Padres inch ahead of Diamondbacks

SAN DIEGO -- Greg Maddux didn’t walk a batter for the sixth straight start and the San Diego Padres edged past Arizona and back into the National League West lead with a 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

Brian Giles, who homered in the third, scored the go-ahead run on Mike Cameron’s double in the eighth for the Padres, who lead the Diamondbacks by one percentage point. San Diego, trying to win its third straight division title, has won the first three of this four-game series. The teams will play a three-game series in Phoenix starting Monday.

All-Star Chris Young will start tonight’s series finale for San Diego, against Doug Davis.

Maddux, 41, pitched seven strong innings, giving up one run and eight hits while striking out five. He got a no-decision after winning his previous three starts and four of five.

Maddux has gone 38 innings in his last six starts without walking a batter, and his overall streak is 42 innings. The last batter he walked was Astros starter Roy Oswalt in the second inning of a loss at Houston on July 28. Maddux worked six innings that game.

Kevin Cameron (2-0) pitched a perfect eighth to earn the win.

Arizona starter Micah Owings also went seven and didn’t factor in the decision. He surrendered one run and only three hits, struck out six and walked one.

With Trevor Hoffman having worked seven of the nine previous games, Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his second save in six chances.