| SEASON | CAREER |
| W1 | 1 |
| L1 | 1 |
| G3 | 3 |
| IP17.1 | 17.0 |
| BB8 | 8 |
| SO12 | 12 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W3 | 5 |
| L3 | 9 |
| G30 | 90 |
| IP36.2 | 101.0 |
| BB19 | 53 |
| SO45 | 103 |
The Arizona Diamondbacks kept themselves on the fringe of the playoff conversation after taking two of three from the NL West leaders.
They would be a much more serious contender if they could figure out a way to beat the San Diego Padres .
After being swept in the last two series, the Diamondbacks try to avoid losing seven straight games to the Padres for the first time in franchise history in Friday night's opener at Petco Park.
Following a 2-9 stretch that put a dent in their postseason chances, the Diamondbacks (68-70) bounced back with victories in their last two games in San Francisco. After an 11-inning win on Tuesday, Trevor Cahill took a no-hitter into the seventh in Wednesday's 6-2 victory to pull Arizona within 9 1/2 games of the Giants. It is also 6 1/2 back of the NL's second wild-card spot.
"I think we have some character and we have some grit," manager Kirk Gibson told the Diamondbacks' official website. "The frustrating thing is you could look back and we probably could have won every game we played (on the trip)."
Arizona hasn't had as many close calls lately with the Padres (64-74), getting outscored 42-20 in losing the last six meetings.
San Diego's Yonder Alonso is hitting .400 with two home runs and nine RBIs during the winning streak, while Alexi Amarista and Chase Headley are each batting .333 with a homer and seven, and six RBIs, respectively.
Headley had a run-scoring double in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers , and is batting .354 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in his last 19 games. The Padres took two of three at Dodger Stadium, but are still 10 1/2 games back of a wild card.
Although San Diego's chances of making the playoffs are far less realistic than Arizona's, its 12-4 record since Aug. 19, is tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the best in baseball.
The Padres, winners of 16 of 21 at Petco Park, give the ball in the opener to Andrew Cashner (3-3, 3.44 ERA), who is making his first start since leaving his outing in Arizona on July 3 after two innings with a strained right lat muscle. That was his third start after 27 relief appearances.
In three rehab starts for Triple-A Tucson, the right-hander allowed three runs while striking out eight over nine innings.
"I'm ready to go," Cashner told the Padres' official website. "I got my three rehabilitation outings in and felt good. I worked on some stuff, getting strike one, following it up with strike two, going after hitters early in the count."
Cashner, who has 45 strikeouts in 36 2-3 innings for San Diego, will have to throw strikes in order to pitch deep Friday, as he's expected to be limited to around 70 pitches.
The Diamondbacks counter with Tyler Skaggs (1-1, 2.60), who is making his fourth major league start.
At Dodger Stadium on Saturday, the left-hander gave up one run and five hits in five innings of a 2-1 loss, but didn't get the decision. His command was improved, as he walked one after issuing seven base on balls and hitting two batters in his first two starts.
Skaggs' likely batterymate, Miguel Montero , has been locked in lately, batting .393 with a homer and four RBIs in his last six games. He is 1 for 6 with two strikeouts lifetime against Cashner, though, and is hitting .136 during the losing streak to the Padres.
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AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPS
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Willie Bloomquist | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .000 |
| Geoff Blum | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Miguel Montero | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .500 | .250 |
| Lyle Overbay | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Gerardo Parra | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .666 | .333 |
| Cody Ransom | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Ryan Roberts | 2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 2.500 | 2.000 |
| Justin Upton | 4 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chris Young | 4 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .600 | 1.850 | 1.250 |
 Arizona Diamondbacks |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 30, 2012 | Chris Johnson | Day-to-Day | Flu |
| August 21, 2012 | Justin Upton | Day-to-Day | Left game - Tight hamstring |
| August 17, 2012 | Jason Kubel | Day-to-Day | Neck stiffness |
| August 14, 2012 | Takashi Saito | 15-Day DL | Strained left hamstring |
| August 14, 2012 | Takashi Saito | 15-Day DL | Strained left hamstring |
| August 09, 2012 | Willie Bloomquist | 15-Day DL | Lower back stiffness |
 San Diego Padres |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 23, 2012 | Jason Marquis | 15-Day DL | Fractured left wrist |
| August 17, 2012 | Nick Hundley | Day-to-Day | Bruised right knee |
| August 16, 2012 | Nick Hundley | 60-Day DL | Bruised right knee |
| August 11, 2012 | Huston Street | 15-Day DL | Strained left calf |
| July 31, 2012 | Yasmani Grandal | 15-Day DL | Strained oblique |
| July 31, 2012 | Yasmani Grandal | 15-Day DL | Strained oblique |
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A hot August has segued nicely into September for San Diego slugger Chase Headley .
