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Diamondbacks-Padres Preview

Apr 17, 2010 - 6:56 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Arizona (5-5) at San Diego (4-6), 8:35 p.m. EDT

Chase Headley came through in the clutch for the San Diego Padres in their last game. That led to more frustration for Arizona Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch who has seen his bullpen fail to close out games consistently.

One night after hitting a game-winning home run, Headley will try to help the Padres win their second straight when they continue a three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

San Diego (4-6) seemed on its way to a third straight loss Friday night before Headley hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Padres a 6-3 win over Arizona (5-5).

Headley had a rough start to the game, grounding out in his first two plate appearances while committing an error in the fifth, but he helped San Diego rally from a 3-0 deficit. The Diamondbacks intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez to face him.

"Base open, I knew they were coming to me, and that was I was hoping for all night, just another opportunity," said Headley, who was 0 for 4 the night before against Atlanta. "Fortunately, I was able to come through."

The Padres, who will try Saturday to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, were coming off consecutive losses to the Braves in which they combined for three runs.

Despite the offensive inconsistency, Headley has been hot over the first two weeks, hitting .381 with a hit in nine of San Diego's 10 games. He is 7 for 18 against Arizona.

For the Diamondbacks, the loss overshadowed a fantastic performance by starter Edwin Jackson, who pitched six scoreless innings. Juan Gutierrez was charged with the blown save and a loss after giving up four runs in the ninth.

"We had nine outs to keep them from scoring three runs and we had a difficulty throwing strikes," Hinch said. "That's another game in hand that I feel like we should have pulled out."

Arizona relievers have blown five straight save opportunities, compiling an 8.83 ERA in that span. They gave up four runs in three innings of Thursday's extra-innings loss to the Dodgers.

While Hinch may be hesitant to turn to his bullpen Saturday, he may need to depending on the type of outing he gets from Kris Benson.

Benson, who will be called up from Triple-A Reno, signed a minor league contract with Arizona after appearing in eight games for Texas in 2009, going 1-1 with an 8.46 ERA over 22 1-3 innings pitched. Before last year, he hadn't pitched in the majors since 2006 with Baltimore after undergoing rotator cuff surgery in 2007.

Benson has also pitched with Pittsburgh, which selected him as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 first-year player draft, and the New York Mets.

The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.03 ERA in eight starts against the Padres. He hasn't faced them since 2005.

San Diego will counter with Kevin Correia (1-1, 4.63), who pitched well in his last start and was boosted by his offense in a 17-2 win over Atlanta on Tuesday. The right-hander gave up two runs and four hits over 5 2-3 innings.

Correia made his 10th start against Arizona on April 7, allowing four runs and three homers in six innings of a 5-3 loss. He is 2-7 with a 3.87 ERA in his career against the Diamondbacks, which also includes nine relief appearances.