Chad Tracy's seventh-inning grand slam off Luke
Gregerson was the difference, as the Arizona Diamondbacks topped the San Diego
Padres, 8-5, in the middle installment of a three-game series.
Mark Reynolds also homered as part of a two-hit performance for Arizona, which
had dropped five of its last six. Dan Haren gave up five runs on nine hits and
three walks in a six-inning start for the Diamondbacks, and also struck out
eight, but did not factor into the decision.
Daniel Schlereth (1-4) took the win -- his first in the majors -- for tossing
a scoreless seventh.
Reversion (2-4) got the loss for the Padres, who had won six of seven. He was
the third pitcher to come on in relief of Wade LeBlanc, who gave up four runs
on seven hits in five frames.
Adrian Gonzalez doubled, drove in a run and walked twice in the loss.
Trailing, 5-4, Arizona surged ahead in the seventh. Gregerson took the mound
with one out and immediately gave up singles to Justin Upton and Reynolds. A
groundout moved the runners into scoring position before Gregerson hit pinch-
hitter Miguel Montero. Tracy also came up to pinch-hit, and slammed a homer to
right-center to make it an 8-5 Diamondbacks lead.
"It was a mistake," Gregerson said. "I tried to throw a fastball away out of
the zone and it came right back over the middle and he hacked at it."
The Arizona bullpen made it stick, as Blaine Boyer tossed a scoreless eighth
and Juan Gutierrez closed the door ninth for his seventh save.
"To go out with a curtain call on the last series you play here as a player,"
Tracy said. "I'm not saying that it is, but it means a lot and I appreciate
the fans."
The teams gained runs in chunks, as Arizona took a 3-0 lead in the first
inning. Chris Young led off with a single before Stephen Drew tripled him home
and Upton smacked an RBI base hit. Ryan Roberts later had an RBI double to
plate Upton.
San Diego went in front with a five-run fifth. Everth Cabrera led off with a
double, later moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Tony Gwynn's
triple. David Eckstein, Gonzalez and Chase Headley followed with three
consecutive run-scoring hits, and Oscar Salazar later singled in Headley to
put the Padres on top, 5-3.
Reynolds' one-out solo blast in the bottom half got Arizona within one.
Game Notes
Reynolds' homer was his 44th of the season...The Padres left 10 on base and
were 4-for-15 with RISP...Gregerson suffered his sixth blown save.
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