Sep 16, 2007, 14:53 GMT
- The San Diego Padres shoot for their eighth straight win over the San Francisco Giants this afternoon when the two teams conclude their three-game series at Petco Park.
San Diego will also be trying to sweep its second straight three-game set against San Francisco, as the club turned the trick in early August. Overall, the Padres have won 11 of their 14 meetings with the Giants this year.
A sweep seems likely today for San Diego with NL Cy Young favorite Jake Peavy on the mound. Peavy continued his impressive campaign on Tuesday versus the Dodgers, improving to 17-6 after limiting LA to two runs on five hits over seven innings. He also struck out five to up his NL-leading total to 215.
The right-hander's major-league best earned run average actually lifted to 2.44 in the win, while his 17 victories lead in the NL.
Peavy is 9-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 19 career starts against the Giants, besting the club in his first start of the season on April 3 behind six shutout innings. It will be his first start against them since.
The Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the hill today hoping the rookie can halt a recent winless drought. Lincecum suffered a loss against Chicago on August 21 and has posted three no-decisions since, including Monday against Arizona. The right-hander pitched well against the Diamondbacks, though, holding the club to two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. On the year, he is 7-4 with a 3.99 ERA.
Lincecum started against the Padres for the first time in his career on June 25 and threw seven shutout innings, working around four hits and four walks in a no-decision.
The Padres got an excellent start out of Brett Tomko on Saturday, as the former Dodger tossed six shutout innings to help guide his new club to a 6-0 victory over the Giants.
Tomko (3-11), who was let go by the Dodgers to make room for former Padre David Wells and made his first start with his new club, allowed four hits and struck out five. It was his first win since July 15, at San Francisco.
Mike Cameron hit a two-run homer, and Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and scored twice for San Diego, which maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over Los Angeles and Philadelphia for the National League wild card spot. Both clubs posted victories on Saturday.
The Padres also picked up a game on the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, after Arizona was defeated by Los Angeles yesterday. San Diego is just two games back of Arizona in the standings.
Barry Bonds suffered a strained right big toe and left the game in the third inning for the Giants, who have lost three in a row overall. X-rays taken were negative, though Bonds is likely to miss the next two or three games.
Matt Cain (7-15) allowed just one hit and a run while fanning six over six innings for the Giants. He fell to 0-3 against the Padres this season.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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