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Williams goes for sixth straight victory

Oct 1, 2006 - 3:59 PM San Diego (87-74) at Arizona (76-85) 4:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The way things have been going lately for Woody Williams, even when he pitches poorly he gets a victory.

San Diego sends Williams, who has won his last five outings, to the mound as the Padres will try to wrap up a National League West crown in the season finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

The Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for first place in the NL West after both teams won on Saturday to clinch postseason berths. San Diego, which owns the tiebreaker against Los Angeles, can clinch its second straight West title with a win Sunday, leaving the Dodgers with the wild card even if they beat San Francisco.

Williams (11-5, 3.57 ERA) has been very strong down the stretch despite a shaky last outing. The righthander allowed five runs in six innings but still earned a victory in a 7-5 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Despite that outing, Williams is 4-0 with an impressive 2.51 ERA in five outings since the start of September.

Arizona counters with Brandon Webb (16-7, 2.88), who finishes off an outstanding season even though he has lost his last two starts.

The NL's ERA leader pitched well enough to win in his last start - allowing two runs in eight innings - but did not figure in a 4-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday.

San Diego earned a huge 3-1 victory on Saturday behind six scoreless innings by David Wells and a two-run homer by Mike Cameron.

The Padres finished 82-80 last season while the Diamondbacks ended up second in the division at 77-85.