PHOENIX -- It was a building block game for the young Padres, but at this point almost every game is. The final score says the Padres lost, 7-6, to the D-backs at Chase Field on Monday night, but that's not the whole of it.
Trailing, 7-1, when Zack Greinke came out of the game after six innings, the Padres could have easily faded away, packing it in for another night.
That didn't happen. William Myers hit a three-run homer. Austin Hedges added another homer, his sixth of the season and fourth in as many consecutive starts. And suddenly, the Padres had the tying run on second base with two outs in the eighth. D-backs reliever Jorge De La Rosa struck out pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez, and that was all she wrote after Fernando Rodney closed out the ninth.
Still, it was something for the surprising 8-11 Padres to build upon.
"The team doesn't quit," said Andy Green, in his second season as a big league manager for the Padres. "They fought all the way back and gave us an opportunity to win the baseball game. We had the tying run on second base in the eighth inning. You want to get that one more big hit to put you over the top, but I'm pleased that the guys battled back."

Greinke was masterful for the second consecutive game against the Padres. Last Wednesday night at Petco Park, he pitched a complete-game five-hitter, but he lost, 1-0, on an Erick Aybar homer in the bottom of the eighth.
As Green said about Greinke's performance before the game: "We really didn't get to him at any point in time. We hit one hanger out of the ballpark."
Again on Monday, Greinke was Greinke for his six innings, allowing six hits, walking none and striking out 11. The only run scored against him was on a Hedges sacrifice fly. Myers had two of the strikeouts.
"He's Zack Greinke, he's good," Myers said. "He's a great pitcher. That's why he's been one of the best over the years. I thought he threw the ball well, located the ball well and didn't make many mistakes."
It was no coincidence, then, that San Diego's resurgence began when rookie right-hander Silvino Bracho entered the game in the seventh. A walk to newcomer Jabari Blash and an error on an Aybar grounder to first by Chris Herrmann ultimately set up Myers for his three-run blast into the left-field bleachers. It was his fifth home run.
The Padres scored four times in the inning, and at 7-5 they were suddenly back in the game.
"I thought that was great," Myers said. "Anytime we can come back against a good team, especially after what Greinke did, I like it. It shows a lot. It shows a lot of fight among the guys and it will help us moving forward."
After all, the Padres had only three bonafide veteran players among the starting eight: Myers, Aybar and Yangervis Solarte. The rest of the lineup is a group of youngsters.
One of them, Hedges, opened the eighth with his homer off De la Rosa. With two out, Aybar singled and stole second with Sanchez at the plate. The game was there for the taking. It didn't happen. Not yet. Perhaps soon. But it was a learning experience.
"Sure, you can learn from anything," Green said. "You can learn from the game today, but I think our objective in that clubhouse is that everyone expects to come out and win a baseball game. That's where our heart is right now."