=== San Diego Padres Team Report - May 27 ===

(My Sportsbook) - In the very competitive National League West, all but one team is within 6 1/2 games of first place, with the San Diego Padres being on the outside looking in.

On Monday the Padres, now 23 games below .500 and 16 1/2 games behind both Los Angeles and San Francisco, dropped an 8-4 decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road. It was the second straight setback for the club and the 11th in the last 12 games overall.

San Diego posted single runs in the first, sixth, seventh and eighth innings and was outhit, 11-8. Rondell White finished 1-for-3 and accounted for a pair of RBI while pitcher Adam Eaton was forced to help himself with a couple of hits, an RBI and run scored in the losing effort.

Eaton, who lost for the fourth time in five decisions, lasted six innings and gave up six earned runs on seven hits, two of them home runs, and five bases- on-balls.

Taking the hill for the Padres tonight as they start a three-game set at Qualcomm Stadium, part of a 13-game homestand, against the Milwaukee Brewers will be Jake Peavy.

The righthander has lost his last three decisions and has not landed in the win column since a 7-3 victory over the Reds in late April. More recently the 21-year old, who will be celebrating his 22nd birthday on Saturday, gave up four runs on five hits, three being homers, in a 10-0 loss to these same Brewers last week at Miller Park.

While Peavy, who will be making just his second appearance all-time versus Milwaukee, has struck out 58 batters in 60 innings so far in 2003, he has also surrendered 13 home runs en route to his 4-4 mark and 4.35 ERA.

Except for the Detroit Tigers who have claimed victory in just four of 21 games at Comerica Park this season, the Padres have the fewest wins at home in all of baseball with seven. The team has given up a whopping 302 runs, the most in the league and more than twice as many as division rival LA.

The San Diego pitching staff has a 5.78 ERA through 51 contests, although that number comes down a bit in games played at Qualcomm, 5.09.