San Diego @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 26, 2010 ) Arizona 11, San Diego 5
The San Diego Padres are suddenly in a funk.
Considering how well the Padres have played this season, a four-game losing streak for the NL West leaders constitutes major news.
San Diego will look to rebound when it opens a three-game series against the host Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
The Padres are coming off a three-game sweep at home courtesy of the Philadelphia Phillies, a series in which they were outplayed in all areas. San Diego scored three runs in 30 innings in the series, which was capped by an ugly 5-0 loss on Sunday in which it was held to five hits and committed four errors.
The good news for the Padres is they still lead the San Francisco Giants by five games in the division. San Francisco snapped a three-game losing streak on Sunday with a 9-7 win over the Diamondbacks.
San Diego is 10-5 against Arizona this season, but has lost four of six at Chase Field. The Padres lost two of three in April and again earlier this month.
Wade LeBlanc, who has won three of his last four starts, will try to pull the Padres out of their slide. The left-hander defeated the Diamondbacks in his last outing, despite giving up two home runs to Stephen Drew, who went 4-for-4 in the game. Fortunately for LeBlanc, both of Drew's home runs were solo shots..
LeBlanc was in control, other than his problems with Drew. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. The strong outing was a nice rebound from his Aug. 20 start against the Milwaukee Brewers, who knocked around LeBlanc for seven runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Changing leagues hasn't been much of a help for Joe Saunders. The left-hander, who was 6-10 with a 4.62 ERA this season for the Los Angeles Angels, was shipped to the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren deal before the trade deadline.
Saunders, who is making his seventh start for Arizona, is 1-4 with a 5.21 ERA. He made a good first impression with his new team by pitching well in his first two starts, allowing three earned runs in 16 innings. Since then, Saunders has lost all four of his starts.
Two of the defeats have come against the Padres. Saunders allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings on Aug. 8 at Chase Field. He was even worse in his most recent outing on Wednesday, giving up nine runs - six earned - and eight hits in four innings.
Saunders has had problems keeping the ball in the park all season. He has allowed 22 home runs in 158 2/3 innings and has given up blasts in his last eight starts. Eight of the home runs have come with Arizona in 38 innings, three against the Padres.
Jerry Hairston Jr., who is now on the disabled list, hit a solo homer on Aug. 8 while Miguel Tejada and Adrian Gonzalez homered in the game in San Diego.