• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Young, Cabrera lead Padres past Diamondbacks 6-3

Apr 7, 2010 - 6:17 AM By BOB BAUM AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX(AP) -- Chris Young made a sparkling season debut in his comeback from shoulder surgery.

The big right-hander allowed one hit through six innings, Everth Cabrera drove in four runs with a triple and a double, and the San Diego Padres held on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Brandon Webb of Arizona, Jeff Francis of Colorado and Erik Bedard of Seattle had the same kind of operations last year, and all three started the season on the disabled list.

Young, who underwent surgery in August, realizes how fortunate he is.

"Before the game, the national anthem, I just took it in a little bit and tried to savor that," he said. "I'm very fortunate to be back out there. Some guys are struggling with similar types of surgery and I'm lucky to be out there, so I was going to enjoy that for a few minutes."

Young (1-0), who missed the second half of last season, struck out five and walked three. The only hit he allowed was Justin Upton's one-out single up the middle in the fourth.

"Pretty impressive," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "I thought he did a good job of moving the fastball up, down, in and out. He just looked in control."

Young wrapped up his outing by striking out Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds.

"I found my slider in the sixth inning," Young said. "It took me all game to throw a couple of good sliders and finally in the sixth inning it was there. ... For whatever reason tonight it wasn't very good until the end, and then I threw some of my best pitches and I was happy with that."

Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez hit his second ninth-inning solo home run in two days.

Edwin Jackson (0-1) lasted five innings in his Diamondbacks debut, allowing three runs and five hits, including a solo homer by Will Venable.

"It definitely was an adrenaline rush," Jackson said. "You have to step back off the mound and calm down and take a deep breath, but overall, for a first start, I felt pretty good. I'll just keep building off of it as the season progresses."

Cabrera, who went 3 for 4, matched his career high with four RBIs. The 23-year-old shortstop, batting eighth in San Diego's lineup, doubled in two runs off Jackson in the second and tripled in two more off reliever Leo Rosales in the sixth.

"As he moves forward in his career we think you'll see more of that," Black said. "We don't want to put a lot of pressure on this young man just yet. He's still settling in to an everyday shortstop at a young age, and he's doing just fine."

Cabrera twisted an ankle in the seventh inning but stayed in the game and said afterward it was no big deal.

Heath Bell, the NL saves leader with 42 last year, pitched a scoreless ninth for his first this season.

Jackson, acquired from Detroit in the offseason for right-handed starter Max Scherzer and left-handed prospect Daniel Schlereth, struck out five and walked one but had trouble with the bottom part of the San Diego batting order.

The Padres took a 2-0 lead in the second when Chase Headley and Nick Hundley singled, then scored on Cabrera's double to the left-center gap. Venable's shot to right, on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the fourth, made it 3-0.

A single by Headley, followed by Rosales' two-out walk of Hundley, set up Cabrera's triple, also to left-center, that put the Padres up 5-0.

With Young gone, Arizona scored three in the seventh against three relievers.

Gonzalez's homer off Chad Qualls in the ninth wrapped up the scoring.

Stephen Drew made a leaping grab of Hundley's line drive to shortstop in the fourth inning and, in center field, Arizona's Chris Young charged to make a diving catch of Tony Gwynn's blooper in the sixth.

NOTES: Arizona's Chris Young is 0 for 16 in his career against San Diego's Chris Young. ... 3B Headley committed his second error in two days but made a pair of nice backhanded stabs later in the game. ... Diamondbacks newcomers LaRoche and Kelly Johnson are a combined 0 for 15 through the first two games. ... The Padres' Young is 28-2 in his career when receiving five runs of support.