SAN DIEGO _ The free market thin on starting pitching options and the organization spending their biggest dollars in amateur markets, the Padres scrolled quite a ways down the list before circling three names to bring to camp on $1.75 million contracts, throw-away deals for most clubs.
For the Padres, it's been money well spent.
Clayton Richard followed Jhoulys Chacin's gem with his second strong start, Erick Aybar again provided the go-ahead hit and the Padres knocked off the Diamondbacks, 4-1, on Thursday, their third series win in four meetings with NL West rivals to start the season.
"People might judge from the outside based on their salaries," Padres manager Andy Green said. "But all those guys have an opportunity to do something special and lead this team back to relevance and to catapult themselves to another place in the future, maybe back here with us.
"They are all throwing the ball well. They've all bought in to what we're doing here."
Indeed, on a staff fronted by Chacin, Richard and Trevor Cahill _ the team's $1.75 million trio _ the Padres are as unlikely as the rebuilding Reds to lead the majors with three shutouts through the first 17 games of the season.
Chacin was the starter for two of those three gems. Richard turned in the first in Los Angeles in Game 2 and only allowed a run over 6 2/3 innings on Thursday as the 33-year-old left-hander mitigated the damage done by Arizona's eight hits.
Richard struck out eight, didn't walk anyone and fetched eight groundouts, including a sixth double-play ball that has him tied with Houston ace Dallas Keuchel for the major league lead.
That proved good enough to win when Brad Hand stranded A.J. Pollock's two-out double in the seventh with two of the Padres' four strikeouts that inning.
Catcher Austin Hedges atoned for the errant throw on the wild-pitch strikeout that extended that frame with a seventh-inning homer, Hand struck out two more in a scoreless eighth and Brandon Maurer turned in a perfect ninth for his third save.
Hedges' home run was his third since an 0-for-24 start to the season.
Wil Myers opened the scoring in the first inning with a 431-foot homer to center, extending his hit streak to an NL-best 11 games.
"He's squaring balls up," Green said before Thursday's game. "He's not afraid to be aggressive. When Wil gets his pitch early in the count, we want him to do damage, we want him to swing. As Wil goes through the course of the season, I think he'll start shrinking that strike zone down, but right now he feels really good. He's been free swinging on a lot of pitches and our hope is that continues."
Aybar was in an 0-for-16 skid when his eighth-inning homer catapulted Chacin and the Padres to Wednesday's 1-0 win. On Thursday, Aybar came through with the third straight hit off Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin (6 IP, 3 ER) to start the fifth, a two-run double into the left-field corner to open a 3-1 lead.
