MEXICO CITY — When the Padres took leads of 6-0 and 7-1 on Sunday over the Diamondbacks, leading by six runs at the end of the sixth inning, it seemed that San Diego was on its way to sweeping all four games of its participation in the Mexico City Seriesafter winning their two games in 2023 over the Giants at the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium.
However, Arizona’s bats exploded with a run in the sixth inning, followed by six in the seventh and four in the eighth. In this way, the Diamondbacks punished the Padres relief pitcher to win Sunday’s game 12-7 and divide the series of two clashes in Mexico City.
“We responded well to tough, difficult circumstances,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who saw three of his players — Zac Gallen, Geraldo Perdomo and Adrián del Castillo — have to leave games with various injuries. “These guys continued to fight. It’s our DNA, our culture of never giving up anything. Things weren’t looking good, but we did win a very important game.”
As expected in an environment with an elevation of more than 7,300 feet above sea level, there were a lot of long balls and a lot of offense in this two-game series.
In total, 39 hits were connected, nine of which were home runs. And between the two teams, 29 runs were scored.
Furthermore, returns were the order of the day. On Saturday, San Diego reacted after being down 4-0, triumphing with a score of 6-4. The Padres are the best comeback artists, leading the major leagues with five comebacks after trailing by four scores or more so far this season.
However, on Sunday, Arizona returned the favor, scoring 11 unanswered runs from San Diego starting in the seventh inning to turn the score around.
“You never want to give up a game where you have a six-run lead at one point,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “But the circumstances are different here in this stadium. A six-run lead, a five-run lead, they really aren’t advantages here. Anything can happen and it did happen today.
“We’ve been on the good side of this so far, but now we get a taste of what it feels like on the other side.”
The Diamondbacks’ offensive heroes on Sunday were Venezuelan Ildemaro Vargas (5-3, double, triple, home run, four RBIs), Tim Tawa (grand slam), Venezuelan José Fernández (4-3, HR and three runs scored) and Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (two-run double that gave Arizona the definitive lead in the seventh).
“We scored (10) runs against one of the best bullpens in the Major Leagues,” Lovullo highlighted. “We are very proud of that.”
In particular, Vargas has been a very notable hitter for the Diamondbacks this year. After extending his hitting streak to 23 games since September 26, the versatile player has a .367/.383/.722 line (1.105 OPS) with six doubles, six home runs and 20 RBIs in his first 20 games of 2026.
“Grateful to God, because really, it is a beautiful opportunity for me,” Vargas said about participating in the Mexico City Series. “And happier when things go well and the team wins.”
And the elevation in Mexico City?
“Everything flowed well, thank God,” Vargas said about it. “We prepared for this event and thank God, we were able to divide.”
In total, 39,301 fans attended the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium between the two games, in a stadium with a capacity of just over 20,000. In other words, there was a full house for both dates with music, dancing and partying typical of events in Latin America — just as was the case with the first two Mexico City Series in 2023 (Giants-Padres) and 2024 (Rockies-Astros).
In fact, the General Director of the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium, Francisco Ramos, stated that tickets for both games were sold out in approximately 38 minutes after the series was announced.
“Thank God, we were able to put on a good show,” said Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte. “It was something very nice.”
