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Padres-Reds Preview

Apr 24, 2010 - 4:58 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

San Diego (9-6) at Cincinnati (7-9), 1:10 p.m. EDT

Whether at home or on the road, the San Diego Padres continue to win.

The surging Padres try for an eighth consecutive victory as they continue their road series with the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his second career grand slam to help San Diego (10-6) remain the surprise leader in the NL West with a 10-4 win at Cincinnati on Friday.

After sweeping consecutive three-game sets from Arizona and San Francisco to conclude a 7-2 homestand, San Diego registered 15 hits and scored its second-most runs of the season Friday.

The Padres are in the midst of their longest stretch without a loss since winning 10 in a row from May 15-25.

"I'm encouraged by the overall play of the group," manager Bud Black told the Padres' official website. "There's a lot of great team play going on right now."

Gonzalez is 4 for 8 with two home runs in his last two contests. The All-Star first baseman has gone 8 for 20 with four homers and eight RBIs in his last five games at Great American Ballpark, where the Padres have scored 27 runs during a four-game road winning streak against the Reds (7-10).

Though offense highlighted the Padres' latest victory, San Diego's pitching has been a big reason for the team's recent success. The Padres have a 1.55 ERA during their seven-game winning streak, and their starters are 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA during that stretch.

Left-hander Wade LeBlanc (0-0, 1.80 ERA) looks to continue that trend for the Padres as he faces the Reds for the first time.

After being recalled from Triple-A Portland to replace injured starter Chris Young, LeBlanc allowed a run and struck out seven in five innings, but didn't factor in the decision of a 5-3 win over Arizona on Sunday.

Cincinnati counters with Johnny Cueto (0-0, 5.06 ERA), who was originally scheduled to pitch Friday but was pushed back by manager Dusty Baker.

The right-hander's thrown 322 pitches over 16 innings in his three starts.

"He's been throwing a lot of pitches," Baker told the Reds' official website. "It's just to get him another day's rest."

Cueto, who allowed three runs and walked four in five innings of a 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday, is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in two starts against the Padres.

Paul Janish and Ryan Hanigan each had two hits Friday for the Reds, who cooled off a bit after scoring 25 runs while taking two of three at home from the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.

Cincinnati's Joey Votto went 0 for 2 with three walks Friday after he was 5 for 10 with two home runs against the Dodgers.