Nothing separated the teams for long on Thursday night in San Diego. Merrill Kelly made sure it stayed that way. The Arizona right-hander worked seven innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 6, and the Diamondbacks scored one run in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to pull away for a 3-1 victory over the Padres before 39,270 at Petco Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| SD | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Kelly's command was the story. He walked three but kept San Diego's lineup largely in check, throwing 94 pitches before handing the ball to the bullpen. His seventh win of the season moves him to 7-8 with a 5.38 ERA. Paul Sewald closed it out with a perfect ninth, striking out two, for his 21st save of the year.
Manny Machado gave the Padres an early lead, homering to right in the second inning — a 368-foot shot that put San Diego up 1-0. It was his 19th home run of the season. Arizona answered in the fourth when Max Kepler scored on a wild pitch by Griffin Canning, tying the game at 1-1. The go-ahead run came in the fifth: Gerardo Perdomo singled to center, scoring Tommy Troy to put the Diamondbacks ahead 2-1. Nolan Arenado extended the lead in the sixth with a solo home run to left center, 387 feet, making it 3-1.
Canning absorbed the loss, falling to 1-7. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing 7 hits and 2 runs while striking out 5. His ERA stands at 6.47. The Padres managed only 3 hits on the night and could not threaten after Machado's second-inning blast.
Arenado, who went 1-for-4 with the home run and an RBI, is now 6 hits away from 2,000 career hits. Both clubs sit at 46-47: Arizona snapped a losing streak while San Diego dropped to that mark.