SAN DIEGO -- Robbie Ray could be getting untracked.The Arizona Diamondbacks certainly hope thats the case.Over his last two starts, the 24-year-old left-hander has allowed one earned run in 12 innings -- a vast improvement over his 6-11 season with a 4.47 earned run average.Hes recently been the pitcher we know he can be, Arizona manager Chip Hale said.Saturday night at Petco Park, Ray will be paired against recycled Padres veteran Clayton Richard in a match of left-handers as the four-game series between the National League Wests two worst teams continues.Richard, 32, will be making his fourth appearance and second start with the Padres since signing for a second tour with the club on Aug. 6 as a free agent. Richard, who previously played with the Padres between 2009 and 2013, is 0-1 with the Padres with a 4.27 ERA over 6 1/3 innings.Richards first start for the Padres came against the New York Mets last Sunday at CitiField. He gave up two runs -- on a pair of solo homers -- over five innings to suffer the loss. He allowed three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.The addition of Richard to a young rotation helps Padres manager Andy Green in several areas.First, it enabled the Padres to go to a six-man rotation at least through next week to assist in limiting the innings of several other young starters. And it has added a veteran presence to the rotation.Clayton has already influenced some of our younger pitchers, said Green. I love the way he handles himself. I think hes a great example not only on the day he pitches but in between starts, the way he prepares. Handling the days in between starts is almost as critical as the way you pitch.The Padres are looking to get Christian Friedrich out of the rotation within the next two weeks to limit his innings. They also hope to have Tyson Ross returning in September. Ross, who has not pitched since injuring his shoulder on Opening Day, is scheduled to face live hitters for the second time in a week Saturday. If all goes as planned, Ross will start a rehab assignment next week.I dont think we need to extend him out that far because he might be throwing only three or four innings in several September starts, said Green. But having Ross back and Richard will give us the flexibility to take some innings off some of the other younger starters.Ray, meanwhile, had a 5-12 won-loss record as a rookie in 2015 despite posting the fourth-lowest ERA by a rookie starter in Diamondbacks history. His two-season won-loss record is 11-23.Thats unfortunate and misleading, said Hale of Rays record. Hes pitched better than that. Over the last two seasons, we havent helped him as much as we could have.Ray will be looking for his first road win since June 17 in Philadelphia. He will be making his second career start against the Padres. He suffered the loss on June 26, 2015 at Petco Park despite allowing two runs over six innings.With two wins in the first two games of the series, the Padres have moved two games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the battle to avoid the cellar in the National League West.Spud Webb Jersey .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Pete Maravich Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/ . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Chandler Parsons jersey .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. John Collins Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again.Little more than two weeks ago, David Warner was all about patience and batting for long periods of time in Asia.Youve got to be patient enough, he said before the first Test against Sri Lanka. Youve got to rotate the strike. Your patience comes with hitting your four-balls, your boundary balls. Theyre the ones youve got to really wait on. Thats what were talking about with patience in this game, especially over here. Youve got to bite the bullet.A pair of Test-match thrashings later, and with another bone-dry pitch in prospect at Colombos SSC ground, Warner and the Australians have rather changed their tune. Now Warner is all about attack, as he demonstrated in a pair of shot-a-ball cameos on the sharply turning Galle surface. Waiting for the bad ball is not longer an option. He who hesitates is lost, or at least lbw Herath.You have to think outside the box, Warner said. For me to come out of my crease personally its something I dont normally do but you have to do it in these conditions. If you defend, ones got your name on it, and ones going to straighten, which happened the other day. For me its about thinking on my feet, using my feet when Im out here and hopefully putting the bowler off some of his rhythm.Youre sitting ducks when youre facing six balls in a row - one of them is going to have your name on it. Especially when one turns and one doesnt turn. Its a hard game. People dont realise that youre going out here day one and day two and its turning square, where maybe five or six years ago probably day three, day four was probably when it was turning. So its hard from ball one and we really have to work hard and that starts in the nets.The nets have seen almost as much change in Australian philosophy as Warners rhetoric. Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc charged in at their batting compatriots in Pallekele training, but now they are sent to wwork separately on centre wickets with Allan Donald while the batsmen face an assortment of spinners - including the part-time leggies Warner and Steven Smith trying off breaks.dddddddddddd.At the teams main training session on Thursday, Adam Voges warmed up separately from the group due to a tight hamstring, but then trained fully with the team, including his own stint at the bowling crease. The newly arrived apprentice batsman Travis Head whirred down his own offbreaks too, before batting in the canary yellow pads he will use when the ODI series begins after the third Test.As vice-captain, Warner is aware of how this tour may influence planning for the next Asian trip, to India next year. He noted the words of captain Smith about potentially needing to choose a squad even more tailored to the prevailing conditions than this one, with a rather different batting group taken to India. Regardless of what happens at the SSC, questions will need to be asked.Thats probably the Moneyball theory isnt it, you pick players for certain conditions, Warner said. End of the day were all professional athletes and you have to adapt to the conditions. If you dont adapt to them, your heads probably on the line. For us as cricketers we have to do the best we can in these conditions and adapt as well as we can.If the selectors dont think we fit that area of expertise, whether or not we can play in these conditions or play at home, thats up to them if they want to go down that path and pick the team based on that. [India] is our next subcontinent tour so I think there will be a few assessments made. I think the selectors may have to reassess a few things and whatever they think is necessary, theyll take the appropriate action Im pretty sure. ' ' '