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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have trouble with Arizona's Brandon McCarthy.
They are also challenged when asked to support starter Tyson Ross.
The Padres lost 2-1 to McCarthy and the Diamondbacks on Friday night. It was the second time they lost to McCarthy, a pitcher who is 0-10 against everyone else.
Ross must wonder if the Padres are against him as well.
He again pitched well and had little to show for it as the Padres backed him with but one run. And that lone run is the only one they have scored for him in his last five starts.
But Ross (6-8) didn't point a finger at his scuffling teammates.
"I just need to do a better job," said Ross, who pitched seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk. "I don't worry about what I can't control."
McCarthy (2-10) limited San Diego to one run and six hits. He struck out seven with no walks as he beat the Padres for the second time this season at Petco Park and fourth overall in five career decisions.
McCarthy jumped ahead of the Padres with a fastball, sinker and sharp curveball.
"I just felt we swung through a lot of fastballs," Yasmani Grandal said. "We couldn't really get on it and he kept us off balance. He threw his curveball whenever he needed it."
Addison Reed pitched the ninth inning for his 18th save in 21 chances.
The Padres, who were no-hit by the Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants in their last game, were again deficient offensively.
Ross did his part and then some. He had a hit and drove in the team's lone run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning that made it 2-1.
"Pitched great," Padres manager Bud Black said of Ross. "It was one of his better games. Good fastball command, good slider, he mixed in some changeups as the game went on. We are watching him grow before our eyes."
Arizona manager Kirk Gibson was impressed as well.
"He's got the good slider, good breaking ball," Gibson said. "He threw a good game but Mac was just a little bit better tonight."
San Diego squandered a chance to tie the game in the sixth when Chase Headley reached third with one out. But with the infield in, Will Venable grounded to Aaron Hill at second base and he erased Headley trying to score. Venable was retired when he broke for second base while Headley was in a rundown.
The Diamondbacks broke the scoreless tie in the fourth when Paul Goldschmidt walked to open the inning, which preceded a single by Miguel Montero. They advanced to second and third on a wild pitch by Ross.
David Peralta drove them both in with a sharp one-out single up the middle. Martin Prado smacked a similar ball toward center, but with Amarista covering second on a steal attempt by Peralta, he was in position to turn an inning-ending double play.
"That leadoff walk — that's just Baseball 101," Ross said. "The odds of that guy scoring are pretty high."
Down 2-0, the Padres had an opportunity to cut into their deficit when Headley and Grandal had consecutive one-out singles in the fourth inning. But Venable and Jake Goebbert struck out looking to squash the rally.
The Padres got their first hit in 11 innings in the third when Ross bunted for a two-out single. Ross' effort down the first base line was fielded by McCarthy but his throw was late and offline.
Ross, the Padres' second base runner over that 11-inning span, didn't go far. Everth Cabrera followed with a ground ball to shortstop to end the inning.
NOTES: Diamondbacks SS Chris Owings was scratched from the lineup with a sore left shoulder. ... Padres GM Kevin Towers will undergo surgery to repair a damaged right vocal cord on July 7. ... Gibson attended Thursday night's tribute to Tony Gwynn. "It was a great celebration of Tony and what he meant to his team, this city and his fans," Gibson said. "He left a great legacy." ... Padres OF Carlos Quentin's sore left shoulder kept him out of the lineup. ... Padres RHP Andrew Cashner (tender right shoulder) will play catch in three days. . Diamondbacks RHP Josh Collmenter (6-4, 3.87) faces Padres LHP Eric Stults (2-10, 5.49) on Saturday.
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