Arizona @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2012 ) Arizona 5, San Diego 6
The San Diego Padres try to continue their recent dominance of the Arizona Diamondbacks when the National League West rivals square off Saturday in the second game of their three-game series at Petco Park. San Diego, which swept each of the previous two three-game sets between the clubs, extended its winning streak versus Arizona to seven games with a 6-5 triumph in Friday's series opener. Chase Headley belted his second home run of the night in the eighth inning to snap a tie.
The Padres are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the best record in the major leagues since Aug. 19 as they improved to 13-4. Arizona remained 6 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second wild-card spot in the NL as the Cardinals lost to Milwaukee in extra innings on Friday. The Diamondbacks, who are 4-4 on their 10-game road trip, have been outscored 48-25 during their losing streak against San Diego.
TV: 8:35 p.m. ET, FSN (Arizona, San Diego)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Wade Miley (14-9, 2.90 ERA) vs. Padres RH Casey Kelly (1-0, 3.86)
Miley is coming off a no-decision at Los Angeles on Sunday in which he allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old rookie has yielded three runs or less in nine of his last 10 starts. Miley fell to 0-2 in three career outings against the Padres when he surrendered four runs in 7 1/3 frames on June 1 at San Diego.
Kelly will be making his third career start. The 22-year-old was brilliant in his major-league debut against Atlanta on Aug. 27, scattering three hits over six scoreless innings. Kelly did not fare so well in his second outing as he was tagged for seven runs - five earned - and eight hits over 5 2/3 frames in a loss at Colorado on Sunday.
WALK-OFFS
1. All four of Headley's multi-homer performances have come this year. He extended his RBI streak to five games, driving in 14 runs during that stretch, and has collected 17 RBIs over his last eight contests.
2. Diamondbacks rookie 1B Ryan Wheeler drove in a career-high three runs Friday.
3. San Diego has won 13 of its last 17 overall contests and 17 of 22 at home.