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D-backs' Rally Falls Short In 6-5 Loss To Padres

The Diamondbacks left the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning.

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12 Total Updates since September 18, 2012
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Diamondbacks Unable To Get Hit At Most Crucial Time

Losses at this point in the season are damaging when trying to stay alive for a postseason berth, and the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the San Diego Padres, 6-5, Thursday afternoon at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks had the bases loaded with no out trailing by one, but could not push even the tying run across home plate.

A three-run home run by Jesus Guzman with two out in the first inning off D-backs starter Tyler Skaggs put the home team in a hole early, and Arizona never made up the deficit.

The Diamondbacks made it 3-1 on Aaron Hill's 23rd home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the first. Arizona mounted another threat in the fourth, but a double play destroyed any chance of a big inning although Chris Johnson hit a two-out single to drive in a run and make the score 4-2.

Doubles by D-backs killers Chase Headley and Chris Denorfia added two more runs for the Padres in the sixth inning off reliever Brad Bergesen.

Justin Upton came a home run away from hitting for the cycle and continued his hot hitting of late. He tripled to lead off the home half of the sixth and scored on a single by Paul Goldschmidt to make it 6-3.

Adam Eaton hit his first major-league home run in the seventh to make it 6-5, but the Padres' bullpen made the lead stand.

The Diamondbacks (74-75) had a three-game winning streak snapped and fell 5 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second and final wild card spot.

Next up for Arizona is a three-game series in Colorado against the Rockies.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Vs. San Diego Padres: D-Backs Look To Keep Winning, Keep Hope Alive

The Arizona Diamondbacks seem to have finally solved the San Diego Padres after losing the first six games of the season at home against the Padres. Arizona has won the last two, both during the current series, and goes for the sweep Thursday afternoon in weekday matinee baseball at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks have a chance to effectively knock the Padres out of the NL wild-card chase. San Diego came to Phoenix still alive for the second spot, but two losses to the Diamondbacks have them eight games behind St. Louis while the D-backs are only 4 1/2 game behind the Cardinals.

Slugging outfielder Jason Kubel is being given Thursday off, so the D-backs (74-74) are going with the following nine against the Padres and left-hander Clayton Richard.

1. CF Adam Eaton

2. 2B Aaron Hill

3. RF Justin Upton

4. 1B Paul Goldschmidt

5. C Miguel Montero

6. 3B Chris Johnson

7. SS Cody Ransom

8. LF A.J. Pollock

9. LHP Tyler Skaggs

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.


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D-backs' Message To Trevor Bauer Is More Than About Rest

Th young pitcher is just too stubborn to benefit from the experience in the majors right now.

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D-Backs Vs. Padres Pregame Notes: Trevor Bauer Not Called Up, Chris Young Injury Update, Starting Lineups

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced on Wednesday prior to their game against the San Diego Padres that they made two more final September call-ups to the major leagues. Since the team's Triple-A affiliate Reno won their championship, the parent club recalled outfielder A.J. Pollock and selected the contract of first baseman Mike Jacobs. Pitcher Trevor Bauer was not called up.

Pollock was brought up because of his success in the minors and also to give the team more options in the outfield and on the basepaths. Centerfielder Chris Young is still troubled with a quad injury and is not available to start. Manage Kirk Gibson said that Young might be able to be used as a pinch hitter late in the game, but if he reached base safely he would probably have to be lifted for a pinch runner.

Jacobs was brought up to be another lefty bat off the bench and also the team has not technically had a backup first baseman to Paul Goldschmidt. Ryan Wheeler has been the backup, but is primarily a third baseman.

The one thing that most people want to know about the minor league call-ups is whether Trevor Bauer will join the big league club. He will not.

The reason?

"I just think with Trevor we just looked at his innings, 150-160 with the playoffs and it's been a different type of year," said Gibson. They decided as an organization to let him rest and recuperate after a successful year. In his time in the minors, Bauer went 12-2 with a 2.42 ERA and 157 strikeouts in over 130 minor league innings. "We thought he had a very good year," said Gibson. "He might be our minor league Pitcher of the Year."

There was also the issue of playing him at all. The team wasn't going to move anyone out of the starting rotation and, according to Gibson, if the team needed someone, Josh Collmenter deserves the start, and the team wasn't going to throw him out of the bullpen.

There are likely other reasons to do it as well, as there have been questions about his readiness and maturity. His first stint in the majors was rough. In addition to the very valid reasons given, it will serve as a message to the young pitcher that he still has things to work on. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Here are tonight's starting lineups:

Padres:

  1. Everth Cabrera, SS
  2. Logan Forsythe, 2B
  3. Chase Headley, 3B
  4. Carlos Quentin, LF
  5. Yonder Alonso, 1B
  6. Mark Kotsay, RF
  7. Will Venable, CF
  8. John Baker, C
  9. Edison Volquez, P

Dbacks:

  1. Adam Eaton, CF
  2. Aaron Hill, 2B
  3. Justin Upton, RF
  4. Miguel Montero, C
  5. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
  6. Jason Kubel, LF
  7. Ryan Wheeler, 3B
  8. John McDonald, SS
  9. Trevor Cahill, P

Get more Diamondbacks coverage over at AZ Snakepit.

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Diamondbacks Vs. Padres: D-Backs Break Losing Ways With Padres, Win 3-2

The Arizona Diamondbacks knew they were up for a challenge when the San Diego Padres came to town. Winners of 8 of their last 10 games, the Padres looked to take 9 of their last 10 against the Diamondbacks. With Eric Stults on the mound (6-2, 2.56 ERA), their chances were looking pretty good.

The game began with an odd turn of events when Everth Cabrera hit a deep fly ball to center field. Chris Young traveled back towards the wall and made the grab, but appeared to injure himself in the process. Gerardo Parra promptly replaced him and Adam Eaton shifted to center field. According to many reports, Young re-aggravated his quadriceps.

Ian Kennedy seemed somewhat affected by the odd sequence of events. He proceeded to give up a hit to Logan Forsythe and allowed Chase Headley to walk with just one out. Yasmani Grandal's infield base hit loaded up the bases. A sacrifice fly to left field from Yonder Alonso gave the Padres a quick 1-0 lead.

Paul Goldschmidt knotted the game at one a piece after singling to right field, scoring Adam Eaton from second base. With Goldschmidt on first, Miguel Montero followed with a gapper to right field, sending Goldy all the way around and giving the D-Backs a 2-1 lead. All of the Diamondbacks' scoring in the first inning was accomplished with two outs.

Although he got his pitch count up fairly early, Kennedy managed to slow the game down after the first inning. The bad news for Arizona was that Eric Stults was able to mirror Kennedy at every turn. There were no runs scored from the second through the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Montero hit his second double of the game, this one off the wall in center field. That double plated Justin Upton all the way from first base, giving the Diamondbacks a comfortable 3-1 lead.

A single and error to start the ninth put a little scare into the Diamondbacks. With Chris Denorfia on third, Will Venable managed to hit a sac fly, plating Denorfia and making the score 3-2 with D-Backs closer J.J. Putz on the mound. That would be all San Diego would get, though, as Putz ran through the rest of the batters with ease, giving the Diamondbacks a win and Kennedy his 14th win of the season.

Kennedy lasted 8 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 earned run, walking two and striking out six. His ERA now stands at a respectable 4.08. He hurled a total of 121 pitches in the game.

Arizona has now won 2 of their last 10 games against the Padres and will look to continue their streak on Wednesday night with Trevor Cahill on the mound.

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