Lucchesi's scoreless streak at 10 1/3 innings

SAN DIEGO -- As his rookie year was coming to a close last season, Padres left-hander Joey Lucchesi said he wanted to be "that dude" on the pitching staff.

"This is the life I live for," Lucchesi said then. "I want to leave a good impression for everyone. I want to perform for all my teammates and coaches. I just want to be that dude."

Lucchesi is well on his way to realizing that ambition. The 6-foot-5 pitcher nicknamed "Joey Fuego" is off to a hot start, stretching his scoreless streak to open the season to 10 1/3 innings with five shutout innings in Wednesday afternoon's 4-1 win over Arizona at Petco Park.

"I feel like I was locked in," Lucchesi said after putting a stop to San Diego's two-game losing streak. "They came out hot in the first game and the second game. I just wanted to help my boys there."

Lucchesi’s effort -- boosted by Manny Machado's first home run in a Padres uniform -- helped the team avoid a sweep by the D-backs and close out the seven-game homestand with a winning record. At 4-3, this is the latest that San Diego has been over .500 in a season since June 8, 2015.

Lucchesi allowed four hits with six strikeouts and one walk, exiting after only five innings and 83 pitches (55 strikes) because D-backs starter Robbie Ray also was working on a shutout.

Padres manager Andy Green pinch-hit for Lucchesi with Francisco Mejía with two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth. The move paid off when Mejia doubled to left field to drive in the game's first run, the first step toward making Lucchesi 2-0 after two starts.

"It's a simple recipe for him -- throw strikes," Green said. "We want him to go deep in games. We didn't really give him that opportunity today. We valued that pinch-hit opportunity for Mejia. … He could have easily gone back out there."

Lucchesi pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings in last week’s 4-1 win over the Giants.

This one meant even more coming against Arizona. Lucchesi was seemingly snakebit against San Diego's desert rivals, going 0-5 with a 6.07 ERA against the D-backs last season.

“They're stepping stones building me up to what I want to achieve this year," Lucchesi said. "I just want to try to pitch for the team and work as hard as I can."

Lucchesi allowed three doubles, but two of them were with two outs and no one on base. The first double came on the second batter of the game, the D-backs' Ketel Marte, but Lucchesi stranded him at third.

Lucchesi's curveball made his 91-93 mph fastball even more effective, highlighted by a called third strike to end the fourth inning that left Arizona's Nick Ahmed standing in the batter's box staring down home-plate umpire Chris Guccione.

Mejia making progress

Green's confidence in using Mejia to pinch-hit in the middle of a scoreless ballgame rewarded the player and the team for the progress the young catcher has made.

The manager was reminded of how different this result was from late last season when Mejia stepped to the plate in a similar pinch-hitting situation against the D-backs with Ray on the mound.

"They promptly threw three sliders in the dirt and it was a strikeout in three pitches," Green said. "They threw two sliders in the dirt to start off that at-bat and the next thing you knew he was hitting a double down the line, so he is making the adjustments."

Watching Tatis Jr.'s every move

Padres fans have followed rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. with such fervor that even his long fouls are creating a commotion.

Tatis elicited a loud "ooooh" from the crowd when he rocketed a ball off the foul side of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the bottom of the fifth. Tatis drew a walk in the at-bat and scored the game’s first run on Mejia's double.

Looking for some offense

Ray did not allow a baserunner before Wil Myers lined a one-out fastball into left field. Arizona confounded San Diego an inning earlier when left fielder David Peralta made a leaping one-handed grab in front of the warning track on a liner by Austin Hedges. And the D-backs denied Eric Hosmer an inning later when right fielder Adam Jones chased down a hard drive 10 feet from the right-field foul line.

"This series was not kind to us," Green said. "We hit some balls hard and had absolutely nothing to show for it. It was good to finally see Mejia's ball fall and after that see some balls find some holes out there."