SAN DIEGO - The way Trevor Hoffman saw it, Greg Maddux gave his teammates much more than six strong innings on Sunday afternoon.

Maddux made contributions with his arm, glove, legs and bat as he led the Padres to a 5-3 win over Houston in front of 37,628 at Petco Park.

The effort earned Maddux (9-9) career victory No. 342 and tied him with Tim Keefe for ninth on baseball's all-time wins list. Hoffman closed out the win with his 31st save and the Padres, who are four games back, gained a game on first-place Arizona for the first time since last Sunday.

"Give Mad Dog a lot of credit for setting the tone," Hoffman said. "He did a lot of things that get overlooked: running the bases, getting a couple of knocks. The guy's doing a lot of things to maybe provide a little enthusiasm. Not that it's not there - it's that type of approach that I think was infectious to the whole lineup."

But the most visible aspect of Maddux's game came on the mound.

The 41-year-old stymied Houston - save for a first-inning Lance Berkman home run - with six innings of one-run ball. Maddux allowed two hits and continued a string of 28 straight innings without a walk while striking out three. He was able to spot his fastball effectively outside the strike zone.

"What was good about it was that it missed by a foot or two," he said, "and not by six inches."

Over his past seven starts, Maddux is 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 41 innings with 23 strikeouts and two walks.

"Maddux has been great," manager Bud Black said. "This was just indicative of what he's been doing lately. … I thought the (fastball) location was good and he choked off some right-handed hitters as good as he has all year."

Perhaps inspired by the first of Maddux's two hits an inning earlier -- and his hustle from first to third on Brian Giles' single - the Padres' offense took the lead in the fourth inning with solid fundamental baseball.

Adrian Gonzalez singled to open the inning and went to third on Khalil Greene's double to right-center. Rob Mackowiak then drilled a one-hopper that seemed destined for the outfield, but was snagged by Houston first baseman Mike Lamb. Gonzalez scored anyway, tying the game at 1. Terrmel Sledge then worked the count and hit a fly ball to deep center, allowing Greene to tag from third and score to give the Padres a 2-1 advantage.

"That's textbook," Black said. "It was well executed. It's good baseball. That's what we need to do."

Two innings later, Gonzalez hit a solo home run off Astros rookie Matt Albers (3-6) to jump-start a three-run rally as the Padres opened up a 5-1 lead. Mike Cameron drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk and Giles followed with an RBI single.

The hit was the third of the day for Giles, who has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games. Since returning from the disabled list June 29, Giles is hitting .327 with six home runs and 23 RBIs.

The rally provided more than enough breathing room for Maddux and a quartet of relievers - Justin Hampson, Cla Meredith, Heath Bell and Hoffman.

Just as they hit the road for a six-game trip to New York and Philadelphia, the Padres should get another boost when Milton Bradley returns to the starting lineup on Tuesday. The outfielder grounded out in a pinch-hit appearance, his first since Aug. 8, and reported feeling strong.

"We need to concentrate on a game at a time," Hoffman said. "And doing the little things helps the ballclub in a ball game. I don't think anybody looked at it as we kept from getting swept as much as it lets (you) get back to square one and do the little things and play good baseball."

- Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at dhayes@nctimes.com.