• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Padres look to complete series sweep of Diamondbacks

Aug 30, 2007 - 2:35 PM Arizona (74-60) at San Diego (73-59) 10:05 pm EDT

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) - It was going to take a series sweep for the San Diego Padres to wrestle away ownership of first place in the National League West from the Arizona Diamondbacks. As the teams complete their four-game set on Thursday, the Padres look to do exactly that.

Brian Giles went 3-for-4 with a homer and Greg Maddux extended his streak of not walking a batter to 42 innings as he pitched seven strong innings in the Padres' 3-1 win on Wednesday.

The win knotted up San Diego and Arizona atop the NL West with four games remaining between both squads.

Chris Young (9-4, 2.12 ERA), who is 1-1 with a 3.26 ERA in four career starts vs. the Diamondbacks, will take the mound for the first time in eight days after being sidelined with lower back pain. Perhaps the knowledge of pitching at home will ease his pain, as he is 4-1 with a 0.66 ERA in 10 starts at Petco Park this season.

Likely due to his injury, the righthander left his last start after just five innings on August 21 against the New York Mets after he permitted four runs and five hits in a 7-6 loss. He did not factor into the decision.

In an effort to take back the division lead, Arizona will call on Doug Davis (11-11, 4.09), who has been stellar since the All-Star break, going 6-1 with a 3.76 ERA. In Saturday's 3-1 win over the Chicago Cubs, he allowed just one run and six hits with eight strikeouts, matching his season high.

The lefthander has enjoyed a fair amount of success against the Padres, going 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in nine career games - eight starts.