SAN DIEGO – Already eliminated from the playoff race, the San Diego Padres seemed only too happy to continue the Arizona Diamondbacks’ misery.

Gary Matthews Jr. hit a two-run triple to highlight the seven-run second inning as the Padres won 12-0 on Wednesday to sweep a two-game series and hand the Diamondbacks their fifth straight loss.

The Diamondbacks, who started the day four games back in the wild-card race, have lost 14 of their last 20 games, including four straight to the Padres, who have the NL’s worst record.

The only nice thing the Padres did for Arizona was move up the starting time by five hours so the Diamondbacks could fly to Kansas City, where they have to play a makeup game Thursday. The Diamondbacks then turn around and fly to San Francisco for a weekend series against the NL West-leading Giants.

Because of the time change, there were only a few thousand fans in their seats for the first pitch. The Padres sold 10,810 tickets, but probably only half that number showed up.

Brian Lawrence (8-14) and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout. Lawrence allowed four hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked two to win his third straight start.

Mark Loretta and Brian Giles had three hits apiece. Dave Hansen, a late-inning defensive replacement, hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Mike Myers.

The Padres batted around against Miguel Batista (9-8) in the second, getting six hits, two walks and a sacrifice to take a 7-0 lead. Batista lasted just four innings, and Elmer Dessens, scheduled to pitch Sunday at San Francisco, came on to start the fifth.

Gary Bennett hit a one-out RBI single to start the Padres’ second-inning rally. They got their next six runs with two outs, including consecutive RBI hits by Sean Burroughs, Loretta and Giles before Phil Nevin walked. Matthews then tripled into the right-field corner and Mark Kotsay singled him in to finish the scoring.

The Padres added three more runs in the sixth on Giles’ single, an error on right fielder Danny Bautista and Nevin’s sacrifice fly.

Notes: San Diego’s Humberto Quintero made his big league debut in the seventh, pinch-hitting and getting his first big league hit, a single to left, on the first pitch he saw. … Khalil Greene, the Padres’ first-round pick in the 2002 draft, also made his big league debut, flying out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, then taking over at shortstop. … Padres slugger Ryan Klesko will have surgery Thursday morning on his sore right shoulder and will miss the rest of the season. Doctors will shave down the end of his collarbone. Klesko estimates his rehab time at three-to-six weeks, with full recovery in two months. … The Padres purchased the contract of RHP Brandon Villafuerte from Triple-A Portland.

AP-ES-09-03-03 1936EDT