Luis Perdomo and the Padres bullpen took a step forward Monday as San Diego claimed its third victory in four days with an 8-4 decision over Arizona.
Perdomo turned in a solid performance limiting the Diamondbacks to three runs (two earned) while tying a season-high six innings of work.
The right-hander struck out five and allowed nine hits and left with a 5-3 lead after pitching to one batter in the 7th.
Brad Hand then came in and was able to get out of a two-on, nobody-out jam unscathed by striking out Arizona sluggers Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb.
Reliever Jose Dominguez followed suit and was able to get Wellington Castillo to line out to center to end the threat.
Paul Clemens allowed one run in the 8th before Brandon Maurer finished it out with a scoreless 9th.
It was a drastic improvement from last Friday – when the Padres were 90 feet from blowing a 7-2 lead in the 9th against the Mets just one day after trading consistent closer Fernando Rodney to the Marlins.
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The Padres lineup produced eight runs Monday to back Perdomo and the bullpen, with half of them coming on two swings. Yangervis Solarte and Derek Norris provided the fireworks.
Solarte stayed hot in the desert and scorched a two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2 in the 4th inning. The infielder upped his batting average to .299 by the end of the evening.
Later in the 6th inning, Norris decided to take matters into his own hands and attacked a 3-0 offering from Archie Bradley. The ball landed 370 feet away from home plate to give the Padres a 5-3 advantage they would not relinquish.
Norris added a RBI double in the 8th. Ryan Schimpf, Alexei Ramirez, and Matt Kemp also knocked in runs to help the cause.
Christian Friedrich toes the rubber Tuesday in Arizona at 6:40 p.m. The Diamondbacks will counter with Zack Godley.
