Major League Baseball

Upton's 12th-inning homer lifts Padres past D-Backs 6-4

Published May. 10, 2015 12:36 a.m. ET

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PHOENIX (AP) No matter what uniform he is wearing, Justin Upton loves to hit in Chase Field.

Upton homered off Randall Delgado in the 12th inning Saturday night for what proved to be the winning run against his old team in San Diego's 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, a game that included Padres closer Craig Kimbrel's first blown save since last June.

''Justin showed why he is who he is and why he gets paid,'' Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. ''He got him to 3-2. He battled him and he was able to get a pitch he could handle. That is what great hitters do. `'

Upton also singled in a run in the ninth and made an ill-advised dive to try to stop a base hit that turned into David Peralta's RBI triple in the fourth.

Upton homered off Delgado (1-2) in San Diego earlier this season. Both long balls were on fastballs.

''I'm just trying to get the ball up in the zone, that's about it,'' Upton said.

When told it was his 70th home run at Chase Field, he said, ''Is it? I had no clue.''

As for being extra motivated to play the Diamondbacks, Upton said, ''That's old hat. I'm just trying to cheer on my teammates and play the game.''

Arizona had forced extra innings when pinch-hitter Danny Dorn doubled in two runs off Kimbrel to tie it in the ninth.

Dorn, who has spent nearly all of his 10 professional seasons in the minors, lined Kimbrel's 98 mph pitch down the right field line after Jordan Pacheco walked and Aaron Hill singled. It was Dorn's third hit, first for extra bases, and first RBIs in the majors. He ended Kimbrel's string of 35 consecutive saves, nine this season.

''I was just trying to stay short. You got to be ready for it,'' Dorn said. ''He throws so hard. I was just trying to see the ball. Luckily it was down so I was able to drop the barrel on it a little bit. `'

As a reward, Dorn was optioned to Triple-A Reno after the game.

Delgado (1-2) threw two scoreless innings before Upton led off the 12th with the homer into the seats in left. Alexi Amerista added an RBI single to make it 6-4.

Kevin Quackenbush (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings to get the victory.

''What a win,'' San Diego manager Bud Black said. ''All of us - managers, front office executives - have been on the other side of those. Those are gut-wrenchers. Our guys hung in there.''

In the fourth, Upton's decision to try to dive to get Peralta's low line drive rather than letting it drop for a single backfired when the ball went past the left fielder and rolled to the wall for an RBI triple.

''A single definitely would have been better but hindsight's 20-20,'' he said. ''I'm just trying to play the game aggressively.''

Consecutive RBI doubles by Yangervis Solarte and Derek Norris in the eighth had given the Padres a 3-2 lead. San Diego padded the lead to 4-2 when Wil Myers doubled and Upton singled him home.

The Diamondbacks had runners at first and third with one out in the 10th when second baseman Jedd Gyrko made a diving stop of Cliff Pennington's sharp liner, then stepped on first for the inning-ending double play as Pennington bent over in disbelief.

''He hit that ball hard. He definitely squared it up,'' Gyrko said. ''That's baseball sometimes.''

Arizona's Chase Anderson gave up a first-inning run then threw six scoreless innings, leaving with a 2-1 lead. Anderson got his first career RBI. The Padres' Tyson Ross gave up two runs in six innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: San Diego made official what Black had said would happen, placing 1B Yonder Alonso on the 15-day DL and recalling OF Abraham Almonte from Triple-A El Paso.

Diamondbacks: Archie Bradley, struck in the face by a line drive on April 28, is to throw a simulated game Sunday at Chase Field. ... RHP David Hernandez, coming back from Tommy John surgery, threw an inning in an extended spring training game on Saturday.

UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Andrew Cashner (1-5), off to a rough start despite a 3.16 ERA, starts in the series finale on Sunday. Cashner has lost his last three starts with little run support. The scores were 3-0, 7-2 and 6-0.

Diamondbacks: Hale has yet to say who will start in place of the injured Bradley. Hale has said he will go with a combination of relievers.