Diamondbacks Avoid Sweep, Saunders Strong In 5-1 Victory Over Padres

The Arizona Diamondbacks came one step closer to ensuring a postseason spot as they defeated the San Diego Padres, 5-1 in afternoon action at Petco Park.

Joe Saunders earned his 12th win of the season for the D-backs, going 8 2/3 innings before getting pulled in favor of J.J. Putz, who locked down his 41st save of the 2011 campaign.

Miguel Montero and Paul Goldschmidt both homered for Arizona, who improved to 88-65 on the season. Goldschmidt's three RBI paced the team, driving in runs in the 4th, 7th and 9th innings to pad the lead.

With Milwaukee also winning today, the D-backs are still two games behind the Brewers for homefield in the first round of the playoffs. This was a big win for Arizona, who has only won six of their last ten games while the San Francisco Giants have won eight in a row.

There are now nine games left in the regular season, and the Diamondbacks are five games ahead of the Giants for the NL West pennant. The two teams meet for a three game series in Phoenix on September 23-25, games that will certainly mean something.

For more on the D-backs, check out AZ Snake Pit.

Diamondbacks Can't Muster Offense In 3-1 Loss To Pads

The Arizona Diamondbacks took an early first inning lead off of a solo home run from Aaron Hill, but that would be the last mark the team would make on the scoreboard on Saturday night. The D-backs fell 3-1 to the San Diego Padres and guaranteed their first losing series since the Atlanta Braves swept them in mid-August.

Josh Collmenter avoided falling into an early hole — dodging the latest D-backs trend — but he still allowed all three runs over his seven innings pitched, including solo homers to Orlando Hudson and Jeremy Hermida. With the loss, Collmenter falls to 9-10.

Arizona managed only five hits in the game, matching their meager output from Friday night’s 2-0 loss to San Diego. Heavy hitters Justin Upton and Gerardo Parra were both shut out through seven at-bats. Miguel Montero snagged two doubles, but neither led to any runs. After a six-game losing streak in August, the team seemed like they were finding some offensive spark again, but they have not been able to score more than three runs in any one outing of their three-game losing streak.

The D-backs are picking the wrong time to falter, too. After briefly finagling their way into a tie for second place in the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers have taken advantage, victorious in their last two outings. Arizona’s divisional competition, the San Francisco Giants, have also seized the opportunity. They are now riding a seven-game winning streak to close the gap to 5 games behind Arizona. Though it would take a historic collapse for the Giants to overtake them, the D-backs are making things very hard on themselves late in the season.

For more Arizona Diamondbacks coverage, head to SB Nation’s blog, AZ Snake Pit.

Bats Fail Arizona Diamondbacks In 2-0 Loss To SD Padres, Fall Behind Brewers In MLB Playoff Race

The Arizona Diamondbacks were unable to generate any offense Friday night as they opened up their final series on the road of the regular season. Starter Wade Miley allowed two first inning runs and that was all the scoring as Tim Stauffer and the San Diego Padres keep Arizona from moving a game closer to clinching the NL West, winning 2-0.

In the bottom of the first inning, Miley continued the pattern of Arizona starters allowing runs to fall behind early. Jesus Guzman drove in Jason Bartlett with a single and then scored on a double by Nick Hundley. 

After that, Miley settled down and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and three walks. 

His counterpart, Tim Stauffer, was dealing. In 6 2/3 innings, he allowed only four hits and did not walk a batter. He came out with stiffness in his arm, but Anthony Bass, former D-Back Chad Qualls and Heath Bell shut the door the rest of the way. 

Bell pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to get his 38th save. Miley falls to 3-2 on the year. Stauffer improves to 9-12 with the win. 

With the loss, Arizona falls one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the race for the number two seed in the playoffs. They also lost a game off their lead to the San Francisco Giants. The lead is now six games with 11 left on the schedule. The magic number remains at six as well.

Arizona Diamondbacks Vs. San Diego Padres: Last Road Series Of 2011

The D-backs open up their final road series of the season. Wade Miley, Josh Collmenter and Joe Saunders are scheduled to pitch.