Padres At Diamondbacks: 5 Players to Watch

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Jun 15, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale (left) shakes hands with left fielder David Peralta after the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The Diamondbacks defeated the Angels 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When Opening Day 2015 rolled around, how many folks thought that the Arizona Diamondbacks would be ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West standings as of today? I am venturing to say not many as San Diego became the darlings of the baseball world after a flurry of moves supposedly made them a serious playoff contender. Here it is three months later and it is the 2014, 98-loss D’backs that have a half game lead. Things are so bad for the Padres that they just fired long-time manager Bud Black and proceeded to lose three out of their next four games. Meanwhile, Arizona has had eight attempts since the middle of May to get to the .500 mark and have failed in each one of them.

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This will be the third series meeting between the two teams with the Padres holding a 4-3 edge in games so far. They last met May 7th-May 10th, splitting four games at Chase Field. The D’backs sit at 32-34, 5.5 games out of first place with the Padres at a disappointing 33-36. Can San Diego use this series as a springboard to finally turn their luck around? Can Arizona pull off a sweep and finally get over .500? Here are five players to watch this weekend.