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 The loss was the Padres' fourth straight and dropped them into
sole possession of last place in the National League West --
although they did score their first runs of the season at Petco Park
after being shut out by the Dodgers in each of their first three
home games of the season.
"A defensive miscue caused it to unwind for us," said Padres manager
Andy Green, who lost his first meeting against the Diamondbacks.
Green was Arizona's third-base coach last season.
Nothing about the ninth inning went right for the Padres, who are
0-4 at home this season.
With the Padres in their standard defensive shift against a
left-handed hitter, Arizona third baseman Jake Lamb opened the ninth
with an infield single to the left side off Padres closer Fernando
Rodney.
Shortstop Alexei Ramirez, the only infielder on the left side, went
to his right and gloved the ball but had no play on Lamb.
 After left fielder Yasmany Tomas popped out, Lamb stole second with
pinch-hitter Phil Gosselin at the plate and advanced to third when
Padres catcher Derek Norris threw wildly into center field -- the
throw being made while the catcher was still on his knees.
Gosselin then topped the ball up the first baseline, Lamb easily
beating first baseman Wil Myers' throw to the plate as Gosselin
reached on an infield single.
The situation worsened for the Padres in the bottom of the ninth.
Second baseman Cory Spangenberg and Ramirez opened with back-to-back
singles off Ziegler to put runners at first and third with no one
out. After a failed squeeze bunt by Alexi Amarista, Ziegler struck
out the third baseman -- although Ramirez stole second on the
strikeout pitch.
Ziegler then walked pinch-hitter Brett Wallace to load the bases
before getting lead-off hitter Jon Jay to ground into a game-ending
double play. Jay is hitless in his last 14 at-bats for a Padres team
that had been shut out a major league-record five times in its first
10 games.
"I tried to just keep focused because I knew with the defense I had
behind me, all I had to do was get the ball on the ground," said
Ziegler, who extended his franchise record with his 30th straight
save and second of the season.
"The strikeout was big just to put us in position for the double
play," continued Ziegler. "Two of the first three pitches I threw
were probably the worst pitches I threw this season. I came back
with some of the best pitches I've thrown."
For seven innings, the game was a stalemate between starting
pitchers Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks and James Shields of the
Padres.
Greinke had held the Padres to two runs on five hits and one walk
before yielding a one-out double to Padres first baseman Wil Myers
in the eighth. Shields departed after seven innings, giving up two
runs on six hits and four walks.
Greinke entered the game with a 6-1 career record against the Padres
with a 1.56 earned run average. But he had struggled in each of his
first two starts -- surrendering 11 runs on 16 hits in 10 innings --
and fell behind Friday night.
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Arizona scored first when catcher Welington Castillo opened the
second inning with a 363-foot home run into the left-field seats off
Shields. The homer, on a 1-and-1 pitch, was the fourth allowed by
Shields in a span of nine innings. He tied for the National League
lead with 33 homers allowed last season.
The Padres tied the game in the bottom of the second and took the
lead in the fourth. Both times it was the bottom of the order that
came through for the Padres' struggling offense.
Left fielder Melvin Upton Jr. opened the second with a single, moved
to second on a ground out and stole third on appeal after originally
being called out by third base umpire Laz Diaz.
Upton, however, did not score the tying run.
He was tagged out in a run down between third and home on
Spangenberg's grounder to Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
The run down allowed Spangenberg to reach second and the second
baseman scored on Ramirez's single to left.
The run was the first scored by the Padres at home this season --
and only their second in a span of 30 innings. They were shut out a
major league-record three straight times by the Dodgers in the
season-opening series at Petco Park and scored only one run in their
previous three games in Philadelphia.
Catcher Derek Norris singled with one out in the fourth, moved to
second on Spangenberg's grounder to Goldschmidt and scored on a
two-out, opposite-field single to left by Amarista.
"We have to find a way to win games like that," said Shields. "We
have to start finding ways."
NOTES: Padres 3B Yangervis Solarte is eligible to come off the
disabled list on April 26 and ran in the pool Friday. But Padres
manager Andy Green said his return might be slightly delayed to be
sure he's 100 percent. ... Padres RHP Tyson Ross (shoulder weakness)
is scheduled to start throwing by Monday and might need a rehab
start before he returns to the top of the rotation. ... Welington
Castillo's homer off James Shields was the 2,999th in Diamondbacks'
franchise history. ... This was the first regular-season meeting of
Arizona manager Chip Hale and Padres manager Andy Green, who was
Hale's third-base coach with the Diamondbacks last season. ...
Arizona SS Nick Ahmed hit ninth in the order for the ninth time this
season on Friday. He is hitting .345 with two doubles, three homers
and six RBIs in the last spot in the order.
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reserved.]
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