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Padres-Diamondbacks Preview

Sep 25, 2009 - 6:15 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

San Diego (71-83) at Arizona (66-87), 9:40 p.m. EDT

The San Diego Padres are not playing like a team that will finish with a losing record on the road. The Arizona Diamondbacks, meanwhile, continue to struggle no matter where they're playing.

The Padres look to continue their success on their final road trip of the year when they face the last-place Diamondbacks on Friday night.

San Diego (71-83) rallied for a 5-4 win at Colorado on Thursday to take two of three from the wild-card leaders and improve to 5-2 on its 10-game road trip.

"It's big for this young club," said Padres infielder David Eckstein, who had two hits and an RBI on Thursday. "We are a club that wants to shoot for those clubs (like Colorado) and be there next year."

The Padres, who are 32-46 on road after winning 28 in 2008, have won 13 of 19 away from home.

Though they are 6-9 against Arizona (66-87) and 2-4 at Chase Field, the Padres can improve on that mark against the Diamondbacks, who've lost 14 of 19 and are 2-4 on their final homestand.

Nick Hundley homered and drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning Thursday for the Padres, who are 33-21 since July 28. Tony Gwynn added three hits for San Diego, which is averaging 5.6 runs on the road trip.

Gwynn is batting .447 with 10 runs scored against the Diamondbacks this season. He's 4 for 5 with two doubles versus Arizona's scheduled starter Max Scherzer (9-10, 4.08 ERA).

Scherzer, who's 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three career starts - all this season - against San Diego, looks to avoid a third consecutive loss in what's likely to be his final start of the year.

The right-hander allowed four runs and walked five in 5 1-3 innings to take the loss in a 10-4 defeat to Colorado on Saturday.

"It's the same thing every time I go out there - I want to give the team the best chance to win," Scherzer told the Diamondbacks' official Web site. "Just because it's my last one, that doesn't change."

The Padres counter with Kevin Correia (11-10, 4.08), who's already set career highs for wins and losses and tries for a fourth straight victory in this contest.

Correia allowed six hits in seven innings of a 4-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday to improve to 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his last five contests.

"When you have a guy who is pitching to the caliber that Kevin is and making every start, it is what you strive for in your five-man rotation," Padres manager Bud Black said. "It's to have five guys who take the ball and give you a chance to win and he's done that. He's been a rock."

The right-hander, however, is 1-4 with a 4.40 ERA in eight starts against Arizona. He's 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four this season versus the Diamondbacks.

Mark Reynolds is batting .318 with two home runs against Correia. He struck out two more times to increase his major league record to 208 this season while Arizona batters fanned 16 times in a 5-2 loss to San Francisco on Wednesday.

Reynolds, who's also hit a career-high 43 homers, is batting .210 with 32 strikeouts in 15 games against the Padres this year.