The San Diego Padres began their final series of 2016 on Friday, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Aside from the effect on draft position, the result had a negligible effect on the standings. The Padres fell to 68-92, still the seventh-worst record in the majors. The Dbacks, now at 67-93, took possession of the fourth-worst mark.
For the Padres, a meeting between the National League West’s bottom two teams did provide perhaps one last look at a veteran pitcher and more glimpses of potential mainstays on the offensive side.
Right-hander Edwin Jackson surrendered five scores over six innings, undone by a pair of two-run homers, both of which came with two outs.
Jackson was one out from ending the third inning when he issued a walk. He fell behind the next batter, Paul Goldschmidt, before the Dbacks first baseman slugged a 435-foot homer to center.
Jackson was one out from ending the sixth when he permitted a double to Brandon Drury. Again, he fell behind in the ensuing at-bat. Chris Owings sent a drive into the right-field seats.
Jackson, who signed a minor league deal in June after being released by Miami, finished his season with a 5.89 ERA. In 13 starts for the Padres, he went 5-6 with a 5.97 ERA. The 33-year-old will be a free agent this winter.
Padres second baseman Ryan Schimpf outdid Goldschimdt in the fourth, hammering a 456-foot, two-run homer off the bottom of the Chase Field videoboard. That made him just the third rookie in franchise history to reach 20 home runs; he joined Nate Colbert (24 home runs in 1969) and Jedd Gyorko (23 in 2013).
Another Padres rookie, Manuel Margot, delivered in the same inning. The outfielder went the opposite way for an RBI double, giving him five extra-base hits through his first 26 big-league at-bats.
Otherwise, the Padres offense was muzzled by Dbacks starter Braden Shipley.
Padres manager Andy Green spent part of Friday morning observing Instructional League workouts in Peoria, Ariz. Many of the organization’s top young prospects, including ones who were drafted in June or acquired during the current international signing period, later bused to Chase Field to watch the Padres’ series opener against the Dbacks.
“It’s an exciting breed of athlete that’s there,” Green said. “This is my first time seeing those guys ... but you saw, just in general, the athleticism of the group, and it was a very impressive level of athleticism for young kids.”
Green will return to the Padres’ spring-training complex Saturday morning. He plans to address the “instructs” group then. That group will travel to San Diego next week and play a pair of exhibition games against Texas Rangers prospects at Petco Park. The second of the exhibitions, scheduled for Friday at 7:10pm, will be open to the public.

Free agent
Shortstop Nick Noonan cleared outright waivers this week and elected free agency. Noonan, 27, had been designated for assignment a week earlier.
The Francis Parker graduate signed a minor league deal with the Padres in February and spent most of the season with Triple-A El Paso.