The Diamondbacks have not had a save opportunity in a week, but when the next one arises, Brandon Lyon will be manager Bob Melvin's choice finish the game, as he has been all season.
"At this point in time, he will close," said Melvin, who will stick with Lyon despite the fact he has given up 10 earned runs in his previous 5 1/3 innings. "I think he has earned the chance to go out there in a save situation, especially with the results he has gotten for us on the road." Lyon, who took over for Jose Valverde as closer this season, has converted 25 of his 30 save opportunities this season, and he had a stretch of nine weeks early this year in which he had 24 scoreless appearances.
Many of his rocky outings have come in non-save situations, especially at home. He has a 4.18 ERA in save situations and a 6.00 ERA in non-save situations. He has a 12.75 ERA in 13 appearances since the All-Star break.
"He's an integral part for us, and he's the only one (in the bullpen) that, other than the first weekend of the season, hasn't struggled at all until this stretch here," Melvin said.
"I have to show confidence in (setup man Jon Rauch), too. It would be easy, with our depth, to just say, 'All right, let's back these guys off and put Tony Pena in the ninth and Chad Qualls in the eighth'. But if I had done that earlier with those guys, too, who knows."
PADRES 8, DIAMONDBACKS 2: Brandon Webb was denied his 20th victory of the season, giving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings to break his eight-game winning streak. Webb had not given up an earned run in 13 innings in two previous victories this season against the Padres, but they got five in the third inning, helped by a three-run home run by Brian Giles. Mark Reynolds hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning for the D-backs' only runs off Chad Reineke.
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