Cashner, Upton lead Padres over D-backs
SAN DIEGO -- Justin Upton hit a two-run home run and Andrew Cashner won for the first time since May 27 as the Padres topped the D-backs, 7-2, Saturday at Petco Park.
Cashner (3-9) allowed two runs over seven innings. He allowed eight hits with no walks and struck out six. Cashner even knocked in a run with a perfectly-executed squeeze bunt as part of a three-run sixth inning. Upton added a two-run home run, his 14th of the season.
"It was something good to build off of, I'm definitely better than what I showed tonight, but it's something to build off moving forward," Cashner said.
Yasmany Tomas and David Peralta each had run-scoring doubles for the D-backs in the third inning.
"I think he came out and decided he was just gonna let it go," D-backs manager Chip Hale said of Cashner. "He really threw hard, 97, 98 [miles per hour], and just dominated us pretty good."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Video: ARI@SD: Upton puts Padres ahead with two-run shot
Home cooking: Say this much for Upton, he's not put-off by the big dimensions of Petco Park. He hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give the Padres a 4-2 lead. It was his 11th home run at home. The team record for home runs at Petco Park is 15 by Will Venable in 2013.
Setting new marks: D-backs starter Jeremy Hellickson struck out a season-high eight batters, including five in a row at one point. However, in the sixth inning, the right-hander set two more season marks, neither as positive. Hellickson gave up his season-high 10th hit on Cashner's RBI bunt single. He was also charged a season-high seven runs, all earned, when two more runs scored after his exit. More >
Video: ARI@SD: Peralta cuts into deficit with RBI double
"I made too many mistakes there those last couple of innings," Hellickson said.
Doubling down The D-backs used a two-out rally to tie the game in the third. Paul Goldschmidt doubled to right-center and scored on a double to right by Peralta. Tomas tied the game at 2 with a third straight double to left. Those were the only runs that the D-backs could push across.
Video: ARI@SD: Padres strike first on Alonso's RBI single
"I thought we battled and had the good inning with the doubles and put some runs on the board, but we just couldn't continue it," Hale said.
Healthy body, healthy swing: About the only thing that has slowed Yonder Alonso all season was a stint on the disabled list with a right shoulder bruise that caused him to miss 23 games. His first-inning RBI single scored Matt Kemp and he finished with two hits to raise his average to .324. He's had a hit in all but 16 of the 50 games he's appeared in. The Padres finished with 15 hits.
"We just had a lot of guys contribute," said Padres interim manager Pat Murphy.
QUOTABLE
"The sinker's finally back to where I think it should be. It's down in the zone," -- Cashner, on the pitch he's been working to get better this month
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Consider that the seven runs the Padres scored Saturday gave Cashner -- the team's resident hard-luck starter -- the most offensive backing he's had in a game since Sept. 10, 2013, when the Padres provided him with seven runs, that time against the Phillies.
GIVE ONE, TAKE ONE
Video: ARI@SD: Cashner strands the bases loaded in the 2nd
San Diego shortstop Alexi Amarista was charged with an error on Nick Ahmed's ground ball to start the game. But he made up for it in the second inning with the bases loaded, making a nice play on a ball hit up the middle by Hellickson, then stepping on second base for the final out of the inning.
WHAT'S NEXT
D-backs: Chase Anderson (3-2, 3.54) takes the mound for the D-backs in the series finale at 1:10 p.m. MST on Sunday, the last game of a six-game road trip. He is looking to bounce back from his worst outing of the year in his last time out when gave up eight runs in 4 2/3 innings in a loss against the Rockies on Tuesday.
Padres: Odrisamer Despaigne (3-5, 4.83) gets the start for the Padres at 1:10 p.m. PT in the third and final game of the series. The Padres always feel good about Despaigne at Petco Park -- as he has a 2.75 ERA in 16 career games at home. His road ERA in 15 games is 5.47.
Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV.