Where Padres Stand in Wild-Card Race After Comeback Win vs Marlins, Losses by Cubs and Phillies

The San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins, 8-2, on Friday night to improve to 85-69 on the year.

Both the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies lost their games on Friday night, and they each moved to 85-69 on the year, too.

Thus, there is a three-way tie in the National League wild-card race, with the Padres still sitting as the No. 6 seed because they lost the season series to both teams. However, the Padres are now well within striking distance of one of the top wild-card spots — and potentially even the top spot which would come with a home wild-card series.

The Nos. 4 and 5 seeds will play each other in a best-of-three series from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, while the No. 6 seed will play the No. 3 seed (which is currently the Atlanta Braves).

Padres Magic Number to Clinch Postseason Spot

Behind the Padres in the wild-card race is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost to the New York Yankees on Friday night, dropping five games back of San Diego for the third and final spot.

The Padres' number to clinch a playoff spot is now down to four.

Padres vs Marlins Game Recap on Friday

It was a pitchers' duel early on between Nick Pivetta and Tyler Phillips.

The Marlins struck first in the top of the third behind a solo home run by Agustín Ramirez. However, Pivetta was able to settle in and complete five innings of one-run ball.

Then, his offense put him in line for the win.

Phillips pitched 3.2 scoreless innings and got some help from Cade Gibson to finish off four shutout frames. However, Gibson came back out for the bottom of the fifth, and allowed consecutive hits before getting replaced by Tyler Zuber.

Samad Taylor had a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out, and after Ethan Salas flied out, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a game-tying RBI single.

Dustin Harris then hit a two-run single, and with two on and two out, Ty France crushed a three-run home run to send Petco Park into a frenzy.

It was France's 21st home run of the season, which set a new career high.

TY FRANCE BRINGING THE ENERGY pic.twitter.com/1DkVGzGb3F
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 19, 2026

Wandy Peralta relieved Pivetta and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. Then, David Morgan allowed a run over 1.1 frames while Adrian Morejon got the final out of the eighth.

The Padres tacked on in the bottom of the eighth, as Jackson Merill led the inning off with a home run. Then, three straight singles brought in another run to make it 8-2.

Right-hander Griffin Canning came on to close things out, allowing Mason Miller another day of rest. Miller hasn't pitched since Sept. 14.

“It’s a good vacation, for sure,” Miller said to reporters before Friday's game. “I think we’ve done a really good job of managing the workload this year, but it did get a little heavy there in San Francisco for all the guys, not just us. So being able to kind of spread it out over the bullpen and still win three out of four games in Colorado was big.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google