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Despite having one of the worst home records in the NL, the
San Diego Padres
still are in contention for a playoff spot.
The Padres look to shake their recent home struggles when they begin a 10-game homestand against NL West rivals Monday night
with the start of a four-game series against the slumping
San Francisco Giants
.
San Diego (60-57) has won just five of its last 14 games at Petco Park, and its 28-31 home record this season is the fourth
worst in the NL. The Padres are looking for their first three-game home winning streak since May 30-June 9.
''I said all along, that's what it was going to take to win the division - a long winning streak,'' Padres manager
Bruce Bochy
said.
San Diego starts play 1 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading
Los Angeles Dodgers
, and trail Cincinnati by a one-half game in the wild card race.
The Padres return to Southern California after winning the final two games of a six-game road trip versus the
New York Mets
and Houston. San Diego defeated the Astros 7-2 on Sunday as
Mike Cameron
homered for the second straight game and finished with three hits.
''Winning these last two games couldn't have been better for us, especially after losing the first four on this trip,'' Cameron
said. ''Now we can go home for two weeks against teams in our own division. We can only build on these two wins.''
After this series, San Diego will play three games each against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers before a six-game road swing
at Colorado and Arizona.
San Diego has lost five of its last six to the Giants (54-63), but San Francisco has been plummeting lately. The Giants dropped
their fifth in a row and 16th in 19 games with a 1-0 loss in 10 innings to the Dodgers on Sunday.
The Dodgers'
Greg Maddux
and Giants'
Jason Schmidt
matched zeros for eight innings Sunday before Los Angeles'
Russell Martin
homered off
Vinnie Chulk
to lead off to the 10th. It was the first time San Francisco had been swept in a three-game series in Los Angeles since September
1989.
''We're kind of beating ourselves,'' Giants reliever
Mike Stanton
said.
San Francisco has dropped 13 of 14 on the road, and is a season-worst nine games under .500.
Barry Bonds
, who has not homered since Aug. 4, is hitting .167 (2-for-12) in his last five games, and just .200 (11-for-55) with two
homers in 18 career games at Petco Park.
If the slumping Bonds starts, he will face
Clay Hensley
(7-9, 4.08 ERA), who looks to continue his strong home outings this season. In his last six home starts, the right-hander
has not allowed more than two runs per game while posting a 5-1 record in that span.
Hensley matched a career-high with six strikeouts Wednesday in New York against the Mets, but gave up four runs, nine hits
and walked four over six innings of a 4-3 loss. His only career win against the Giants came he allowed one hit in 3 2-3 innings
of relief on Sept. 27.
San Francisco has shaken up its starting staff, bringing
Brad Hennessey
(4-2, 2.93) back into the rotation for his first start since July 1 in place of
Jamey Wright
.
Hennessey faced the Padres in that start, allowing one run and four hits in six innings of a 4-1, 10-inning loss. In eight
relief appearances since then, he's gone 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA allowing eight runs and 13 hits in 11 innings.
Five of those runs have come in Hennessey's last three outings. In two career starts at San Diego, Hennessey has no record,
a 2.25 ERA and opponent batting average of .171.
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