HEADLINE

Another day, another phenom arm for Padres against D-backs

Field Level Media

April 12, 2019 at 7:07 am.

The Arizona Diamondbacks failed to do much Thursday night with Pedro Avila, a San Diego Padres rookie making his first career start.

On Friday night in Phoenix, they will try to solve another Padres rookie — Chris Paddack. The 23-year-old has two no-decisions, but he has a sporty 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 innings and is generating buzz for his ability to command his changeup, especially in rare territory for a right-hander — up and in to lefties.

“We’re not just excited about his changeup command, it’s his fastball command throughout his whole minor league career,” manager Andy Green said in The Athletic.

Avila worked 5 1/3 innings in San Diego’s 7-6 win on Thursday night to start a four-game series. He allowed one run and four hits, striking out five and walking two.

Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2016, missed the 2017 season and split last season between Single-A and Double-A. He showed off his command in his major league debut, yielding two hits and one run in five innings against San Francisco on March 31. He struck out seven and walked one.

The command wasn’t as sharp Saturday at St. Louis. He walked four and threw 89 pitches before leaving after 3 2/3 innings.

Paddack will be opposed by right-hander Luke Weaver (0-0, 6.75 ERA). Weaver, one of the key return pieces in the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals, needs a faster start. He allowed three first-inning runs at the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first outing and then gave up three second-inning runs to the Boston Red Sox.

Weaver is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in three career starts against San Diego, striking out 18 and walking three in 17 1/3 innings.

One area Arizona manager Torey Lovullo has liked is how his team battles at the plate late in games.

In the past week, the Diamondbacks have walk-off wins against Boston and Texas, posted a ninth-inning run against Texas and had the bases loaded before losing 5-2 on Wednesday and rallied from a 6-1 deficit by scoring five in the seventh Thursday night against the Padres.

They put two runners on before Nick Ahmed struck out in the ninth.

“The way we fought back and knocked down five runs and tied the game was a perfect remedy to help us win this ballgame,” Lovullo said. “In that five-run inning, I thought the guys were grinding through their at-bats, doing a really nice job.”

Arizona left fielder David Peralta continued his hot hitting against San Diego. He went 2-for-5 with two RBIs on Thursday night and is 10-for-19 against the Padres this season.

San Diego is looking for more from its leadoff position. Padres batters were hitting .154 from the leadoff spot entering Thursday’s game, when Green moved Wil Myers into the top spot.

“It’s a spot he’s hit in and performed well in,” Green said before Thursday’s game.

“We obviously haven’t been able to find that catalyst in that spot at this point in time early in the season, so we’re just going to look at a few different alignments and see if something clicks for us at some point in time. He’s thrived there before and we’ll see how he does there.”

The search might continue. Myers went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Thursday night, although he did get things started in a five-run sixth inning with a leadoff walk.

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