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Manager
Bob Melvin
believes the
Arizona Diamondbacks
have played well against San Diego this year because they caught the Padres at the right time.
If that's the case, the schedule has worked in his favor again.
The Diamondbacks look to solidify their hold on second place in the NL West when they try to hand the struggling Padres their
fifth straight loss in the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park on Friday.
Arizona (61-60) is 5-1 against San Diego (60-61) this year, including three road wins. The teams are meeting for the first
time since the Diamondbacks won two of three from May 15-17.
''I think a lot of times it's when you catch a team,'' Melvin said. ''When we caught them last time, they weren't playing
very well. As a matter of fact, they were playing about as poorly as they could play, especially offensively.
''Timing has a lot to do with at times how you do against a team in a particular year.''
If Melvin is correct, Arizona could be in for a productive weekend. San Diego is coming off a four-game series by San Francisco
to fall below .500 for the first time since May 5.
The Padres lost twice by one run and once in 13 innings to the Giants before an 8-4 defeat on Thursday. San Diego batters
struck out 25 times in the last two games and went 2-for-28 with runners in scoring position in the series.
''There's no getting around it - we were awful this series,'' Padres manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''I was, the club, all of us. We just had a horrible series. We have to wash this off, regroup and get things going.''
Both teams are chasing the first-place
Los Angeles Dodgers
in the West, with Arizona three games back and San Diego four out. The Diamondbacks also are one game behind Cincinnati for
the NL wild card.
Arizona rookie
Enrique Gonzalez
(3-4, 4.98) is 0-2 with a 4.97 ERA over his last five outings. He gave up four runs - one earned - and five hits over six
innings and took the loss in a 6-5 defeat against Florida on Sunday.
Gonzalez's defense let him down when third baseman
Chad Tracy
made two errors on one play.
''He threw the ball reasonably well,'' Melvin said of Gonzalez's effort. ''Had a little trouble with his slider, locating
his slider a little bit today.'' He's a little bit of a struggle early on in the first couple innings.''
The right-hander, who has never faced San Diego, is 1-2 with a 7.59 ERA in six road starts this year.
The Diamondbacks began a 16-game stretch against NL West opponents by settling for a four-game split with Colorado after an
8-4 loss on Thursday. Arizona has the best record by any NL West team against divisional foes at 27-20.
Woody Williams
(5-4, 3.79), who starts for San Diego, is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA in his last three appearances at Petco Park. Williams won for
the first time in five starts overall by giving up two runs and eight hits over seven innings in a 7-2 victory at Houston
on Sunday.
The right-hander, who turns 40 on Saturday, hasn't beaten Arizona in six starts since Sept. 28, 2003 while with St. Louis.
He's 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA against the Diamondbacks since then.
This is Williams' second start this season against Arizona. He allowed two runs and seven hits over 6 2-3 innings in a 3-2
loss on April 26.
Arizona left fielder
Luis Gonzalez
is 7-for-48 in his career against Williams. Right fielder
Shawn Green
is 16-for-42 (.381) - the highest average of any Diamondbacks regular against him.
Green is 13-for-25 against San Diego this season.
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