• Samantha Sais

Big news: The Tucson Padres have worked out their lease at Kino Stadium for the 2012 season, so they're gonna be around next year. And given the stadium trouble in Escondido, there's a chance we could be fostering this scrappy orphan team for even longer—if Tucson baseball fans start getting out to the games...

And why not go? It's a big weekend at Kino Stadium as the Tucson Padres continue a homestand that will keep them here through next Wednesday, Aug. 10. Tonight is buck-beer night (co-sponsored by your friends at the Tucson Weekly), with domestic beers and soft drinks for only $1. Tomorrow night, they'll be giving away a car, for cryin' out loud—and a whole lot more! And on Saturday, you get a free Padres cap if you get there early enough. Details here.

Meanwhile, here's what happened on the field last night as the Padres beat the New Orleans Zephyrs, courtesy of the Padres' Tim Hagerty:

The Tucson Padres scored five times in the first inning and it was all they needed, beating New Orleans 5-4 Wednesday at Kino Stadium. Coming off a complete game shutout in his previous start, New Orleans starter Chris Volstad was pounded for five hits in the first inning. Steve Tolleson, Matt Clark and James Darnell each had doubles in the inning and Bobby Kielty smashed his third home run of the season.

Tucson starter Jeremy Hefner settled down after allowing four early runs and ended up pitching 5.1 innings, allowing four runs. Hefner left in the sixth with a one run lead and two Zephyrs on base with one out and the Padres called on Matt Buschmann for his first relief outing of the season. Not only did Buschmann get two quick outs to leave the runners on, but then pitched a scoreless seventh inning in the Padres win. Pat Neshek and Brad Brach also tossed scoreless innings to finish the game. New Orleans left 10 runners on base in the game.

The Padres snapped a four game losing streak and still have not lost five consecutive games at any point this year.