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Wells, Padres face Dodgers in series finale

Apr 29, 2007 - 3:53 PM LA Dodgers (14-10) at San Diego (13-11) 4:05 pm EDT

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- After back-to-back blown saves, Trevor Hoffman got back on track. Now, David Wells will look to right the ship.

Wells will take the mound for the San Diego Padres when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the final of a three-game series on Sunday.

The Padres posted a 3-2 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday. It was a bounce-back performance by all-time saves leader Hoffman, who was undone by defensive lapses by his teammates - failing to hold a two-run lead in the ninth inning one night earlier.

"It's just nice to not sit any longer and you kind of get right back out there before you let things like that fester too much," said Hoffman, who had blown back-to-back save chances. "It's just a matter of going out and getting it done. The biggest thing is, you can't change those habits from the night before. You have to just go out and trust your stuff."

Hoffman worked a perfect frame, picking up his fifth save. But it was San Diego starter Greg Maddux who set the tone, allowing just two runs and five hits, while walking one and striking out three in seven innings.

The Padres will look for a similar performance from Wells (1-1, 6.00 ERA), who is 1-3 with a 7.54 ERA in five career starts against the Dodgers. The hefty lefthander had his shortest outing of the season - yielding five runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 frames - in 9-1 loss to Derek Lowe and the Dodgers on April 13.

Los Angeles again will counter with Lowe (2-3, 4.40), who tossed a season-high eight innings, yielding one run and seven hits in that outing vs. the Dodgers. However, the righthander has gone 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA with losses to Colorado and San Francisco since.

The teams have split the first two games of the series.