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 "I tried to stay calm," said Delgado, who allowed two hits over
five shutout innings as the Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 5-1 to
gain a split of a four-game series.
"The offense gave me some runs early. And the defense was making
some great plays. After we had the three, four runs, my job was to
keep doing the same thing and getting outs. It felt good."
Delgado made his first start since April 10 because Diamondbacks
manager Kirk Gibson announced Wednesday he was going to a six-man
rotation for the rest of the season. The sixth starter -- Delgado.
Delgado, who had made 38 relief appearances since his last start,
needed only 61 pitches to negotiate the five innings.
"I thought he was pretty efficient," said Gibson. "And we did play
good defense behind him.
The two biggest defensive plays by the Diamondbacks behind Delgado
were both turned in against Padres catcher Rene Rivera.
 Aaron Hill, who was making his first start at third base since Sept.
18, 2005, leaped to his right to make a fully-prone catch of a
Rivera line drive in the fifth. Two innings earlier, center fielder
A.J. Pollock, who returned from the disabled list two days earlier,
made a leaping catch at the wall in straight-away center to rob
Rivera of a home run.
Delgado and four relievers held the Padres to one run on four hits
and one walk.
"The story of the game tonight was we just couldn't get to their
pitcher," said Padres manager Bud Black. We couldn't get to their
guy last night (Josh Collmenter allowed one run on five hits over
seven innings) and we couldn't get to Delgado tonight."
The Padres did threaten in the eighth after having only two hits --
a single by rookie infielder Cory Spangenbereg in the third and a
two-out double by Seth Smith in the fourth -- through seven innings
while going up and down in order five times.
The Padres momentarily threatened in the eighth when they loaded the
bases with none out against right-handed reliever Matt Stites -- a
former Padres farmhand. But after throwing a wild pitch allowing the
Padres to avoid a shutout, left-handed reliever Oliver Perez struck
out the side.
"Anything can happen," said Perez.
While things went well for former Padres, they didn't go well for
former Diamondback Ian Kennedy (10-12). The right-hander allowed
four runs on 10 hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. Kennedy -- who
came to the Padres on July 31, 2013, for a package that included
Stites -- is 1-2 against the Diamondbacks this season with a 5.63
ERA.
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Pollock had three hits to pace Arizona's 13-hit attack. Left fielder Ender
Inciarte, second baseman Chris Owings and Hill all had three hits as all
eight starting position players had at least one hit.
Arizona scored three times in the second.
Hill opened the inning with a single and moved to third on a double by
Pollock. Shortstop Didi Gregorius hit a topper up the third base line
that was fielded by Spangenberg, whose throw sailed into the seats
behind first. Hill scored on what called a single with Pollock coming
home on the throwing error. Gregorius was then sacrificed to third on a
bunt by Delgado and scored on Inciarte's single.
The Diamondbacks scored single runs in the third and seventh.
In the third, first baseman Mark Trumbo doubled and scored on a single
by catcher Miguel Montero, who stretched his hitting streak against the
Padres to 13 straight games.
Right fielder David Peralta singled to lead off the seventh against
Padres right-handed reliever Blaine Boyer and scored on Hill's two-out
double.
NOTES: Arizona INF Aaron Hill started at third base for the first time
since Sept. 18, 2005. ... The Diamondbacks open a three-game series
against the Dodgers on Friday night in Los Angeles. That will be
Arizona's final three games against the Dodgers. Arizona has six games
remaining against the San Francisco Giants. ... The Padres expect SS
Everth Cabrera to play again this season, but he will not accompany the
team on its next road trip as he continues to rehab his second left
hamstring strain.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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