SAN DIEGO (AP) – Kelly Stinnett hit what appeared to be a bizarre inside-the-park homer, and Troy Glaus, Chad Tracy and Shawn Green also connected for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who beat San Diego 7-5 Monday night to trim the Padres’ lead in the NL West to 4 games.

Arizona has won three straight following a six-game losing streak. The Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6, are tied for second place.

San Diego fell to 64-66. It’s the latest in a season that a team has led a division with a losing record.

With Tracy hitting his 20th homer, Arizona is the only NL team to have four players with 20 or more. Russ Ortiz (5-8) won for the first time in seven decisions.

Stinnett’s homer with two outs in the fourth followed Tracy’s two-run shot, capping the four-run inning for a 5-1 lead.

Stinnett hit a high fly ball to left field, which Ryan Klesko leaped for at the fence and missed. The ball bounced high into the air and fell back onto the field. Third base umpire Bill Welke stretched out both arms horizontally to signal a fair ball, and didn’t gave the circular motion indicating a homer.

Stinnett never broke stride as he rounded the bases, and Welke appeared to point to home plate. Klesko, apparently thinking the ball had landed beyond the fence before bouncing back, walked over, picked it up and flipped it into the stands as Stinnett was rounding third base.

Fans sitting in the first two rows in left field said the ball bounced off a strip of chain-link fencing stretched horizontally between the top of the padded fence and a concrete retaining wall.

Since Welke appeared to rule that the ball did not go over the fence, the decision on how to score it was left to official scorer Bill Zavestoski, who called it an inside-the-park homer.

Glaus hit a solo shot in the second off Woody Williams, his 29th.

The Diamondbacks’ four runs in the fourth were unearned due to two errors by first baseman Xavier Nady. After Tony Clark singled to right, Nady let Green’s grounder go through his legs for a fielding error, then couldn’t hold onto Williams’ pickoff attempt, moving Clark to third and Green to second. Glaus’ sacrifice fly scored Clark and Green was aboard for Tracy’s homer to right.

Stinnett followed with his fifth. Green’s leadoff shot in the sixth, off Paul Quantrill, was his 21st. Royce Clayton hit an RBI double in the ninth.

Ortiz hadn’t won since May 18, at Houston. He was on the disabled from June 16-Aug. 12 with a stress fracture in his right rib cage. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings, walked one and struck out none.

Williams (6-11) lasted five innings, allowing four hits and five runs, one earned, struck out four and walked two.

Klesko hit a two-run homer in sixth off Ortiz, his 17th. It was his first in 96 at-bats since also connecting against Arizona on July 16. Williams hit a sacrifice fly in the third.

Diamondbacks reliever Jose Valverde walked the first two batters in the ninth and Miguel Olivo doubled them in to make it 7-5. Pinch-hitter Brian Giles flied out to right, moving Olivo to third. Then pinch-hitter Eric Young lined out to shortstop and Dave Roberts grounded out to second for the final out.

Notes: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sat with Padres owner John Moores and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield in Moores’ box for a few innings, then went down to the front row with Winfield for a few more innings. … Williams has pitched more than six innings just once in his last 11 starts. … San Diego has committed at least one error in six straight games, for a total of 13. … Arizona’s last inside-the-park home run was by Damian Miller on Aug. 18, 2002, at the Cubs.

AP-ES-08-30-05 0115EDT

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