Spangenberg's speed helps Padres beat Diamondbacks

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[June 27, 2015]  SAN DIEGO -- Speed is not an area in which the San Diego Padres are strong.

But one of the few Padres with speed, second baseman Cory Spangenberg, ran the Padres into a win Friday night at Petco Park.

"It was more about baserunning than pure speed," Padres manager Pat Murphy said after the rookie infielder twice ran his way to runs in the Padres 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series.

Spangenberg's legs and the combined efforts of right-handed starter Tyson Ross and three relievers enabled the Padres to snap a two-game losing streak and avoid falling more than five games below .500 for the first time this season.

"I just did what I could do to help us win," said Spangenberg, who was 3-for-3, including two infield hits, with two steals and two runs scored. Both runs came on slides into the plate to beat throws from the outfield -- one on an error and one on a sacrifice fly.

Spangenberg was also ruled safe on two appeal plays.

The Padres were trailing 2-1 when Spangenberg went to work in the bottom of the third.

The left-handed hitter opened the inning with an opposite-field single off Arizona left-handed starter Robbie Ray. Spangenberg moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ross. Then, as right fielder Matt Kemp was striking out, Spangenberg stole third and scored when the throw by Diamondbacks catcher Welington Castillo sailed into left for an error -- Spangenberg sliding in ahead of the throw from left fielder David Peralta.

"We threw the ball away on that steal (of third), but they made it happen," said Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale of Spangenberg's first steal. "They pushed the envelope and they did a nice job and it worked."

Two innings later, Spangenberg led off with a broken-bat infield single. He stole second, again moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Ross and beat center fielder A.J. Pollock's throw to the plate on a short sacrifice fly by Kemp.

Meanwhile, Ross survived a shaky start to improve to 5-7 by beating the Diamondbacks for the second time in a week.

Five days after holding the Diamondbacks to a run on four hits and a walk in the Padres' only complete game of the season, the right-handed Ross struggled with his control over the first three innings.

Ross walked five of the first 11 Diamondbacks he faced and threw only 29 of his first 58 pitches for strikes. Ross walked the bases loaded in the third and had a full count on Paul Goldschmidt when the Arizona first baseman lined a two-out single to center to give Arizona a 2-1 lead.

But Ross retired nine of the last 10 Diamondbacks he faced and allowed two runs on two hits and five walks with seven strikeouts in six innings. Twenty-six of his last 41 pitches were for strikes.

"I had trouble repeating my delivery," said Ross. "I made an in-game adjustment."

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Ross credited pitching coach Darren Balsley with helping him make the adjustment.

"He made the perfect tip," said Ross. "All it takes from Bals is a word or two here and there."

Right-handed relievers Brandon Maurer and Joaquin Benoit pitched perfect innings in front of closer Craig Kimbrel, who issued a walk in the ninth en route to his 19th save.

Padres pitchers retired 18 of the last 20 hitters they faced.

Arizona starter Robbie Ray (2-3) allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in six innings to suffer the loss.

The Padres added a run in the eighth on a lead-off double by Kemp, a grounder to the right side of the infield and an infield single by left fielder Justin Upton.

The Padres had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when catcher Derek Norris reached on a one-out fielding error by Goldschmidt and a run-scoring double to left-center by first baseman Yonder Alonso.

"We don't see that on the linescore very often," said Hale said of the errors by Goldschmidt and Castillo and a later throwing error by relief pitcher David Hernandez on Upton's eighth-inning single. "We just didn't play the defense that we're used to playing. We are usually tighter than that.

NOTES: RHP Archie Bradley, the Diamondbacks first-round pick (seventh overall) in the 2011 draft, is going to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on the soreness in his right shoulder. Bradley, who is 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in eight starts, has been on the disabled list since June 4 with shoulder tendinitis. He complained of soreness after his first rehab start with Triple-A Reno on Wednesday . . . Padres' RHP Brandon Morrow, who has been out since May 3 with shoulder inflammation, will throw from the bullpen mound on Saturday or Sunday.

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

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