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Diamondbacks-Padres Preview

May 6, 2009 - 7:10 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Arizona (11-16) at San Diego (12-15), 10:05 p.m. EDT

The San Diego Padres have cooled off considerably since an impressive start to the season.

After snapping a six-game skid, they hope Jake Peavy can help them win two straight for the first time in more than two weeks as they face the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

The Padres (12-15) opened the season 9-3, moving atop the NL West after finishing at the bottom of it last year. They couldn't keep up the pace, losing 12 of their next 14 before beating Colorado 2-1 in 10 innings Tuesday to halt their longest slide of the season.

"It was big because looking back at the last couple of weeks, we were not getting the breaks we were getting early on," the Padres' Brian Giles said.

Peavy (2-3, 4.58 ERA) will be looking to build on his best outing of the season and give the Padres two wins in a row for the first time since a three-game run from April 16-18.

The right-hander allowed two hits in eight innings and struck out eight Friday, but San Diego mustered only four hits in a 1-0 defeat at Los Angeles.

Peavy is 1-3 with a 3.83 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 42 1-3 innings in his last six home starts. He's received more than two runs of support in only one of those outings - a 6-3 win over San Francisco on April 11.

Peavy is 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 66 1-3 innings over his last 10 starts against the Diamondbacks (11-16) at Petco Park.

San Diego's ace hopes Giles has snapped out of a season-opening funk after the right fielder went 2-for-3 and drove in the winning run with a double Tuesday. Giles is batting .168 with one homer and 14 RBIs on the season.

"To get a couple of hits, it helps your confidence," he said. "Hopefully, it just snowballs from here."

Giles went 7-for-10 with a home run and four RBIs to help San Diego sweep a three-game home series against Arizona from Aug. 25-27. The Padres, though, lost the season series 8-10.

The Diamondbacks are looking to end a three-game losing streak after falling 3-1 at Los Angeles in the finale of a two-game set. They've managed six runs and batted .182 during the slide.

Arizona is last in the majors with a .226 average and its 99 runs rank ahead of only San Francisco's 90.

Jon Garland (2-1, 4.94) is well aware of the Diamondbacks' offensive shortcomings after not getting a decision in his last two starts - both wins for Arizona - despite posting a 3.95 ERA in those games. He received one run of support in each contest.

The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 5-2 victory at Milwaukee on Friday.

"I'm glad that he didn't get stuck with that loss, that we came back," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "He's pitched in that fashion for us all year. Most of the games that he's in, he's in there late in the game and they're close games. We haven't given him much run support."

Garland is 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA in two career starts against the Padres. He hasn't faced them since winning 4-2 with the Chicago White Sox on June 10, 2005.