Inciarte has first career multi-homer game

SAN DIEGO -- On Sunday morning, D-backs outfielder Ender Inciarte told manager Chip Hale he was looking forward to facing Padres ace James Shields.

Turns out he was right to be pumped about the matchup, as he smacked a pair of home runs and drove home three runs to lead the D-backs past the Padres, 4-2.

"I mean, today he came in before the game and he was excited to play against Shields and he took it as a real challenge and had a great day, had a good game plan from [hitting coaches] Turner [Ward] and Mark [Grace] and just executed it," Hale said.

Inciarte meant no disrespect toward Shields, he just was looking forward to matching up against who he considers one of the better pitchers in the league.

It was the first ever multi-homer game for Inciarte, who now has six on the season after hitting a then-career-best four in 2014.

"This is definitely number one," Inciarte said. "This is the best game I've had since I've played in the big leagues. It's fun. It's fun to win games. When you can help the team this way, you remember them for a long time."

Inciarte's first homer, a solo shot, came on an 0-1 pitch from Shields in the fifth and gave the D-backs a 2-0 lead.

Then in the seventh, his two-run blast to right broke the 2-2 tie and wound up being the difference in the game.

"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and not trying to do too much, really," Inciarte said. "I was just trying to hit the ball to the middle like I always do, and this time I was able to turn on those pitches."

After Inciarte's homer, the shadows began to creep across the field and neither team was able to muster a hit the rest of the way.

"It was tough to hit there at the end," Hale said. "That's why when Ender hit the home run I thought it was so important to get those runs because this could have really gone on for a while."