Padres Drop 4 On Saunders In 1st, Diamondbacks Lose Series

Joe Saunders gave up four runs in the first inning to the Padres and then pitched five more clean. But with the Diamondbacks only plating three in the game it was all San Diego needed to get the 2-1 series win.

Saunder gave up a single, a double, a walk and then Jorge Cantu blasted a 1-2 pitch over the fence and boom, the Padres were up. Joe settled in a pitched well for the rest of the game and the bull pen gave two solid innings. Offensively, the D-backs scored two in the second and another in the eight. The offense came from a Josh Wilson RBI double playing in place of Stephen Drew (groin) and then Saunders pushed Wilson across with a single. Justin Upton scored in the eight off a sacrifice fly from Xavier Nady.

The D-backs now head up the coast to start a series in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Visit AZ Snake Pit for more on this game and all your D-backs needs. 

Diamondbacks Look To Win Series Against Padres In Decisive Game 3

The Diamondbacks secured a 6-0 win in Saturday's Game 2 against the San Diego Padres behind the pitching of  Daniel Hudson. Today's Game 3 will decide the winner of the series.

Arizona will start Joe Saunders (0-3, 5.67 ERA). Saunders has struggled this season, most recently giving up three runs, six hits and three walks in six innings against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. He will have to eliminate his recent poor play today in order to give the Diamondbacks a shot at the series win.

The Padres will start Aaron Harang (4-2, 4.37 ERA). After winning his first four starts this year, Harang has dropped his last two. Looking to rebound and recapture his early season success, Harang will try to get his first win against the Diamondbacks in nearly eight years today.

Sunday's game starts at 1:05 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona. Be sure to check out the live game thread at AZ Snake Pit.

Hudson, D-backs Blank Pads In 6-0 Victory

Daniel Hudson was flashing stuff from all the way back to 2010, as he dominated for seven innings to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-0 shutout victory over the San Diego Padres.

Hudson did not allow a run during his time on the mound, and his efforts reflect an overall uptick in the performance of the D-backs starting pitchers. He had six strikeouts, five hits, and zero walks for the evening. This was the third time in his career Hudson had gone 7.0 or more scoreless innings. He is now 3-4 on the season. He and fellow starter Ian Kennedy have gotten their games back on track as of late after rough starts to the season.

Justin Upton led an early productive Diamondbacks offense, with a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Stephen Drew, Melvin Mora, and Juan Miranda added RBIs of their own. 2011 sensation Ryan Roberts had three singles, and scored three runs.

Padres righty Dustin Moseley had a tough night, giving up all six runs in the first four innings. He is now 1-4, though his ERA remains at 2.

The series is now tied, and the two teams will finish up the series on Sunday afternoon. D-backs LHP Joe Saunders (0-3, 5.67 ERA) will be facing off against the Pads' RHP Aaron Harang (4-2, 4.37 ERA).

D-Backs Look To Rebound, Snap Six-Game Road Losing Streak Tonight Against Padres

Diamondbacks Walk To Loss At Petco In 11th, 4-3

The Arizona Diamondbacks walked 10 Padres hitters on Friday, including the walk off walk in the 11th inning. The upside was breaking Heath Bell's streak of 41 consecutive saves by plating two runs against him in the ninth but that was small consolation for the team that continues to struggle on the road and against teams with sub-.500 records.

Daniel Hudson (2-4, 5.30) throws Saturday against the Padres' best pitcher this season, Dustin Moseley (1-3, 1.63).

Saturday's start time is 5:35 p.m. with the broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona and the live game thread at AZ Snake Pit.

Padres 4, Diamondbacks 3: Extra Inning Hopes Demel-olished by Walk - AZ Snake Pit
Tonight, Armando "Don't call me Andres" Galarraga went up against Tim "Animal Crackers" Stauffer. One of these things was better than the other, and not in a good way. But sometimes, you get a glitter of hope that lets you know that things are good in the world. Then like a half hour later that hope is stomped on by a tag-team of Pablo Sandoval and Prince Fielder.

Arizona Diamondbacks Square Off With San Diego Padres For Control Of NL West Cellar

The Arizona Diamondbacks (14-16) begin a three-series road trip against their California NL West rivals in San Diego. The Padres (12-19) currently sit at the bottom of the NL West but that could change with this three-game duel. The Padres were expected to once again compete for the division but had a rough April thanks mostly to the lack of offense.

The Padres are at the bottom of the league in almost every major offensive statistical category and are dead last in batting average at just .218. The D-backs are hitting a healthier .248 and haven't lost the power (38 HRs, 3rd in MLB) with the departure of Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche. 

Pitching though is what propelled that Padres last season and it's still their strength. They have a team ERA of 2.96 compared to 4.67 for the D-backs. So basically, this is a battle of a good offensive team against a good pitching team in a pitcher's friendly park. 

Game 1 on Friday features Armando Galarraga (3-2, 5.46 ERA) versus Tim Stauffer (0-1, 3.12 ERA). Then comes Hudson (2-4) vs. Moseley (1-3 and Saunders (0-3) vs. Harang (4-2). The D-backs will miss Matt Latos but he's been struggling this year (0-4, 4.55) so that's no blessing. 

The Snakes are coming off a series win against the division-leading Rockies. Now let's see if they can beat the Padres and avoid being forced to the bottom of the pack by a sweep.

Friday's game starts at 7:05 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona with the game thread live at AZ Snake Pit.

Series Preview #11: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres - AZ Snake Pit
Of course, all of that just makes what has happened in 2011 that much sadder (for Padres fans, at least).  The 2011 Padres host the Diamondbacks this weekend while sporting a 12-19 record, second-worst in the majors.  Since they couldn't afford to resign Adrian Gonzalez, their star first baseman, they were forced to trade him to the Red Sox over the winter, robbing an already suspect offense of its best player. 

Padres fans are frustrated and dejected, having just watched their team drop a depressing series to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates.  Sure the season's still early, but the Padres have one of the worst offenses in the league right now, and there's no clear indication that it's going to get better right away.