies' loss.