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Peavy helps Padres snap skid against Devil Rays

Jun 14, 2007 - 3:25 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- In a season of lows, Edwin Jackson hit bottom.

Jake Peavy pitched seven dominant innings and the San Diego Padres shelled Jackson in a five-run first inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Adrian Gonzalez had a three-run home run and rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff slammed a two-run blast in the first off Jackson as the Padres snapped a four-game losing streak.

"We needed this one tonight," Peavy said. "The guys did a nice job swinging the bats. My job is real easy when you have to give up nine to lose."

Jackson (0-8) already was up against it in facing off against San Diego ace Peavy, who ran his winning streak to five games and lowered his National League-leading ERA at 1.82.

Peavy (8-1) allowed only two hits, struck out eight and walked three.

"Early on Peavy was crisp," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "In every game a pitcher faces a couple of challenges. His stuff was good. He had a good slider tonight, the fastball had life."

Seven of the first eight batters reached base against the beleaguered Jackson, who has lost 10 straight games and has not won since a two-inning relief stint against the New York Yankees on September 24, 2006.

The 23-year-old righthander lasted just one-third of an inning, giving up five runs and five hits while walking two and striking out one.

"His stuff is good, he just needs to get into the flow of things," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Right now he has a hard time getting into the flow of the game."

Maddon said he was not ready to talk about if Jackson would remain in the rotation.

By the time Jackson got his first out, he had the Devil Rays in a 3-0 hole.

Marcus Giles and Terrmel Sledge opened the game with singles and Gonzalez followed with a long home run to right field. It was the first baseman's 13th blast of the year and gave him 45 RBI.

Jackson came back to strike out Josh Bard but then allowed an infield single to Mike Cameron and another towering homer to right, this time by Kouzmanoff, for a 5-0 cushions.

Two straight walks later and Jackson and his dreadful 8.20 ERA departed in favor of reliever Jason Hammel.

"I feel that's the first time I've really been hit out of a game," Jackson said. "They hit the ball hard every time. They hit me out tonight. When they put it in play, they were safe every time or it was over the fence."

Armed with a healthy lead, Peavy set down the first 10 batters he faced and had a no-hitter until Carlos Pena singled to lead off the fifth inning.

"Peavy is very interesting, very aggressive," Maddon said. "He gets on himself a lot. This guy is special. He's different."

The Padres continued the onslaught in the second, loading the bases with no outs as Cameron and Russell Branyan sandwiched walks around a double by Kouzmanoff.

Khalil Greene cleared the bases with a long double to center field to extend the margin to 8-0.

Sledge completed the scoring with a solo homer off Brian Stokes in the eighth.

"Peavy is a fun guy to be behind," Gonzalez said. "He's going to strike out eight to 10 a game."