Padres-Diamondbacks: San Diego Loses Nine of Ten Games

The San Diego Padres once again struggled offensively on Friday night, losing their fifth straight home game, and ninth of 10 overall.

This time, the Padres fell to Randy Johnson and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1.

San Diego was done in by a five-run Arizona third inning off starter Randy Wolf, and never recovered against the 44-year-old Johnson, who won for the first time since last June.

For the eighth time this season, the Padres have been held to one run or fewer, and they have scored only three runs in their last 39 innings at Petco Park.

Despite being in the middle of the pack in the National League in ERA (3.97), San Diego has amassed only nine wins in 26 games so far. They sit in the basement in the West.

Some of the Padres' stats are downright ugly:

• - 75 runs scored (second-last in the NL)
• - .229 team batting average (last)
• - 13 home runs (the second-lowest total, ahead of only the Giants and Mets)

The Padres managed just three hits off Johnson (all in the fourth inning) in the lefty's six innings of work. They went hitless against the Arizona bullpen, as three D-Back relievers retired nine of the final 10 batters they faced.

The Padres are now 8 1/2 games behind the D-Backs, who at 17-6, are currently baseball's best team.

It doesn't get any easier for the Padres as the Diamondbacks throw a pair of tough right-handers — Micah Owings (4-0, 2.42) and ace Brandon Webb (5-0, 2.31) — at them on the weekend to close out the three-game series.

The consolation for San Diego is that their ace, Jake Peavy, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, will go up against Webb in a classic pitchers' duel on Sunday.

Will San Diego stop the bleeding and salvage at least one win this weekend? Will they score more than a run?