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It's been a long and grueling road trip for the
San Diego Padres
.
The Padres hope to finish the 11-game trek with a winning record Sunday when they play the finale of a four-game series against
the
Colorado Rockies
.
San Diego (55-49) has had mixed results on its longest road trip of the season. The Padres opened by losing three games to
San Francisco to fall out of first place in the NL West before recovering to win four straight.
The winning streak ended as Colorado (49-54) won the first two games of this series before San Diego recovered to post a 4-2
victory on Saturday.
Mike Cameron
had a go-ahead two-run triple in the fifth inning, and the Padres used five relievers to help starter
Chris Young
earn his ninth win of the year.
Cameron had been hitless in his last 22 at-bats against the Rockies before scoring
Eric Young
and
Mark Bellhorn
to put San Diego ahead for good. He went 2-for-3 after receiving a day off Friday.
''He needed it - there was no question he was running on empty,'' San Diego manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''We played in some hot weather in San Francisco and L.A., we had extra innings, he bruised his knee in L.A. Looking
back, I probably should have given him the first day off here.''
Second baseman
Josh Barfield
went hitless in four at-bats in the victory. He's hitting .406 (39-for-96) this month in 25 games and needs one hit Sunday
to record the 33rd 40-hit month in franchise history.
Mark Loretta
last accomplished the feat with 41 hits in Aug. 2004, and
Tony Gwynn
recorded 19 40-hit months for San Diego.
The Padres will call up rookie
Mike Thompson
(3-2, 4.32 ERA) from Triple-A Portland to make the start. Thompson will take the place of veteran
Chan Ho Park
, who is expected to be placed on the disabled list due to abdominal pain.
Thompson was sent down to Portland last Friday and made one start, allowing three runs and six hits over six innings in an
8-4, 11-inning victory at Las Vegas on Monday.
The right-hander grew up in southeastern Colorado and is making his first career start at Coors Field. He is facing the Rockies
for the second time this year after giving up three runs over six innings in a 5-0 defeat May 29 at Petco Park.
Colorado has lost 11 of 16 games since the All-Star break and was denied its first three-game winning streak in July with
Saturday's loss. The Rockies fell to 7-5 against the Padres this year.
Jason Jennings
(6-9, 3.70) is winless in his last six starts for Colorado, going 0-3 with a 2.93 ERA. He was a hard-luck loser in his last
outing Tuesday when he pitched a four-hitter for his third complete game of the year in a 1-0 loss to St. Louis.
Jennings wasn't upset by the lack of run support.
''I'm sure at some point in the year, I won't pitch good, they'll pick me up and hopefully we can get a win,'' Jennings said.
''They say it goes in cycles.''
Jennings is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against the Padres this season, including a two-hitter when he blanked them
on May 29. This is his first start this year against San Diego at home, where he's 3-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 10 outings.
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