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SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Ed Sprague got a spot start against a tough lefty and turned out to be the hero for the San Diego Padres.
Sprague homered with one out in the ninth inning to tie the game, then won it with another homer leading off the 13th as the Padres rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
|  | | San Diego's Phil Nevin grabs a line drive off the bat of Arizona's Jay Bell in the third inning. |
Sprague was an All-Star third baseman with Pittsburgh last year, but took less money to sign a minor league contract with the Padres as an insurance corner infielder. As a role player, he gets his at-bats when he can.
"Today I just wanted to have some quality at-bats and hit the ball hard and I felt I did that," said Sprague, a right-hander who started at first base in place of the left-handed Ryan Klesko against Omar Daal. "My first three times up I didn't get anything for it. I didn't make any adjustments, I just looked for a pitch I could hit hard somewhere."
Daal was two outs away from Arizona's second complete game in three days when Sprague drove the first pitch he saw into the left-field seats to tie the game at 2.
"One mistake cost me the game," Daal said. "I was throwing the ball pretty good, but I got the one ball up."
After the Padres threatened but failed to score against sidearmer Byung-Hyun Kim, Sprague hit a 1-0 fastball from Russ Springer (1-1) to left-center to win the game. It was Sprague's third homer of the year.
"He threw the first one up and away and I got a good look at it," Sprague said. "I kind of set my sights a little bit lower and he just kind of threw it basically where I was looking."
Springer said the homer pitch "just came back over the plate. It was about as meaty of a pitch as you can throw up there."
The Padres got runners to second and third with two outs in the 12th against Kim, who then struck out Phil Nevin on a nasty full-count slider.
The Padres also had two runners on against Kim in the 10th and one in the 11th.
Matt Whisenant (1-0) pitched the 13th to get the win. He walked two straight batters with one out, but got out of the jam when Nevin caught Steve Finley's soft liner to third and doubled off Bernard Gilkey.
The Padres snapped a three-game losing streak and ended Arizona's three-game winning streak.
Daal allowed two runs and eight hits in nine innings. On Sunday, teammate Randy Johnson threw a five-hitter and struck out 13 in a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
A day after beating the Padres with five home runs, the Diamondbacks got their two runs on consecutive RBI singles by Travis Lee and Lenny Harris in the fourth.
Padres right-hander Matt Clement got into trouble by walking Luis Gonzalez and Erubiel Durazo to open the fourth. With one out, Lee singled to score Gonzalez and Harris drove in Durazo.
Clement allowed three singles and no walks in the first three innings, then walked five in the next 1 2/3 innings. After Harris' single, Clement walked Damian Miller to load the bases, then made a nice play to end the inning. He fell down while fielding Daal's grounder but got up and threw home to start a 1-2-3 double play.
Clement also started a double play in the first, catching Jay Bell's line shot and doubling off Tony Womack. Clement allowed six hits in seven innings, walked six and struck out two.
Bret Boone went 3-for-3 with a double and scored San Diego's first run on David Newhan's groundout in the fifth.
Game notes
San Diego was without its starting outfielders. RF Tony Gwynn sat out after having his troublesome left knee drained on Monday, center fielder Ruben Rivera has a sore wrist and LF Al Martin, a left-handed hitter, sat against Daal. Gwynn, replaced by Newhan, should be back Wednesday. ... Eric Owens, in for Rivera, made a nice diving catch of Daal's fly ball in the sixth, ending up sliding on his back. ... The Padres purchased the contract of INF-OF John Roskos to replace INF Dave Magadan, who went on the 15-day DL with a strained right elbow. Roskos was sensational in spring training as a non-roster invitee, with four homers, six doubles, a triple and eight RBIs. ... To make room on the 40-man roster for Roskos, the Padres moved LHP Randy Myers from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. ... Finley has at least one hit in all eight Diamondbacks games, and Nevin has hit in all eight games for the Padres.
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