Last night, Padilla played the role of the stopper, pitching a seven inning gem, ending Texas' 5-game losing streak. Allowing only one run on six hits, Padilla outdueled D-backs ace and NL ERA leader, Dan Haren.
"That's exactly what we needed," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "When you have a team that's slipping a little, you need one of your top pitchers to go out and do what he did tonight. If we get that one through five in our rotation, we'll be in great shape."
"When your team has five straight losses, it's good getting a win like this," Padilla said.
Texas again struggled at the plate. They managed to scrape together two runs early thanks to RBI base hits by Taylor Teagarden and David Murphy, but still left two men stranded at 3rd base with less than 2 outs. Luckily for the Rangers, Arizona was never able to get anything going against Padilla.
"We could just never get the big hit at the right time," D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said. "We did get runners on base, and we were in a position to score runs but we just didn't hit them in. Give credit to [Padilla] for competing at that time and getting a lot of off-barrel contact at the right time. It's unfortunate for us."
Padilla is 3-0 in his last four starts.
"He [Padilla] certainly had a challenge on his hands, and he was up for the challenge," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Every time he has been going out there, he has been getting better. We needed him to match up tonight, and he did."
"Contrary to popular belief, the sky wasn't falling," said third Baseman Michael Young. "We're a confident group. There are stretches when we aren't playing well, but the biggest thing is how you come out of it. We feel we can play well on any night. It was a nice win, we just have to continue to play well."
Texas is now 2-14 this season when scoring two runs or fewer in a game.
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