Arizona outfielder Alek Thomas took the field with the Mexican flag as a cape in honor of his mother’s heritage and followed that entrance with a two-run homer against San Diego in the first game of the Mexico City Series on Saturday.

It was not enough to keep the Padres from remaining undefeated in the Mexico City Series history.

The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 Saturday in the first game of the 2026 edition after sweeping San Francisco in the first Mexico City Series in 2023.

“We can probably call this place Petco South,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said in reference to the Padres’ Petco Park home. “I think that’s a good nickname for it.”

San Diego’s Michael King (3-1, 2.28 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Kyle Nelson (1-2, 6.97) in the final game of the two-game set at the Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu on Sunday afternoon.

“Great moment for Alek,” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, noting that Thomas played for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic this spring.

“We’re going to come out tomorrow with everything we got to hopefully split this series,” Lovullo added Saturday. “There’s nothing we can do about today. There were some good moments and obviously moments that weren’t so good.”

The Padres overcame a 4-0 deficit behind two bases-empty homers by Ty France, and their four-run seventh inning was perhaps the D-backs’ worst half-inning of the season.

San Diego scored on two singles, three walks (one intentional), a balk, an error and two sacrifice flies. Gavin Sheets’ two-run single was the big blow. During the inning, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo left the game with a sprained left ankle after committing an error.

San Diego has won 13 of its past 15 games; the D-backs have lost four of five.

“The team never gives up, especially in a ballpark like this,” Stammen said. “Keep taking good at-bats and hopefully something gets through. We’re just piecing it together, playing good baseball and never giving up.

“So far this season we’ve been able to come back, and I think once you feel that and feel that early in the season, that becomes a little bit of your identity and who you are. So far, that’s been who we are.”

King has been strongest when the Padres have needed it the most this season. Opponents are hitting .179 against him with runners on base and .080 with runners in scoring position.

King came up as a relief pitcher with the New York Yankees and credits a mindset he developed there for his ability to rise to the occasion.

“I took a lot of pride in that, in terms of when you got yourself in some bad situations, you’ve got to get yourself out,” King told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “I kind of knew those situations and how to navigate it.”

King is coming off a 2-1 victory last Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., in a game in which he gave up only one hit in five scoreless innings but threw 105 pitches. He walked four batters.

Nelson enters after his worst career outing. He allowed eight runs and eight hits and retired only one of the 10 batters he faced in the first inning of a 10-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Sunday.

“I assume it is going to be kind of like pitching in Colorado,” Nelson said of the altitude in Mexico City, elevation 7,350 feet. “I’ll probably take the same approach. Just stick to my game plan, and if I need to make adjustments, make adjustments.”

King is 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA in three career starts against Arizona. Nelson is 4-3 with a 4.83 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against San Diego. He has surrendered 11 home runs to the Padres in 54 innings.

–Field Level Media

A pair of 27-year-old right-handers who are off to successful starts will face relatively unfamiliar opponents on Sunday afternoon when Max Meyer and the Miami Marlins close a three-game road series against Landen Roupp and the San Francisco Giants.

The teams have split the first two games of the set, with the Giants drawing even Saturday in a 6-2 win after the Marlins dominated the opener 9-4.

Meyer (1-0, 3.96 ERA) has allowed no more than three runs in any of his outings this season, with Miami winning three of his five starts. He limited the St. Louis Cardinals to two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings on Monday, striking out a season-best eight in his team’s 5-3 home win.

The fourth-year major-leaguer has never faced the Giants, who experienced an interesting situation on Saturday when designated hitter Casey Schmitt slipped rounding second base in the second inning of a scoreless game, eventually costing San Francisco a run. But Schmitt responded with a tie-breaking, two-run home run four innings later, giving the hosts a lead they never relinquished.

Giants manager Tony Vitello insisted to reporters afterward that he was not surprised how the sequence of events unfolded.

“He makes the coaches feel comfortable around him because he’s not afraid to laugh at himself, which we all have to do because we all make mistakes,” Vitello noted of Schmitt. “He wants to win. When an obstacle comes up, he gets a little more determined. I don’t think it’s a coincidence (the home run) happened.”

The Giants’ Roupp (4-1, 2.28 ERA) has been the club’s best starter in the early going, including a current three-game personal winning streak in which he held the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers to a total of two runs and seven hits in 17 innings, striking out 17. He has won his last two starts despite getting just three runs of support in each.

Roupp has thrown just one inning against the Marlins in his three-year career, a hitless ninth in a 7-5 home loss in September 2024.

The right-hander will have to deal with a lineup that’s been much more productive against righty pitchers this season, including the season-high-tying, 16-hit outburst in a game started by right-hander Adrian Houser on Friday. The Marlins weren’t nearly as effective Saturday as the Giants threw three left-handers, including starter Robbie Ray.

Miami began the weekend with the third-highest team batting average in baseball (.276) against right-handers.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said he loved watching the show Friday, one in which his team put up nine or more runs for the fourth time this season. All four surges have come in games started by opposing right-handers.

“From the very beginning I thought our approach was outstanding,” McCullough said after Friday’s win. “Our swing decisions were outstanding. It was just a real offensive clinic, one through nine, with the type of quality at-bats.”

–Field Level Media

A resurgent Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense will take on the visiting Chicago Cubs in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

The Dodgers snapped the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak with a 12-4 win on Saturday night.

Teoscar Hernandez was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs as Los Angeles racked up 14 hits. Hitless in his previous three games, Hernandez lined a two-RBI single up the middle in a six-run fourth inning.

“I haven’t been on base for the last couple games, but it is OK, everyone goes through that,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep up doing that and be consistent with it.”

Shohei Ohtani also snapped an 0-for-12 skid over his previous three games when he led off the game with an opposite-field single.

Andy Pages, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland posted two-hit games as the Dodgers scored in double digits for a major league-leading fifth time this season. The Cubs have scored in double figures in four games.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Max Muncy will be out on Sunday. The Dodgers third baseman felt sick yet still hit his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third.

“Muncy wasn’t feeling well,” Roberts said. “We talked and said to him, give us what you got, three at-bats. That’s what we did and felt good about getting him three at-bats. Max will be down tomorrow and be back in there on Monday.”

Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (3-0, 1.88 ERA) is slated to start for the Dodgers. He covered seven innings in his most recent start and earned the decision in a 12-3 road win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday, yielding one run on eight hits with three strikeouts.

In his past three starts — all wins– he has allowed only two runs in a combined 20 innings. He never has faced the Cubs.

“At the end of the day I am going out there and doing the same thing every time,” Wrobleski said. “That’s trying to fill the zone, create contact and see what happens.”

Chicago’s scheduled starter is Shota Imanaga (2-1, 2.17), who earned the win when he surrendered one run on three hits over seven innings in his last start, a 7-4 home win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

The lefty is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA on the road this season. In four career starts against Los Angeles, Imanaga has a 1-0 record with a 3.48 ERA.

“I come to the field every day, whether it’s a start day or not, with the same responsibility,” Imanaga said. “I know if someone gets injured I can help cover them. We have a very tight circle with full support.”

He has a stellar defense in the field — the Cubs are ranked No. 1 on FanGraphs with 17 defensive runs saved — and knows he can pitch to contact.

“It helps with my confidence as well, knowing that behind me, the Cubs’ defense is the best of all 30 teams,” Imanaga said. “If I can control and avoid damage and extra-base hits, I know they are going to get outs. So it’s a big confidence booster.”

–Field Level Media