The third baseman drove in four runs on two home runs, including a solo shot leading off the eighth inning that lifted the Padres to their seventh straight victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks , 6-5 on Friday night.
Headley hit a three-run homer while batting right-handed in the third inning and then hit the go-ahead homer batting left-handed.
Headley is seeing the ball well from both sides of the plate.
"That's s a constant battle for a switch-hitter," Headley said. "Usually you don't feel good from both sides of the plate. It's usually one side and odds are you're going to face the side that you don't feel very good at - usually. To have both swings going pretty well, it's kind of a rare thing but it's definitely nice."
Coming off an August in which he had 10 homers and 31 RBIs to win NL Player of the Month honors, Headley extended his career highs to 26 home runs and 98 RBIs. He has four homers and 15 RBIs in six September games.
After the Diamondbacks rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game in the eighth, Headley opened the bottom of the inning with a shot to straightaway center field on a 3-1 pitch from David Hernandez (2-3).
Headley said he was over-aggressive when he fouled off the previous pitch.
"I wanted to do some damage with the pitch and kind of over swung," he said." It was nice to be able to step out and kind of re-think my approach at the plate and tell myself to not over swing and go up and execute after that. That was a good feeling."
Hernandez said he didn't want to walk Headley.
"He's swinging the bat really well," Hernandez said. "If he can hit it out to that part of the field, I'll give him that all day. We know he's probably their guy who can hit it out wherever, whatever, off of whomever. I wish I would have pitched him a little bit differently. I would have settled for a leadoff walk and go from there."
It was Headley's fourth career multi-homer game, all coming this year. It was his 14th game this season with three or more RBIs, the most in his career and the most by any major leaguer this season.
"Headley's on fire," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. "We know that. You just have to make good pitches. If you don't make good pitches, he's going to pound you like he did tonight."
In the third, Headley drove a 2-2 pitch from rookie Tyler Skaggs off the side of the 10-foot paint can that sits between the Western Metal Supply Co. building and the stands in left field to give the Padres the 5-0 lead. If a player homers into the can, Frazee Paint will donate $500,000 to the Padres Foundation.
"Dang. That would have been really cool," Headley said.
The defending NL West champion Diamondbacks entered the night 6 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card. Arizona has been outscored 48-25 in their seven straight losses to San Diego.
The Padres have won three straight and 13 of 17.
Brad Brach (2-4) got the final out of the eighth for the win. Luke Gregerson pitched the ninth for his fifth save in nine chances.
Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run double for the Padres in the first inning.
The Diamondbacks began their comeback when Tyler Wheeler's long fly ball to right field in the fifth went for a two-run double when Chris Denorfia missed making the catch against the wall. That brought in Miguel Montero and Chris Johnson , who opened the inning with singles off Cashner.
Wheeler added an RBI double in seventh to bring in Montero with an unearned run. Montero struck out leading off the inning but reached after the ball got away from catcher Grandal.
Arizona tied it in the eighth when Montero hit a two-run double off Tommy Layne , the third of four Padres relievers that inning.
San Diego's Andrew Cashner returned to the rotation after spending nearly two months on the disabled list with a strained right lat. He allowed two runs and four hits in five innings, struck out five and walked none.
Skaggs, making his fourth big league start, went only three innings, allowing five runs and five hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Notes: Arizona's Tyler Graham made his big league debut with a pinch-running appearance in the ninth. ... Cashner was making his fourth start of the season and first-ever at Petco Park. ... The series continues Saturday night when LHP Wade Miley (14-9, 2.90 ERA) is scheduled to start opposite San Diego's Casey Kelly (1-0, 3.86), who is scheduled to make his third big league start.
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Arizona Diamondbacks
