PHOENIX (AP) - Ryan Schimpf keeps swinging away in the final weekend of a hard-hitting first three months in the major leagues.
Schimpf hit his 20th home run in his 87th game with the San Diego Padres in a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. And it was no cheap home run. It traveled some 469 feet and hit the bottom of the giant video board in center field.
“That ball was absolutely annihilated today,” Padres manager Andy Green said.
It was his sixth home run against Arizona.
Schimpf’s 20 home runs are third-most by a Padres rookie behind Nate Colbert’s 24 in 1969 and Jedd Gyorko’s 23 in 2013. They are second-most by a Padres second baseman behind Gyorko’s 23. Schimpf had 15 homers this season in the minors. And they came in about a half-season.
Has Schimpf surprised himself?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if it has really settled in yet. I’m just trying to constantly get better.”
Chris Owings and Paul Goldschmidt each hit two-run home runs off Padres starter Edwin Jackson.
Owings’ homer provided what proved to be winning runs.
“That’s the kind of power we see Chris display daily during BP,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “He’s got big power right-center field. That was the talk when I got here before his shoulder surgery, he really drove the ball to right-center a lot in the minor leagues. So he’s starting to get comfortable and just stayed on that pitch and rode it out of here. That’s very, very impressive for a shortstop of his stature to be able to go the opposite way.”
Randall Delgado (5-2) pitched an inning of relief to get the victory. Patrick Corbin threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Daniel Hudson came on to get Wil Myers to pop out to first for his fifth save. Corbin’s performance was the latest in a series of strong efforts after he was demoted to the bullpen.
“He just feels like his stuff is back to where it was before (Tommy John) surgery,” Hale said. “He got tremendous life up to 96 today. His breaking ball, you saw Myers take the swing where he spun around. It’s really good to finish this way. He’ll fit right into our rotation the top two or three spots there next year.”
Jackson (5-7) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings to take the loss.
The crowd for the matchup between the bottom two teams in the NL West was announced at 42,651, the second-largest of the season at home for the Diamondbacks. Only the season opener drew more.
By handing the Padres their 50th road loss, Arizona still has a chance to escape the division cellar. The Diamondbacks are a game behind San Diego with two to play.
Goldschmidt put Arizona up 3-0 in the third inning when he hit Jackson’s 2-0 pitch over the porch in right-center for his 24th home run, and 94th and 95th RBIs.
But Diamondbacks starter Braden Shipley couldn’t hold the lead. The Padres tied it 3-3 in the fourth. Manuel Margot doubled in a run and scored on Schimpf’s two-run home run.
Arizona regained the lead in the sixth. With two outs, Brandon Drury doubled and scored when Owings homered on Jackson’s 2-0 pitch. Owings’ fifth home run of the season gave the Diamondbacks a 5-3 lead.
“I saw him pretty good tonight,” Owings said. “I got some good counts before that. Got to 2-0 on that one, just got a pitch out over the plate and was able to drive it.”
GOLDY’S BLAST
Goldschmidt’s two-run homer gave him 14 RBIs against San Diego this season, his career-high against the Padres. With two games to go, Goldschmidt is batting .346 against the Padres with five home runs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: OF A.J. Pollock ran on the grass on Friday but still felt tightness in his groin and has been shut down for the season. … OF Yasmany Tomas was scratched from the lineup with stiffness in his upper back.
UP NEXT
Padres: LHP Clayton Richard (3-3, 2.98 ERA) makes his ninth start and 38th appearancc of the season. In eight starts, he is 3-2 with a 1.88 ERA.
Diamondbacks: RHP Archie Bradley (7-9, 5.15 ERA) makes the final start of his rookie season. His 132 strikeouts are third-most by an Arizona rookie in franchise history.
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