Diamondbacks 3, Padres 2
SAN DIEGO -- Arizona turned two infield singles, a stolen base and a throwing error into an unearned, ninth-inning run off right-hander Fernando Rodney Friday night to defeat the Padres 3-2 at Petco Park.
With the Padres employing a shift against the left-handed hitting Jake Lamb, the Diamondbacks’ third baseman hit a grounder to the right of shortstop Alexei Ramirez and beat it out for a single.
With one out and pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin at the plate, Lamb stole second and moved to third when the throw from catcher Derek Norris sailed into center field for an error.
Gosselin then topped a ground single toward first with Lamb easily beating the throw from Padres first baseman Wil Myers to the plate.
Closer Brad Ziegler worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the ninth to extend his Diamondbacks record with a 30th straight save.
For seven innings, the game was a stalemate between starting pitchers Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks and James Shields of the Padres.
Greinke had held the Padres to two runs on five hits and one walk before yielding a one-out double to Padres first baseman Wil Myers in the eighth. Shields departed after seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks.
Greinke entered the game with a 6-1 career record against the Padres with a 1.56 ERA. But he had struggled in each of his first two starts -- surrendering 11 runs on 16 hits in 10 innings -- and fell behind Friday night.
Arizona scored first when catcher Welington Castillo opened the second inning with a 363-foot home run into the left-field seats off Shields. The homer, on a 1-and-1 pitch, was the fourth allowed by Shields in a span of nine innings. He tied for the National League lead with 33 homers allowed last season.
But the Padres tied the game in the bottom of the second and took the lead in the fourth. Both times it was the bottom of the order that came through for the Padres struggling offense.
Left fielder Melvin Upton Jr. opened the second with a single, moved to second on a ground out and stole third on appeal after originally being called out by third base umpire Laz Diaz.
Upton, however, did not score the tying run.
He was tagged out in a run down between third and home on Cory Spangenberg's grounder to Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The run down allowed Spangenberg to reach second and the second baseman scored on shortstop Alexei Ramirez's single to left.
The run was the first scored by the Padres at home this season. They were shut out a major league-record three straight times by the Dodgers in the season-opening series at Petco Park and had gone 28 straight innings without a run at home before Spangenberg scored.
Catcher Derek Norris singled with one out in the fourth, moved to second on Spangenberg's grounder to Goldschmidt and scored on a two-out, opposite-field single to left by third baseman Alexi Amarista.
NOTES: Padres 3B Yangervis Solarte is eligible to come off the disabled list on April 26 and ran in the pool Friday. But Padres manager Andy Green said his return might be slightly delayed to be sure he's 100 percent. ... Padres RHP Tyson Ross (shoulder weakness) is scheduled to start throwing by Monday and might need a rehab start before he returns to the top of the rotation. ... The Diamondbacks entered Friday's game with 2,998 home runs in franchise history. ... This was the first regular-season meeting of Arizona manager Chip Hale and Padres manager Andy Green, who was Hale's third base coach with the Diamondbacks last season. ... Arizona SS Nick Ahmed hit ninth in the order for the ninth time this season on Friday. He is hitting .360 with a double, three homers and five RBIs in the last spot in the order.