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If the
San Diego Padres
want the chance to defend their NL West crown, they will have to win in a place they've not had much success in.
San Diego (66-64) meets the
Arizona Diamondbacks
in the start of a three-game series at Chase Field on Monday, wrapping up a 16-game stretch against NL West foes.
The Padres begin play just one-half game behind Cincinnati for the NL wild card, and trail the
Los Angeles Dodgers
by two games for the division lead.
Arizona (63-67), though, has taken 10 of its last 14 at home from the Padres, and its 49 home wins against them are the most
it's recorded against any team. The Diamondbacks start play 3 1/2 games behind the Reds for the wild card, and five games
behind the division-leading Dodgers.
Resurgent veteran
Woody Williams
(7-4, 3.60 ERA) looks to win his fourth consecutive start for San Diego. The 40-year-old right-hander has lasted at least
seven innings in his last three starts, and has limited opponents to only six runs and 17 hits in the 21 2-3 innings.
''Woody's done a great job for us,'' Padres manager
Bruce Bochy
said. ''We like our chances with him out there.''
Against the Dodgers on Wednesday, Williams allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings of a 7-2 win to cap a three-game
sweep of their Southern California rivals.
''I made a lot of mistakes,'' Williams said. ''I was very lucky tonight. Guys played great defense.''
Williams is 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA in two starts this season against Arizona, but both outings were in San Diego. Since joining
the Padres in 2005, he's made one start at Chase Field allowing two runs and nine hits in over 5 1-3 innings but didn't get
a decision in a 4-3 loss in 10 innings on Sept. 25.
San Diego fell to 6-7 during its current stretch against divisonal opponents after falling to Colorado 6-3 on Sunday.
Adrian Gonzalez
hit a two-run homer and
Brian Giles
added a solo shot after San Diego fell behind 6-0.
Ace
Brandon Webb
(13-5, 2.99) looks to match a career high for wins and continue his recent dominance at home for Arizona. The right-hander,
who won 14 games last season, is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last three home starts.
Overall, he is 7-1 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 home starts this year. He also will pitch one day after learning of the death of
former Kentucky teammate Jon Hooker who was among 49 killed early Sunday when a commuter jet crashed during take off at Blue
Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky.
There was a moment of silence before Arizona's 6-3 loss to the Dodgers. Webb declined comment about the tragedy.
Webb has struggled in his last two outings, both on the road, giving up 10 runs and 12 hits in 11 innings.
''Off again mechanically,'' Webb said after yielding three runs and four hits in five innings Tuesday during a 7-6 loss to
San Francisco. ''I threw a ton of pitches, falling behind every batter.''
He failed to record a decision for just the second time since June 5.
Arizona's
Luis Gonzalez
, who leads the NL with 46 doubles, needs one more to move past Hall of Famer
Rogers Hornsby
into sole possession of 22nd on the all-time list with 532.
Gonzalez is hitting only .137 (7-for-51) with two career doubles against Williams.
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