updated 8:53 p.m. ET Sept. 11, 2011
PHOENIX - The San Diego Padres have struggled all year long, especially in Arizona. So this one was particularly sweet.
Nick Hundley homered and the Padres held on for a 7-6 victory Sunday that snapped the Diamondbacks' franchise-record home winning streak at 15 games.
Hundley, Jesus Guzman and James Darnell had two RBIs apiece for the Padres, who ended a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games.
"Anytime you can come out of here with a win you consider it to be a good day," San Diego starter Wade LeBlanc.
San Diego had lost seven of eight games in Arizona this season, including the first three games of the series.
"We've got to stay positive," said Heath Bell, who pitched the ninth for his 37th save in 42 chances one day after allowing two homers in the ninth. "We could have taken three out of four. I messed up yesterday and the second game we kinda blew it."
LeBlanc (3-5) went 5 2-3 innings and allowed four runs and four hits while snapping a personal three-game losing streak.
"I thought he deserved to get the win," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He had good efficiency, mix of pitches and changing of speeds, which all go into Wade's game."
Henry Blanco homered and Chris Young added a two-run double for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks. Arizona's lead over the San Francisco Giants slipped to 8 1-2 games and its magic number remained eight.
"You'd like to win them all but we didn't today," manager Kirk Gibson said. "We push through. There's a saying about playing 27 outs, playing to the end. It's something that's been preached for a while. It's part of their character."
Backed by LeBlanc's one-hit pitching over the first five innings, San Diego built a 7-0 lead against Josh Collmenter (9-9).
Darnell drove in Hundley with a single in the second, then hit a sacrifice fly in the third. Guzman had an RBI single and Anthony Rizzo drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to put the Padres ahead 4-0.
Hundley hit a two-run shot in the fifth for his eighth homer, giving San Diego a 6-0 lead and ending Collmenter's day. Guzman added a run-scoring double in the seventh.
Then the Diamondbacks made things interesting.
Blanco, Arizona's regular Sunday catcher, led off the sixth with a line drive over the wall in left. Reliever Zach Duke singled to center, Gerardo Parra reached on a one-out single and Paul Goldschmidt walked to load the bases and chase LeBlanc.
Chris Young hit a two-run double to left off Erik Hamren, and Colin Cowgill brought home Goldschmidt and Young with a single to center that trimmed San Diego's lead to 7-5.
"We got it the hard way," Black said. "It looked as though we might have done it the easy way but it turned out to be the hard way."
The Diamondbacks pulled within one in the seventh when Blanco singled, went to second when pinch-hitter Geoff Blum was hit by a pitch and scored on pinch-hitter Justin Upton's groundout.
"It's been our team all year," Collmenter said. "Up, down, we play all the way through. It's fun to be a part of a team like that and know that no matter how far down you are, they're going to battle and give you a chance to win."
Collmenter gave up six runs and seven hits, walked three and struck out two.
"I think I forced through some things," Collmenter said. "I didn't make some big pitches when I needed to. I left some balls up over the plate today and they were able to put the bat on."
NOTES: Arizona's last home loss was on August 8, a 9-1 defeat against the Houston Astros. The Diamondbacks won the next three games of the series to begin a seven-game winning streak. ... Darnell has driven in five runs in his past two games. . Young stole second in the second inning to reach the 20-homer, 20-stolen base plateau for the third time in his career. . The Padres dropped their formal protest of the Diamondbacks' 6-5, extra-inning victory on Saturday.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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