TURNING POINT
Padres leadoff man Scott Hairston hit a curveball from Doug Davis over the wall in right-center, putting the Padres ahead 2-0 with one out in the third inning. The Diamondbacks never caught up.
KEY FACTOR
Luke Carlin, the Padres' No. 8 hitter, was batting .149 when he singled to lead off the third against Doug Davis. Carlin scored on Hairston's homer, and Hairston made it 3-0 with a leadoff homer in the sixth.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Scott Hairston: Homered twice and doubled off Davis.
History lesson: Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes had a glut of young outfield talent last summer, prompting him to trade Hairston, who was out of minor league options. But it appears Byrnes should have moved Hairston out of the National League West instead of dealing him to the Padres. For Hairston, he got a fringe Triple-A pitcher, Leo Rosales, who had suffered a season-ending hand injury.
Late blow: Five pitches after reliever Tony Peña replaced the injured Juan Cruz in the ninth, Padres cleanup man Adrian Gonzalez increased the lead to 4-1 with his first home run since June 22.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
The Padres were 9-20 against left-handed starting pitchers before defeating Davis last night. They will face another left-hander today (Randy Johnson) and two Marlins lefties in the next series.
The top two hitters on the Padres are left-handers Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles, who usually bat fourth and third in the lineup. Giles is performing well against lefties, compiling a .444 on-base percentage against them before going 0-for-4 last night. Gonzalez, though, has been more vulnerable to left-handed pitching. His batting average against them is .221, and his combined on-base and slugging percentage (OPS) is nearly 300 points lower than his .972 OPS against right-handers. Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to handle left-handed pitching – to the tune of a .333 batting average and a slugging percentage over .550.
WHO'S HOT
Scott Hairston: The Padres need better hitting against left-handers, and he supplies it with three extra-base hits.
WHO'S NOT
The Diamondbacks: After winning 20 of 28 games in April, they went 11-17 in May, 10-16 in June and are 1-4 this month.
Brian Giles: For the second game in a row, Padres right fielder is replaced late in the game to protect his sore hamstring.
– TOM KRASOVIC
BY THE NUMBERS
14 Consecutive batters retired by Jake Peavy from the second through sixth innings.
3-2 Padres' record on two-city trip, which ends today.
4-4 Padres' record against the Diamondbacks this season.
June 11 Trevor Hoffman's previous save chance to last night's.
