PHOENIX – Armando Galarraga brushed off the first few questions, even one about his spot in the rotation. When someone tried to follow up, well, he couldn't take it.
Roughed up for five runs in the first two innings, Galarraga verbally sparred with a reporter after another shaky outing led the Arizona Diamondbacks to an 8-4 loss to the San Diego Padres Monday night.
"What are you talking about the next start?" Galarraga said with a glare after allowing eight runs in five innings. "Who you say I am going to be worried about my next start? Are you saying that I am going to lose my job? Are you trying to say that? I am frustrated about this start, not the next one."
Just down the hallway, Padres starter Clayton Richard was at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
Staked to a big early lead, he pitched effectively into the sixth inning, ending a career-high four-game losing streak by allowing three runs on five hits. Richard posted his first win since April 2.
Once one of baseball's weakest hitting teams, San Diego has snapped to life over the past week. The Padres scored 46 runs in six games last week and had 10 hits in the final five, a first since they did it in six straight in 2009.
San Diego didn't keep the hitting streak going, but did plenty of damage.
Ryan Ludwick followed his three-run homer against Colorado on Sunday with another homer and three RBIs. Cameron Maybin and Jason Bartlett had two RBIs apiece. Chase Headley had three hits and drove in a run.
Ludwick (2-4) made it stand by pitching into the sixth inning and Mike Adams got the final five outs for his first save of the season, giving San Diego its fourth win in five games after a weak-hitting start to the season.
"It was a matter of time before some of our guys put it together," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We just all did it at the same time."
Henry Blanco had two solo homers and Justin Upton led off the eighth with his eighth of the season, but those were about the only highlights for Arizona.
The Diamondbacks were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, had four hits other than the homers and two errors in the same inning to set up a run.
The worst of it, though, came from Galarraga.
Since winning those first three starts, the pitcher who nearly had a perfect game for Detroit last season had gone 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA in his previous four starts, piling up 14 walks in 19 2-3 innings.
Galarraga (3-4) wasn't much better against San Diego, either.
It started in the first inning, when Maybin had a run-scoring single and Ludwick a sacrifice fly. San Diego got three more off Galarraga in the second, errors by shortstop Stephen Drew and second baseman Ryan Roberts leading to a two-run double by Bartlett and Headley's RBI single.
Galarraga opened the fifth inning by walking Headley, who came around to score on Maybin's sacrifice fly, then Ludwick sent an over-the-plate 0-2 pitch deep into the seats in left-center for a two-run shot that put San Diego up 8-1.
"He didn't pitch very well at all," manager Kirk Gibson said after Arizona's seventh loss in 10 games. "He didn't set a very good tone for us. He really didn't have much tonight at all, no location. I think we will reevaluate."
Richard has struggled since beating the Cardinals in his opening start, going winless in seven outings.
The left-hander allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of those four starts while getting two total runs of support, but hurt himself the last time out, allowing eight runs and 10 hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Staked to a five-run lead after two innings, Richard was good enough to beat Arizona.
He allowed a leadoff homer to Blanco in the third inning and another solo shot to him in the fifth. Melvin Mora added a run-scoring single in the inning and Richard was done after walking Blanco with two outs in the sixth, leaving after allowing three runs and five hits.
"When they start scoring a lot you want them to save it for when you start," Richard said. "But it's great. We're swinging the bats so well."
Notes: Padres C Kyle Phillips was struck on the side of the head in the third inning, when Galarraga clocked him with his bat on the followthrough of a swing. Phillips went down and was attended to by San Diego's trainer for about a minute before deciding to stay in the game. He also was hit on the thigh by a pitch from Sam Demel in the eighth. ... Blanco's multihomer game was his first since April 11, 2009, against the Giants while playing for San Diego.
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