LDN - Sports

Goldschmidt's two homers lead D-backs over Padres

[September 22, 2016] SAN DIEGO -- Paul Goldschmidt smacked two home runs and Zack Greinke continued his dominance over the San Diego Padres as the Arizona Diamondbacks prevailed 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Goldschmidt had a solo blast in the first inning and a two-run shot in the sixth as the Diamondbacks avoided the three-game sweep in winning for just the second time in six outings.

"(Luis) Perdomo was throwing well and had some movement on his fastball," Goldschmidt said. "But he made a couple of mistakes. I had been chasing during the last homestand. If you don't chase, you get more mistakes."

Greinke (13-7) beat the Padres for the eighth occasion in nine decisions. He worked six innings, charged with two runs, two hits and four walks (one intentional). The right-hander snapped a three-start losing streak in besting the Padres for the second time this year. Greinke ran his record to 4-1 at Petco Park as he limited the Padres to two runs or fewer for the 15th outing in his 16 career starts.

"My goal is to get outs and last as long as possible," Greinke said.

In the eighth, Alex Dickerson hit a two-out double to right-center and Daniel Hudson replaced Edwin Escobar. Pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez lined softly to Chris Owings to quell the rally.

Hudson recorded the final four outs for his fourth save of the season.

"It was a great job by the bullpen tonight," Arizona manager Chip Hale said.

The Padres got the tying run aboard in the seventh off reliever Randall Delgado when Derek Norris poked a one-out double down the left-field line. But Delgado struck out Carlos Asuaje in his first major league at-bat.

Escobar entered and after Hunter Renfroe was walked intentionally in his major league debut, Jon Jay grounded into a force out.

"I think we did that for strategic reasons; it really had nothing to do to getting them acclimated," Padres manager Andy Green said of using his rookies. "It had to do with winning a baseball game. The all have skills that were right to be used in those moments."

Renfroe got his jitters out of the way.

"It was kind of good to get my feet wet," said Renfroe, the MVP of the PCL. "The intentional walk, I guess, that is probably the best thing you can possible do, honestly, to get your feet wet."

Luis Perdomo (8-10) fared well, but all he got for it was a defeat. Perdomo, who lost for the third time in four starts, worked seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out two but that couldn't eclipse the pair of home runs he surrendered to Goldschmidt.

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Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (R) is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (9) after hitting a solo home run during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Greinke, who struggled with his command, walked Norris in the fourth with two outs. But Norris and Alex Dickerson, on second via a single, were stranded when Perdomo went down looking.

"I tried to throw decent pitches to Norris and got behind and we walked him," Greinke said. "But it just shows that I wasn't making good pitches."

Myers pushed the Padres ahead 2-1 with his third-inning homer. Myers' career-high 27th home run followed a walk to Jon Jay.

Greinke elevated a slow curveball to Myers and he pounded it 423 feet over the left-center field fence for a season franchise-record 17th homer at Petco Park.

The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead when Goldschmidt turned on Perdomo's 95 mph fastball in the first inning, smacking his 22nd homer of the season and second in two games. It was Goldschmidt's 500th career RBI.

"I'm not too big into numbers...it was just good to get the win," Goldschmidt said. "Our pitching was good the whole series, but we just didn't score."

NOTES: The Padres called up four of their top position prospects at the conclusion of Triple-A El Paso's season: C Austin Hedges, INF Carlos Asuaje and OFs Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot. ... San Diego also promoted LHPs Buddy Baumann and Jose Torres from El Paso. OF Patrick Kivlehan and INF Nick Noonan were designated for assignment to clear spots on the 40-man roster. Both had brief stints with the Padres in August. ... Arizona OF A.J. Pollock remains out with a groin injury he sustained Sept. 9. There is no timetable for his return.

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