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Gerut homers in ninth to lead Padres over Diamondbacks

Aug 26, 2008 - 6:11 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Jody Gerut belted a game-winning, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Gerut's 14th homer of the season came with two outs against Diamondbacks reliever Jon Rauch (4-5). Luis Rodriguez singled to set up the decisive shot.

Trevor Hoffman (2-6) pitched a perfect ninth to notch the victory.

"I don't particularly see (Rauch) that well, but I've had some success against him, which is nice," Gerut said. "(The losing streak) was tough. You have to struggle to get through things like that and catch a break. It was just good that it was in dramatic fashion."

The defeat continued a tough stretch for Rauch, who came to Arizona via a trade with the Washington Nationals last month. He has gone 0-3 while surrendering eight runs - including four home runs - in his last six outings.

"(Rauch) is going to keep getting run out there," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "He's in a pennant race right now, and I'm sure it hurts a little bit, but come tomorrow, he'll come in with a positive attitude and look to contribute again."

Chris Snyder laced a two-run single in the fourth to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 bulge, but Brian Giles connected on an RBI single the bottom of the frame to tie the score.

Arizona starter Dan Haren struck out a season-high 11 batters in seven innings while his counterpart, Jake Peavy, threw six solid frames.

"I went out there and tried to give my team a lot better chance to win (than the previous start)," Peavy said. "(Arizona) made me work for every out tonight, and I went as hard as I could for as long as I could. It was good enough to give us a chance to win, and fortunately, we got a big hit late."

Peavy surrendered a season-high six runs - five earned - in five shoddy innings during Wednesday's loss to Arizona.

San Diego wasted a promising scoring chance in the eighth, loading the bases with one out before Tony Pena induced a double-play ground ball from Tadahito Iguchi to escape the jam.

"I don't think we ever thought mentally that we were going to lose that game," Melvin said. "We were playing hard and got through some of their toughest guys in Bell and Hoffman. Gerut put on a good swing and that was pretty much the game."

Haren also contributed two hits in the game for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three of their last four games.

"When (Haren) left, it was still a tie game and we had a chance to win," Melvin said. "Against a guy like Peavy, that's all you can expect."

Rodriguez smacked an RBI triple in the third to open to scoring and give San Diego an early advantage.