San Diego Padres

D-backs' Godley faces Padres, aiming to extend hot streak (Sep 19, 2017)

Published Sep. 19, 2017 6:05 a.m. ET

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AP

SAN DIEGO -- The first names are the same and so, too, are their performances of late.

Arizona's Zack Godley is making a name for himself on a staff that includes Zack Greinke. Godley (8-7, 3.00 ERA) gets the start on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres, looking to extend a solid run of pitching.

In Godley's past four outings, he has pitched like Greinke, going 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA. In his most recent start, Godley fired a season-high eight scoreless innings and allowed only five hits in a Thursday victory over the Colorado Rockies.

"He can't get much better than what we saw," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told MLB.com. "He was pitch-efficient. He was outstanding."

That kind of praise is usually directed toward the "other" Zack. Greinke is in the conversation for the National League Cy Young Award as he continues to shine.

There is plenty of luster attached to Godley, too. As the Diamondbacks close in on a National League wild-card berth, Godley has been a big reason for their recent success.

His latest win over was clutch, against a Colorado team chasing Arizona for the top National League wild card, with the only disappointment being Godley wasn't sent out in the ninth to try for his first career shutout.

Godley tried to sway Lovullo as he started preparing to hit second in the top of the ninth inning.

"I was trying to grab my helmet and my stuff and get to the on-deck circle before he could see me, and he'd be just like: 'All right, he's going to go,'" Godley said. "He caught me before I could even get to the steps."

Godley is 1-2 with a 4.94 ERA in eight career games, including five starts, against the Padres, and he is 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts against them this season.

Travis Wood (3-6, 6.80 ERA overall) will oppose Godley as the Padres go for their second win of the three-game series. San Diego took the series opener 4-2 on Monday behind homers from Hunter Renfroe and Austin Hedges.

Wood, who came over to the Padres in a trade-deadline deal with the Kansas City Royals, has seen all his wins come at Petco Park.

Wood's last outing wasn't in the Padres' downtown digs, and the results were somewhat predictable. He was knocked around at Minnesota on Sept. 12 as the Twins ambushed him for three home runs in what became a 16-0 loss.

It was a nightmare turn for Wood, who surrendered a career-high nine runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Unfortunately for him, that game wasn't an aberration. In his past two appearances, Wood has given up 16 runs (15 earned) over 4 1/3 innings.

Sometimes pitchers are lucky and get away with making miscues on their pitch selection or location. That hasn't been the case with Wood.

"If I make a mistake, they capitalize on it," he said after the game on Sept. 12. "Even when I executed pitches, they had a great game plan and found the holes. They were able to put a lot on me and get me out of there real quick."

Padres manager Andy Green said, "There was just a ton of mistakes in the zone. We'll sit down and assess where we go from here, but obviously if he wants to stay in the rotation for the foreseeable future, he's got to pitch better than that."

Wood is 2-5 with a 5.11 ERA in 13 career appearances (seven starts) against Arizona. He has not faced the Diamondbacks this year.

Arizona's lead in the race for the first NL wild card is down to 4 1/2 games after the Monday defeat at Petco Park.

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