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| SAN DIEGO -- Players and coaches in any sport will repeatedly say their team just needs to peak at the right time, and that time presumably would be the end of the season and into the playoffs. There is no doubt, 14 strikeouts later on Saturday night, that Jake Peavy has returned to ace form, and his timing could not be better. While the Reds scored six runs against San Diego in Friday night's loss, Peavy held them to an Adam Dunn homer Saturday, going the distance for a 7-1 Padres win. "He was unbelievable. We're just glad he's on our team," said second baseman Josh Barfield, who helped Peavy with a two-run homer in the second inning. "I don't care who was up there. They weren't hitting him today." In fact, only two Reds players got a hit off Peavy. Dunn's homer to right field made him the second Reds baserunner up to that point in the game, the other being a second-inning walk to Scott Hatteberg, who was quickly erased by a 5-4-3 double play. "He's got as good as stuff as anybody in baseball," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "I think Dunner hit a changeup or something. If he doesn't hit that ball, we might have had a no-hitter against us." After the Dunn home run, Peavy allowed just two more baserunners the rest of the way. Rich Aurilia's single in the eighth inning was the only other hit, extending his hitting streak to six games. Peavy tossed his second complete game of the season, and his sixth quality start in his last eight starts. It's been a return to form in recent weeks, after a blip on the radar his last time out, allowing six runs in just 4 1/3 innings at Colorado. Peavy had a sinus infection in Colorado that affected him on the mound, and though it wasn't an issue with Peavy on Saturday, the right-hander still wasn't 100 percent. He stubbed the fourth toe on his left foot after kicking some furniture in his home on Friday night, and he had a couple of shots of novocaine to ease the pain. "It just got in the way," Peavy said about the furniture. [My dad] came out of the restroom and saw me hopping around and said, 'What did you do?' Everyone's done it." That may be, but unlike most people, injuries or sickness usually mean a good night on the mound for the 25-year-old. "To be honest with you, I've pitched some of my better games when a little something is nagging," he said. Peavy's 8-13 record this season has been more a result of poor run support than the right-hander's pitching. He finally got some support early on Saturday, getting some help from his second baseman. Barfield sat out almost the entire game on Friday, save for a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth. He made his presence known in his first at-bat on Saturday with his two-run home run to left field, scoring Mike Cameron, who singled with one out in the inning. "Josh Barfield getting us on the board, with the way I felt, was big," Peavy said. "We added some runs in there late that helped me settle down and get through that game." Barfield and Cameron, hitting eighth and sixth in the order, respectively, gave Reds starter Kyle Lohse troubles all night, combining to go 5-for-7 with four runs scored. Cameron went 3-for-3 with a walk, and he stole his 250th career base in the sixth inning. The Padres added two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, including a Dave Roberts two-run single to left field to score Cameron and Geoff Blum. San Diego got a little help from a throwing error by Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips to allow Roberts to come to the plate in the eighth. On a possible double-play ball on a grounder by Blum, Phillips threw wide of the bag for Aurilia, allowing all the runners to be safe. Adrian Gonzalez was forced out at home on Barfield's grounder, and Cameron and Blum moved up on the play. Armed with a six-run lead heading into the ninth, Peavy took the mound 101 pitches in. If there was any concern about him being worn out, his 102nd pitch was a 93-mph fastball to pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth, who eventually flew out to Roberts for the first out. Peavy breezed through the order in the ninth, getting his 13th and 14th strikeouts of the evening, ending the game by fanning Dunn. "This was a big win tonight," Peavy said. "We had to have this win. These guys are chasing us, [the Dodgers are] playing the kind of ball they're playing. We've got to start winning series. And we got a win tonight and have a chance to win the series." The Padres can thank their ace for that. |