(Sports Network) - The San Diego Padres will try to continue their dominance
of the Arizona Diamondbacks when the two NL West foes collide Friday in the
opener of a three-game series at Petco Park.
The Padres have won eight of the 12 matchups so far with the Diamondbacks and
recently swept them in a three-game series from Aug. 24-26. San Diego has won
six in a row against Arizona -- all at Chase Field -- but is 2-4 as the host.
San Diego, which is opening a nine-game homestand tonight versus the D-backs,
Cardinals and Rockies, went 3-3 on a recent road trip and took two out of
three encounters with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a 4-3 win on Wednesday,
Chase Headley had two hits and an RBI, while Everth Cabrera went 2-for-4 with
a run scored and Will Venable scored twice.
Padres starter Clayton Richard allowed three runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings
for the no-decision and Nick Vincent picked up the win with 1 1/3 scoreless
innings of relief. Tom Layne, the sixth reliever used by the Padres, later
nailed down his second save by getting the final out of the game.
"We've got a lot of guys in the bullpen who can throw strikes," Vincent said
on the club's website. "For us younger guys who have been going up and down, I
think that we're starting to get comfortable. And that's one of the best
lineups in the league over there."
Headley is batting .347 with five homers, 13 runs and 21 RBI in his last 17
games. The Padres are 12-5 in that time.
Andrew Cashner will start for the Friars tonight for the first time since July
3 at Arizona because of a shoulder injury. The right-hander lasted two innings
in that one and is 3-3 with a 3.44 earned run average in 30 games (3 starts)
this season. Cashner, who last won on June 1 versus the D-backs, is 1-0 with a
2.38 ERA in six career games, two of which have been starts, in this series.
The Diamondbacks will begin the final leg of their 10-game road trip and just
won two of three matchups in San Francisco.
Arizona took the series by the bay with Wednesday's 6-4 win behind 6 1/3
strong innings from Trevor Cahill. Cahill took a no-hitter into the seventh
inning and held the Giants to a pair of runs and two hits.
"Your adrenaline starts getting up and I was trying to maybe do too much at
the end and just kind of got a little bit tired," Cahill said.
Chris Johnson stroked a two-run double, while Aaron Hill, Paul Goldschmidt,
Miguel Montero and John McDonald all knocked in a run for the Diamondbacks,
who are 4-3 so far on the trek. Hill fell a triple short of the cycle. He
already has achieved the feat twice this season.
Taking the mound for D-backs tonight will be Tyler Skaggs. The left-handed
rookie is 1-1 with a 2.60 earned run average in three starts, and tossed five
innings of one-run ball at Los Angeles on Saturday. He has lasted at least
five innings in each start and will face San Diego for the first time.
The Sports Network