Despite a late flurry of runs, the Arizona Diamondbacks fell short to the San Diego Padres, losing 7-6 to drop the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The loss snaps a four-game winning streak and is just the third for the team in the month of September.
Down 7-0 heading into the sixth inning, Arizona exploded for five runs to narrow the gap. Henry Blanco kicked things off with a homerun to deep left field. Chris Young and Colin Cowgill followed with two-run cracks off San Diego reliever Erik Hamren.
An inning later Justin Upton tacked on with a pinch-hit fielder's choice that scored Blanco. With two outs and Upton on second base, Paul Goldschmidt walked to the plate improbably representing the winning run. Though the comeback would fall just short, as Goldschmidt grounded out to end the inning.
San Diego chased Arizona starter Josh Collmenter early, capped by a Nick Hundley two-run homer to deep left field. It marked the first time since August 2nd that the young righthander failed to pitch five full innings. Collmenter lasted just four innings, giving up six runs, seven hits, and three walks in his ninth loss of the season.
The Diamondbacks took three of four from San Diego over the weekend home stand, pushing their NL West lead to 8.5 games. The team's magic number is down to eight.
Next up for Arizona (85-62) is a three-game divisional series at the Los Angeles Dodgers before heading to San Diego for another three-game set against the Padres. Veteran lefthander Joe Saunders (10-12, 3.88 ERA) opens the series against Los Angeles' Ted Lilly (9-13, 4.37 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. PT/10:10 p.m. ET.