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CIN@ARI: Corbin fans eight over 6 2/3 solid frames

When the D-backs promoted rookie left-hander Patrick Corbin from Triple-A Reno for the third time this season on Aug. 1, the club went on to win four straight games in which the 23-year-old started.

Since then, however, it has been a completely different story.

The D-backs have dropped three consecutive games with Corbin on the mound, including two when they blew leads in the latter innings.

The southpaw will try to reverse his fortunes Sunday when the D-backs and the Padres meet in San Diego for the finale of the weekend series.

In his last start, Corbin allowed four earned runs in the first inning but shut out the Giants through his next four frames before leaving the game with a three-run lead, which the bullpen eventually gave up.

"He'll learn to make sure he does that all the time," Gibson said after that game. "Gave up four runs, things got going pretty wild there."

Opposing Corbin for the Padres will be another young gun, left-hander Andrew Werner, who will be making his fourth Major League start.

In his most recent appearance, the 25-year-old gave up two earned runs over six innings against the Dodgers but took a no-decision.

"Good secondary pitches and a good fastball, located to both sides of the plate," Padres manager Bud Black said after the game. "And the changeup, when down, had great action to it. It sort of bottomed out. It was a really good outing for a guy making his third Major League start."

Padres: Cashner impresses
Black said there was a lot to like about the five innings that Andrew Cashner tossed in Friday's victory over the D-backs.

Cashner allowed two runs on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 68 pitches -- 47 going for strikes.

Of the pitches Cashner threw, 31 percent were changeups with 31 percent of them sliders. That start included, Cashner has only thrown changeups 18 percent of the time.

"He felt good with it," Black said. "He has a lot of confidence in it. He even shook to it a couple of times, which is good."

D-backs: Illness spreading around clubhouse
The D-backs have been snakebitten by a nasty stomach bug since their arrival in San Diego, an illness that first emerged in Friday night's starter Tyler Skaggs, who was sick Thursday night.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was the next to feel its effects, forcing Arizona manager Kirk Gibson to make him a late scratch from the starting lineup Friday night, though Goldschmidt did pinch-hit in the seventh inning.

"I was up [in the clubhouse] and I was resting, and I knew the pitcher was coming up in the fifth, so I was moving around," Goldschmidt said. "I took some swings and felt fine."

Gibson said he was considering starting Ryan Wheeler, who had two doubles and three RBIs filling in for Goldschmidt on Friday, but couldn't after he saw Wheeler walk into his office Saturday.

"I was thinking about it, but I called him in here and looked at him and he was not very colorful," Gibson said. "Same with [Goldschmidt on Friday]. They say 'I'll be OK, I can do it,' and then just watching them move around, they're really sick."

Worth noting
• The D-backs are in the midst of 25 consecutive games against National League West rivals.

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