Pads Complete Sweep, Win 5-4
By Nicholas Valenzuela
The Arizona Diamondbacks (64-64) weren’t able to slow down the red-hot San Diego Padres (59-70) as the Pads completed the three-game sweep with a 5-4 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Pads got on the board first in the top of the first inning when Yasmani Grandal singled to left-center field to score Chase Headley and take a 1-0 lead. Yonder Alonso would follow with an RBI single to right-center field to score Carlos Quentin from second base and extend the lead to 2-0.
The D-backs responded in the bottom of the inning when Miguel Montero singled to center field to score Justin Upton and cut the Padres lead to 2-1. The score would be tied up when Chris Young singled to left field to plate Paul Goldschmidt.
San Diego would retake the lead in the top of the third inning when Mark Kotsay singled to deep right field to score Grandal, and take the 3-2 lead. They would extend their lead to 4-2 in the top of the next inning when Carlos Quentin doubled to deep left field to score Edinson Volquez on the play. They added a fifth run in the top of the seventh inning when Alexi Amarista doubled to right field to score Grandal.
Arizona would fight back in the bottom of the eighth inning when Aaron Hill blasted a two-run homer to deep left field to score Gerardo Parra and cut the Padres lead to 5-4.
Unfortunately for Arizona, the comeback wouldn’t be enough to overcome a powerful pitching performance by San Diego starter Edinson Volquez who allowed only four hits and two earned runs over seven strong innings pitched. The same could not be said for Arizona starter Trevor Cahill who allowed a whopping eight hits and four earned runs in only 3.2 innings pitched.
With the loss, Arizona dropped back to the .500 mark at 64-64 with a little more than a month to go in the regular season, and a lot of work to do if they hope to make the playoffs. Good news for Arizona fans is that after a three-game set with the Central leading Cincinnati Reds this week, the team will have a good month to battle it out with NL West opponents.