​SAN DIEGO (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a home run and closed in on 2,000 career hits as Merrill Kelly matched up with two relievers to limit the San Diego Padres to three hits in a 3-1 Arizona Diamondbacks win Thursday night, giving Arizona three wins in the four-game series. The victory kept the Diamondbacks and Padres contending for the NL West’s second place, although both trails the Los Angeles Dodgers, who themselves are the two-time defending division champions. The win put Arizona back in a tie with San Diego for second place, 14 1/2 games behind the idle Dodgers.
Arenado lined a left-field homer with two outs in the sixth inning off Yuki Matsui, his 11th homer of the season and the 364th of his 14-year career. He is six hits shy of becoming the sixth active player to reach 2,000 career hits. Arenado, in his first season with Arizona after five years with St. Louis and eight with Colorado, has established a strong road record at Petco Park, where this is the 17th homer by a visiting player. In this ballpark, he has reached base in 25 of his last 26 appearances dating back to Sept. 1, 2018.
Kelly (7-8) delivered a strong outing, quieting a Padres offense that had erupted for 10 runs the previous night. He limited San Diego to one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking three. Kevin Ginkel pitched a flawless eighth inning, followed by Paul Sewald working a perfect ninth for his 21st save. Kelly’s only real trouble came when Manny Machado led off the second with a homer to right, Machado’s 19th of the season and fifth over the past 11 games. Machado returned to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday, following a foul ball off his left big toe the night before.
Geraldo Perdomo added an RBI single with two outs in the fifth to push Arizona ahead 2-1, scoring after starter Griffin Canning (1-7) allowed the hit and taking advantage of a wild pitch that had previously enabled the Diamondbacks to score in the fourth. The first Arizona run of the game came when a wild pitch by Canning crossed the plate earlier in the contest.
Arizona’s left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez (7-3, 2.25 ERA) is now slated to face Dodgers ace Shohei Ohtani (8-2, 1.79) on Friday night in Los Angeles. The Padres will counter with lefty JP Sears (2-1, 4.70 ERA) as they host Toronto in the opener of a home series on Friday night.