SAN DIEGO -- The Padres' Luis Perdomo eyes Saturday's opponent, the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a sense of confidence.
His counterpart, Arizona's Robbie Ray, sees the Padres and feels the opposite.
The teams will square off for game two of this weekend series with two pitchers familiar with their foe.
Arizona took the opener, thumping the Padres, 10-1 thanks to getting seven runs off Jered Weaver in the first inning.
Perdomo (0-0, 4.19 ERA) has beaten the Diamondbacks more than he has any other club. He's 3-1 with a 2.49 in seven appearances, with three of those being starts.
Ray (2-3, 4.57) has lost to the Padres more than he has any other club. He's 1-4 with a 4.82 ERA.
More than anything, it's time Perdomo gets a result attached to his name.
He's etched himself into the team record book by starting a season with six no-decisions, surpassing Bob Owchinko's five consecutive starts in 1977.
The right-handed Perdomo did mostly all the right things in his last turn against the Milwaukee Brewers. With his wipeout slider keeping his offerings down in the zone, he struck out a career-high nine batters on Monday in a game San Diego eventually won 6-5 on Hunter Renfroe's game-winning homer
"He buried the slider very, very well," Padres manager Andy Green said. "They chased it a lot."
Perdomo left without a decision, of course, charged with three runs and five hits over six innings.
But the former Rule 5 hurler in his second year continues to provide length, going at least six innings in four straight starts.
Perdomo also contributed with his bat against the Brewers. He had a triple and double, looking fluid when racing around the diamond collecting extra-base hits.
"I was an outfielder (when I was young), so I know a little bit about the game and how to play," Perdomo said through an interpreter. "I know how to hit, and I know how to run the bases."
But his run with the Padres is about preventing them. Asked to pick what he embraced more from his two-way game, his answer was quick.
"I enjoyed those six innings with the nine strikeouts more," Perdomo said. "Because, again, I'm not a hitter. I'm a pitcher."
Ray was a hit with his pitching when the season began, winning two of this three decisions. But he has stumbled of late.
"Robbie has been good for the majority of the year," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "I know that last couple starts haven't been typical of Robbie Ray."
That's due, in part, to his aim.
"The command of his pitches haven't been as sharp as it was to start the season," Lovullo said. "He had a great run, with several starts in a row."
But Lovullo said Ray hasn't been getting batted around like a pinata.
"It isn't like he has been throwing the ball real poorly," Lovullo said. "He has been keeping us in games and handing it off to the bullpen. We've been in the games that he has pitched.
"I think he spoiled us with some really, really special work and I know he wants to get back to that as soon as possible."
Although he's had his challenges with the Padres, Ray is 1-1 at Petco Park.
In his last outing at San Diego in 2016, he had a career-high 13 strikeouts in a win.
