• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Light-hitting Padres face red-hot Diamondbacks

Aug 1, 2007 - 2:16 PM Arizona (59-49) at San Diego (56-49) 10:05 pm EDT

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- The San Diego Padres fired their hitting coach on Tuesday. Apparently, that did not fix the problem.

The Padres will hope for some offense when they continue their three-game series with the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

San Diego fired Merv Rettenmund on Tuesday and replaced him with former Padre Wally Joyner. However, the club could only muster four hits in being shut out for the fifth time this season, 4-0. Reigning National League Cy Young Brandon Webb threw seven dominating innings.

It marks the second straight season the Padres have fired their hitting coach in the midseason, as it was Dave Magadan who took the fall last year.

Despite busting out for a season-high 18 runs on Sunday, the Padres have a major league-worst .243 team average and have lost 11 of 18 games since the All-Star break.

San Diego will look to get on track against rookie Micah Owings (5-5, 5.13 ERA). While the Diamondbacks have been hot, winning nine of 10, Owings has not contributed much. The 24-year-old righthander is winless in his last seven starts and failed to last more than four innings in five of his last six.

Owings will be opposed by David Wells (5-7, 5.02), who has lost two straight starts.

Wells has been getting rocked lately, giving up 14 runs and 14 hits in that span and has not made it out of the fourth inning. On Sunday, Wells struggled, allowing seven runs and seven hits in three innings of a 7-1 loss to Houston on Thursday.