PHOENIX _ Chris Paddack's march toward an even stronger future was lost in the work done by the other team's rookie starter against the San Diego Padres' plummeting offense and a loud grand slam gift-wrapped by Luis Perdomo.
Arizona Diamondbacks' right-hander Zac Gallen did not allow a hit through 6 1/3 innings and just one through seven, and Ketel Marte made him a winner with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh, as the Diamondbacks beat the Padres 4-1 to complete a three-game sweep.
Manny Machado's single off Gallen with one out in the seventh was the first of three Padres hits Wednesday.
Wil Myers' home run leading off the ninth inning against T.J. McFarland prevented a shutout, and Josh Naylor's single drove McFarland from the game. Archie Bradley came in and walked Machado before Eric Hosmer grounded out to first and Hunter Renfroe grounded out to shortstop.
Gallen finished the seventh with strikeouts of Hosmer and Renfroe. That took him to eight strikeouts, one off his career high, and 103 pitches, also one off his career high.
Jake Lamb pinch-hit for Gallen in the bottom of the seventh and drew the second straight walk issued by Craig Stammen.
Perdomo replaced Stammen, had Jarrod Dyson load the bases on a slow roller up the third-base line and then served a 1-0 fastball in the center of the zone to Marte, who hit it 20 rows into the seats beyond right field.
The 24-year-old Gallen (3-4) became just the third pitcher in National League history to have not allowed four earned runs in any of his first 13 career starts.
The Padres, who won three of four in San Francisco before arriving in the desert, scored two runs in the final two games of the series here.
So, as has become a relatively frequent circumstance, the Padres were left to cling to the game's big-picture implications as they build toward what they believe will be a better future and build up the stamina of one of their prized pitching prospects.
Paddack turned in his second consecutive strong start, if not as good as his last one because he was facing a better team and because he spent 25 pitches getting through a highly uncharacteristic third inning.
The 23-year-old right-hander finished with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, having surrendered two of the four total singles the Diamondbacks would get off him in the sixth inning.
This is the kind of game Paddack would like to have continued fighting, the kind the Padres will almost certainly one day let him. The rest of the seasons are too important for it to be allowed now.
After throwing his 90th pitch of the night, a 95-mph fastball that Christian Walker watched for a called third strike, Paddack handed the ball to manager Andy Green, tapped catcher Austin Hedges on the chest and walked across the infield to the visitors dugout at Chase Field. There, he took his customary place along the railing and watched as Stammen stranded the two runners Paddack left him to end the sixth inning.
The Padres never set a hard innings limit for Paddack, just a range in which they were comfortable with him operating over his first major league season and a little more than three years removed from Tommy John surgery.
At 129 2/3 innings, which is just shy of 40 more innings than he threw in the minor leagues last season, Paddack stands on the precipice of that range.
"I wouldn't necessarily say it's start-to-start," Paddack said this week. "They just want me to be honest with them. They want me to tell them if something is bothering me or if something feels off. ... That's what it's come down to _ every week, they just want to make sure I feel good."
Paddack allowed two hits in the first five innings, one of them a routine groundout had it not caromed off Paddack's glove.
The final out of the first inning _ a three-pitch strikeout in which Paddack painted three different corners _ provided one example of the growth the team wanted to see as it extended his first big-league season as long as possible.
In addition to the fact that the more innings he pitches this season means a smaller leap to the 180 or more they expect from him in 2020, the Padres are looking for more precise adjustments from a pitcher they expect to be at or near the top of their rotation for several years.
Paddack threw just 12 strikes among his 25 pitches in the third inning. It was just the second inning all season he threw more balls than strikes.
The other time was the second of his season-low 2 1/3-inning outing against Boston on Aug. 23.
That game was the fourth in a stretch of poor starts in which he allowed 19 earned runs in just 17 innings.
He rebounded by allowing the Giants one run on five hits in seven innings last Thursday.
Paddack's ERA sits at 3.54, and he has 137 strikeouts. Both pace the Padres starting rotation.
Will his 24th start be his last?
The Padres will check with Paddack on Thursday.
His march toward 2020 will proceed one direction or another after that.
"My biggest thing is I want to pitch the entire season," Paddack said over the weekend. "I want to show them I can stay healthy. ... The most important part is the offseason, making sure I give my body enough rest to get ready for that 180 days (of a season). No rehab protocol, just go be myself, go dominate the offseason, come into spring training ready to go.
"Now that I've had a year in the big leagues, this will be my first big-league offseason. A little more focus on the rest time. ... I can't wait. My main goal this year is I give my body enough rest to be ready to go in spring training to show them I can go 180 innings or more. I want the ball every time I get the chance."
