Padres send Young to the hill against Giants

Sep 14, 2007, 15:13 GMT

- The San Diego Padres are losing ground in the NL wild card but the lowly San Francisco Giants are in town tonight for the first of three straight games at Petco Park.

The Padres have dropped two in a row and six of their last eight games, including Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game series at Chavez Ravine. Mike Cameron and Morgan Ensberg both homered for San Diego, which is now 1 1/2 games ahead of both Philadelphia and Los Angeles in the wild card standings. Colorado is just 2 1/2 games off the pace.

Padres veteran starter Greg Maddux yielded six runs on 10 hits over 3 1/3 innings for the loss. He was 5-0 in his previous six trips to the mound.

Chris Young will try to end his recent winless streak when he takes the ball this evening for San Diego. The All-Star Young has dropped three straight starts and is winless (0-4) in his previous seven trips to the mound. Young was handed the loss on Sunday at Colorado after he surrendered three runs in five innings of a 4-2 setback.

Young, a right-hander, owns a 1-1 mark and a 3.20 ERA in four career starts against the Giants. Young, who is 9-7 with a 2.72 ERA this season, is 1-0 in two starts against San Francisco in 2007.

The Giants will hand the ball to Barry Zito on Friday and he is 9-12 with a 4.46 ERA in 30 games (29 starts) this season.

Zito, who hasn't lived up to his huge deal this offseason, is winless (0-1) in his previous four trips to the mound and suffered the loss on Saturday versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zito allowed three runs and four hits through six innings of a 6-2 setback at AT&T Park.

In five career games (four starts) against San Diego, the left-hander is 0-2 with a 3.20 ERA. Zito is 0-1 in three starts against the Padres this season.

San Francisco has alternated wins and losses over its last six games, and was handed a 9-4 loss by Arizona in the finale of a three-game set on Thursday. Dave Roberts ended 2-for-4 and scored a run for the Giants, while starter Jonathan Sanchez allowed three runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over three-plus innings for the loss.

The Padres are 9-3 against San Francisco this season with a 5-1 mark at Petco Park. They swept the Giants in three games at home from August 3-5.

© 2007 The Sports Network