Pham's go-ahead HR lifts D-backs in twin-bill opener

SAN DIEGO -- It wasn’t a vintage Merrill Kelly performance, but the right-hander gave the D-backs what they needed in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Petco Park.

Kelly managed to go 5 1/3 innings. Though he allowed a pair of solo homers in the first, he held the Padres to just one run the rest of his outing. Meanwhile, Tommy Pham continued his hot series by hitting a key two-run homer as the D-backs won, 6-4.

As with most things with the D-backs these days, the win did not come easy. The Padres put the first two hitters of the ninth on against closer Paul Sewald.

Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim, though, were retired. And after Fernando Tatis Jr. walked to load the bases, Juan Soto hit a long drive to left that chased Lourdes Gurriel Jr. all the way to the warning track for the final out.

Pham homered in the opening game of the series Thursday night and added another hit Friday before tripling and homering in Saturday’s first game to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. His homer gave the D-backs a 5-3 lead.

“Two good hits,” Pham said of the triple and homer. “Anybody will take those, but I would like to try to stop wasting so many at-bats. I feel like I'm letting too many at-bats just get thrown away. I could do a better job at continuing to look at the good things but also improve on the bad.”