The Arizona Diamondbacks seek to tighten the race for the NL West, if not for a wild card spot, with the San Diego Padres coming into Phoenix for a three-game series At this point in the season, the D-backs need wins to keep pace with the surging San Francisco Giants and the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers, as Arizona tries to narrow the gap being only three games behind reeling L.A.

The trouble is, the Padres come to Chase Field having swept a three-game series there in July. And they'll be brimming with even more confidence having just swept the Pittsburgh Pirates at home, giving them four wins in a row.

The Diamondbacks are 6-4 in their last 10 games having swept a doubleheader from the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, the first double-dip in the history of Chase Field. The Padres are 5-5 over 10 games, not bad for a team that is 56-70 overall.

These games clearly mean more to Arizona, and Friday's opener at 6:40 p.m. in Arizona pits the Padres' Eric Stults (3-2, 3.06 ERA) against Arizona youngster Patrick Corbin (5-4, 3.60). Corbin is 3-0 in last four starts.

Clayton Richard goes for the Padres against Diamondbacks No. 1 starter Ian Kennedy on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. The series finale matches the Padres' Edinson Volquez against Joe Saunders of the Diamondbacks at 1:10 p.m.

All games can be seen of Fox Sports Arizona and Fox Sports San Diego.

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