Arizona @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2011 ) Arizona 1, San Diego 3
THE STORY: San Diego looks to cap off an unlikely three-game sweep when it hosts National League West leader Arizona on Sunday afternoon. The Padres have handcuffed the Diamondbacks through the first two games of the weekend, following Friday's 2-0 shutout win with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night. Arizona saw its division lead over San Francisco shrink to five games with the loss, its third in a row.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports (Arizona), Channel 4, 47 Uniradio TV (San Diego)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Joe Saunders (11-12, 3.83 ERA) vs. Padres RH Aaron Harang (13-6, 3.85 ERA)
Saunders has won three of his last four games, beginning the run with an Aug. 27 win over San Diego (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER). This will be the fourth straight road start since that victory for Saunders, who is 8-7 with a 3.37 ERA in away games this season. Saunders has made seven career starts against the Padres, going 4-3 with a 3.54 ERA despite allowing seven home runs in just 48 1/3 innings.
Harang has been the only San Diego starter not victimized by a lack of run support in 2011, but he has lost three of four despite making three quality starts before giving up four runs in five innings in a Sept. 12 loss at San Francisco. Harang has always pitched well against Arizona - boasting a stellar 1.91 ERA in 11 lifetime starts - but has a disappointing 3-5 record to show for it.
ABOUT THE DIAMONDBACKS (87-65): Arizona's magic number for clinching the NL West title remains stuck at six after the surging Giants won their seventh consecutive game on Saturday night. The Diamondbacks had won 18 of 21 games since Aug. 23 before beginning the current skid, which has seen them manage just three runs and 15 hits over the last three contests. RHP Josh Collmenter, the losing pitcher Saturday, is scheduled to start next Friday when the Diamondbacks host the opener of what could end up being a decisive three-game series with San Francisco.
ABOUT THE PADRES (65-87): San Diego has gotten solid pitching for most of the year, and the staff has been excellent of late, yielding 10 hits in the first two games of this series and allowing just seven runs over the last four games. The Padres are just 2-2 in those contests, however, after scoring just eight runs — a common occurrence for a team that ranks among baseball's bottom three in nearly every major offensive category.
FINAL PITCH: Arizona has lost its last three games against the Padres after taking the previous six and 10 of the first 14 in the season series.