Padres 3, Diamondbacks 0
SAN DIEGO - Left-handed starter Robbie Erlin and right-handed relievers Joaquin Benoit and Craig Kimbrel combined on a four-hit shutout Saturday night as the Padres defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 at Petco Park.
Erlin evened his record at 1-1 while Kimbrel picked up his 38th save. The shutout was the sixth of the season for the Padres, who evened the series and moved to within a game of the Diamondbacks in the race for third in the National League West.
Jedd Gyorko drove home Cory Spangenberg with a sixth-inning sacrifice fly for the game's first run to pin Arizona starter Jeremy Hellickson (9-11) with the loss.
The Padres added two runs in the bottom of the eighth against right-handed Diamondbacks reliever Josh Collmenter.
Third baseman Spangenberg, who had three hits, and right fielder Matt Kemp opened the eighth with singles. Left fielder Justin Upton, who had been 0-for-16 on the Padres' final homestand, doubled home Spangenberg ahead of second baseman Gyorko's second sacrifice fly.
Erlin, who last Sunday became the first left-hander this year to start for the Padres, blanked the Diamondbacks on two hits and a walk over seven innings Saturday night while throwing only 79 pitches. Erlin held Arizona hitless for 5 2/3 innings.
That was a big turnaround from last Sunday, when he allowed seven runs on nine hits in three innings at Coors Field in Denver.
Arizona right fielder Ender Inciarte reached base on a wild pitch after he struck out to open the game. Hellickson drew a walk with one out in the third, only to be eliminated on Inciarte's double-play grounder to first baseman Wil Myers.
Erlin had retired nine straight Diamondbacks when his bid for the first no-hitter in Padres history ended with two out in the sixth on the left-handed Inciarte's triple inside the third-base line. But Erlin struck out second baseman Aaron Hill to keep the game scoreless.
Hellickson also opened with five scoreless innings, although the Padres had three hits and left a runner on base in each of the first four innings.
Hellickson allowed one run on four hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out five over six innings.
NOTES: With Padres 3B Yangervis Solarte missing a third straight start with a right hamstring cramp, Cory Spangenberg moved from second to third and Jedd Gyorko from shortstop to second, opening the door for Alexi Amarista to make his first back-to-back starts at shortstop in five weeks. ... Diamondbacks RHP Brad Ziegler's streak of 26 saves is the longest active streak in the majors and the third-longest this season. ... RHP Rubby De La Rosa on Friday picked up his fourth win against San Diego in 2015. The only other Arizona pitcher to beat the Padres four times in a season was Randy Johnson (2002).