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Diamondbacks-Padres Preview

Jun 6, 2009 - 7:03 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Arizona (24-31) at San Diego (25-29), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Chris Young's success at the plate has usually led to Arizona Diamondbacks wins.

Problem is, he hasn't had much luck at the plate this season.

Young, though, looks to build off his best game in weeks and help the Diamondbacks string together consecutive victories Saturday night when they continue a four-game series versus the slumping San Diego Padres.

After hitting a career-high 32 home runs in 2007 when Arizona won the NL West title, Young had 22 last season. Home runs have been more scarce this season for Young, but the center fielder could be breaking out of his slump.

In Friday's 8-0 win at Petco Park, Young finished with two walks and two hits - including his fourth homer - for his first multihit game since May 22. He was just 8 for 60 (.133) with a homer and four RBIs in his previous 20 games.

"(Friday) I did feel comfortable," Young told Arizona's official Web site. "It's the first game in a while that I've felt comfortable at the plate. I've got to take it a day at a time. I've just got to keep that going."

The Diamondbacks have lost seven of 12 and are 13 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers, but they're tough to beat when Young is hitting well. Arizona is 5-1 when Young has at least two hits in a game and 3-1 when he homers.

Young will try to carry some momentum into Saturday's game versus Kevin Correia (1-4, 5.37 ERA), against whom he's 4 for 15 with three home runs in his career. On Monday, Correia yielded four runs and a season-high 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia.

Max Scherzer (2-4, 4.47) takes the ball for Arizona looking to bounce back from the worst outing of his career. He was pounded for career highs of eight runs and 10 hits in a career-worst 3 2-3 innings of a 9-3 loss to Atlanta on Sunday.

"Some days you just don't have it and the big thing for me is to come back the next time," the right-hander said.

Prior to that awful outing, Scherzer looked sharp in a 6-5 win over the Padres on May 26, yielding two runs and six hits with 10 strikeouts in seven innings.

Correia, who opposed Scherzer in that matchup, allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings. The right-hander has posted a 7.13 ERA in losing all three starts to Arizona since the beginning of last season.

The Padres have lost four straight and seven of nine after winning a season-best 10 in a row.

San Diego's sputtering offense is responsible for the team's slide. The Padres (25-29) were limited to just four hits Friday and have totaled nine runs while batting .198 during their skid. They're tied with Seattle for the fewest runs in the majors (209) and were shut out for the fifth time this season Friday.

"We need guys in front of Adrian (Gonzalez) to get on base and the guys behind Adrian to knock guys in," manager Bud Black said.