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Padres can clinch playoff spot Friday

Sep 29, 2006 - 1:11 PM San Diego (86-73) at Arizona (75-84) 9:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The first-place San Diego Padres can clinch their second straight playoff berth on Friday.

A win by the Padres against the Arizona Diamondbacks or a loss by the Philadelphia Phillies (83-76) would seal at least a wild card spot for San Diego. The Phillies are in Florida.

The Padres are one game ahead of Los Angeles (85-74) in the National League West. The Dodgers are at San Francisco on Friday.

Last season, the Padres won the fourth NL West title in their franchise history and lost in the first round of the playoffs to St. Louis.

Clay Hensley will take the ball for the Padres in the second game of a four-game series on Friday.

Russell Branyan and Brian Giles homered to pace a 15-hit attack and Jake Peavy continued his late-season surge as the Padres posted a 12-4 victory over the Diamondbacks in Thursday's opener.

Hensley (11-11, 3.73 ERA) has pitched well after the All-Star break, going 6-5 with an impressive 2.43 ERA in 14 games, including 12 starts. In his last outing, the righthander allowed one run and seven hits in six innings in a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

He will be opposed by Livan Hernandez (12-13, 4.95), who has been pitching well, going 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in his last five starts. In his last outing, the righthander yielded one run and five hits in seven innings in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

The Padres have won seven of their last eight games, while the Diamondbacks are 3-5 during that same span.