Brandon Webb (28, RHP, 9-8, 3.23)

Justin Germano (24, RHP, 6-5, 4.20)

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This one should be interesting. It's the start of a crucial week for our team, as they face their two biggest rivals in the division chase. The good news is, we'll get a pair of starts from our ace: I'd like the Diamondbacks to go 4-2, give themselves a bit of breathing room, but would probably be happy to settle for 3-3. We've done well against the Padres this season, winning five of the eight games so far, and I'm optimistic about taking two of three here.

You'd think Webb would enjoy pitching at PetCo, with nice, damp air to make his sinker work, and a generally hurler-friendly park to boot. However, he's only won one of his six starts there. Last time out, however, he was a bit unlucky, allowing just a single earned run over seven innings, while striking out 13. Indeed, the K's have been bit of a trend against the Padres this year: he has 29 in only 21.2 innings of work, to go with an overall 2.49 ERA.

However, he's facing Justin Germano, whose only win since June 14 came as the result of 6.1 innings of shutout ball in Chase on the 15th, beating Webb. It'll be interesting to see what adjustments the Arizona hitters have made as a result of that failure, when they managed only three singles and a double off Germano. I'm looking forward to the game, and should be around to comment for most of it. Here's to our ace helping AZ wipe the taste of Sunday's colonic irrigation from their mouths, and restoring us to winning ways.