Merrill Kelly’s seven-inning gem fueled the Arizona Diamondbacks' series-splitting victory, keeping both them and the San Diego Padres neck-and-neck in the Wild Card race.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres finished a four-game series in the same position when they started.
Both teams came into this series with the same record and now, after both winning a pair, they head into their final series before the All-Star break at 46-47.
An even .500 record is within reach for both teams, but neither could pull away with a series victory this time around. Arizona took game one, San Diego took games two and three, and then the Diamondbacks prevailed in the series finale, 3-1.
Merrill Kelly pitched a seven inning gem, one that saw him pick up his seventh win of the season. He improves to 7-8 while the Diamondbacks helped hand Griffin Canning his seventh loss of the 2026 season.
Kelly shines in final first-half start
The Diamondbacks know they need to get Kelly and Zac Gallen going if they want to truly compete in the second half. If Kelly is able to make starts like this more consistently, the team will be in good shape.
Kelly struck out six batters in his 7.0 innings of work. He allowed just three hits, and the lone run that came across was a solo shot in the second inning.
For once, an early Diamondbacks deficit didn't mean the death of them. Sure, they trailed 1-0, but they scored a run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning to help salvage this series and come away with a two-run victory.
"With how my season's been going this year, it probably means a little bit more," Kelly said, according to MLB.com. "Just that I was finally able to deliver when they needed me. So we're happy about that. Obviously, happy we got the series [split], and hopefully we can keep this momentum going into the weekend."
Kelly continued, "It's going to be the mindset from here on out. You know, I obviously wasn't happy with what I was doing before."
One series remaining
Even after the win, the Diamondbacks are still 14.5 games back in the National League West. Whether or not they're buyers at the deadline remains to be seen. Winning the division isn't out of the question, but a Wild Card spot is certainly more realistic.
"I think there's definitely some urgency. We know what's kind of looming around the corner after the [All-Star] break and we're in a spot where we've been kind of treading water a little bit," Kelly added.
Arizona had just two RBIs on the night. Max Kepler tied the game up at one thanks to a wild pitch, Geraldo Perdomo had an RBI single in the fifth, and then Nolan Arenado hit a solo homer in the sixth.
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