Thursday’s dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Milwaukee just could be what the Arizona Diamondbacks need to turn their offense around. The bats slumbered through the first 8 innings on Thursday and not only woke up in the 9th, but woke up mad. The D-Backs put up 6 runs in the 9th without making an out, and took a 4-game split with Milwaukee. Now the San Diego Padres come to town for a 3-game holiday weekend set in downtown Phoenix. The Padres have been a mystery, seemingly never recovering from their one-game playoff loss to eventual National League Champion Colorado. The Padres lost their last 2, both to Colorado, and scored 1 run in the process. Maybe we should expect some low-scoring games in Phoenix this weekend. Here’s a closer look at both teams…

San Diego Padres (33-53, last place in NL West, 10 games behind Diamondbacks)

Manager: Bud Black (2nd year with Padres, 122-127)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Brian Giles, .306

Runs: Adrian Gonzalez, 51

Hits: Adrian Gonzalez, 97

HR: Adrian Gonzalez, 21

RBI: Adrian Gonzalez, 68

SB: Tadahito Iguchi, 8

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Greg Maddux, 107

Wins: Heath Bell, 6

ERA: Jake Peavy, 2.90

Saves: Trevor Hoffman, 15

Bottom Line: Without a doubt, the biggest disappointment in baseball is the San Diego Padres. A team that was one game (and a controversial call at home plate) away from making the playoffs last season, arrives at Chase Field as the worst team in the majors with a 33-53 record. The Padres are 1-9 in their last 10 games, and have been awful offensively. The Padres have scored the least runs in MLB, and are in the bottom 5 in hitting. Who knows what their record would be without Adrian Gonzalez? Gonzalez has been the lone bright spot for San Diego, ranking 2nd in the NL in RBI with 68. Other than that, its a struggle to find anyone in a Padre uniform doing much offensively at all.

But maybe the bigger disappointment for San Diego has been the pitching. I mean, after all, they play in Petco Park, a notoriously pitcher-friendly stadium, and their big 3 of Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux is among the top trios of starters in all of baseball. Peavy, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is only 5-5, but has a good era of 2.90. Young, who has battled injuries, is only 5-9 since being named to last year’s All-Star Game. Maddux has been an innings eater, but only has a 3-5 record and an ERA over 4.00. Reliever Heath Bell is leading the team with 6 wins. Closer Trevor Hoffman is 15 of 18 on save opportunities this season, and has a high ERA of 5.00. The Padres are praying for the All-Star break, which will provide a temporary break from a nightmarish 2008 season. The real scary part of this is that as bad as San Diego has been, they’re only 10 games out of first place in the division. Yikes!

San Diego’s Pitchers vs. Arizona

Tonight: Cha Seung Baek (2008: 1-3, 5.46 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Saturday: Jake Peavy (2008: 5-5, 2.90 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 10-10, 4.98 ERA)

Sunday: Josh Banks (2008: 2-3, 2.89 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Arizona Diamondbacks (43-43, 1st place in NL West, 1.5 games ahead of Los Angeles)

Manager: Bob Melvin (4th year with Diamondbacks, 286-285)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Conor Jackson, .312

Runs: Mark Reynolds, 56

Hits: Orlando Hudson, 87

HR: Mark Reynolds, 17

RBI: Mark Reynolds, 52

SB: Conor Jackson, 6

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Brandon Webb 118

Wins: Brandon Webb 12

ERA: Dan Haren, 2.85

Saves: Brandon Lyon 17

Bottom Line: How glad are the Arizona Diamondbacks to be back playing a team from their own division? The D-Backs have feasted on NL West foes, going 20-8, and 23-35 against everyone else. The bad news is, the D-Backs play only 3 against the Padres, and then they hit the road for another Eastern road swing to Washington and Philadelphia. The Snakes are riding high after their miraculous victory over the Brewers on Thursday, but not all is well in Diamondback land. Speculation is that injured outfielder Eric Byrnes, who tweaked his hamstring again vs. Milwaukee, could be out for the season. Catcher Chris Snyder is on the disabled list with a fractured testicle.

But the bigger question is how long can the D-Backs stick by Randy Johnson? Johnson was effective earlier in the season, but hasn’t looked good in his last 6 starts, going 0-6 with a 7.94 ERA and only 26 strikeouts. I’m not sure you can throw Johnson from the bullpen, because back problems keep him to a pretty strict pitching schedule. But on the flip side, a team that has struggled offensively isn’t going to be able to out-score an opponent for a pitcher who is allowing close to 8 runs a start. To Johnson’s defense, he did pitch well in a start in Boston, allowing only 2 runs over 6 innings, but he didn’t get any run support in a 5-0 loss.

Arizona’s pitchers vs. San Diego:

Tonight: Dan Haren (2008: 8-4, 2.85 ERA; career vs. Padres: 1-0, 1.17 ERA)

Saturday: Doug Davis (2008: 3-3, 3.79 ERA; career vs. Padres: 6-2, 3.36 ERA)

Sunday: Randy Johnson (2008: 4-7, 5.46 ERA; career vs. Padres: 15-5, 2.44 ERA)

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