SAN DIEGO ? Although it won't pitch beyond September, the San Diego Padres' staff is having a say in the NL West race.
The last-place Padres surprised NL West-leading Arizona for the second straight night, winning 3-1 on Saturday as Wade LeBlanc and three relievers combined on a five-hitter and Orlando Hudson and Jeremy Hermida hit solo homers.
It was the second straight night the Padres held the Diamondbacks to five hits, also doing so in Friday night's 2-0 win.
"We won two ballgames in a row. We're going to come out tomorrow and try to keep it rolling," LeBlanc said. "We've got some momentum, we've got some good pitching going. We got some timely hits that we need. We're going to try to finish out the season strong."
LeBlanc (4-5) allowed four hits, struck out four and walked three. Relievers Luke Gregerson and Chad Qualls each threw a scoreless inning before All-Star Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 39th save in 44 chances. Bell struck out Justin Upton looking and got Miguel Montero to fly out to left before allowing a single to Paul Goldschmidt and walking Chris Young on four pitches. Bell ended it by throwing a called third strike past pinch-hitter Lyle Overbay on a full-count pitch.
A week earlier, Bell blew a save at Arizona by allowing consecutive ninth-inning homers to Young and Overbay, then Joe Thatcher walked in the winning run in the 10th inning.
"C.Y. and Overbay got me in Arizona so I wasn't going to give in. I fell behind and made some good pitches off Lyle, right on the corner. C.Y., I didn't make that good pitch, but then again I didn't want him to shoot the ball into right. I wasn't going to give in to those guys. I got Lyle instead of C.Y. I had a base.
"That's kind of our motto, defense and pitching," Bell added. "Good fundamental baseball and good pitching. We're starting to get some good pitching from our starters, and our bullpen's doing what it's supposed to be doing."
Manager Bud Black agreed.
"Our guys, from Wade on down, made pitches when they had to," Bud Black said. "They were stressed a couple times, each guy with the exception of Chad, who had a 1-2-3. Wade's ball-strike ratio wasn't great, but through the game he made pitches when he had to. Came back from deep counts and got outs."
The Diamondbacks came into the game with a magic number of six for clinching the division title. Any combination of Diamondbacks wins and San Francisco Giants losses totaling six will give Arizona the title. The defending World Series champion Giants were playing at Colorado on Saturday night.
Arizona lost its third straight game, its longest losing streak since dropping six from Aug. 17-22. The Diamondbacks also had only five hits in Friday night's 2-0 loss at San Diego.
With the score tied at 1, Hudson homered onto the top of the out-of-town scoreboard on the right-field wall with two outs in the fourth, his seventh. It came on a full-count pitch from Josh Collmenter (9-10).
Hermida led off the seventh with a homer into the seats in right-center, one of the deepest parts of Petco Park. It was his second.
LeBlanc's only mistake was allowing Aaron Hill's solo shot to left-center on a full-count pitch with one out in the first, his second.
San Diego tied it in the second when Hudson hit a two-out single to right, advanced when Hermida was hit by a pitch and scored on Andy Parrino's single.
Collmenter allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out two and walked none.
NOTES: The Padres will wait a few days to determine whether RHP Tim Stauffer makes his next start. He left Friday night's win with tightness in his right arm. ... The series concludes Sunday with Arizona LHP Joe Saunders (11-12, 3.83) facing San Diego RHP Aaron Harang (13-6, 3.85). Harang has gone 4-2 with a 2.62 ERA in his last 10 home starts since May 19. ... Saunders threw his first complete game of the season, and sixth of his career, in a 6-1 win against the Padres on July 26.
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