BOSTON -- The Padres were six games up on the Giants with 34 games to play.

The Diamondbacks began play Wednesday six games with 26 games to play.

The Padres were 76-59, even after losing 10 in a row. The Diamondbacks are 77-59, after winning eight in a row.

The Padres didn't make the playoffs last year. The Diamondbacks this year?

"Every year's different," said Adrian Gonzalez, who was part of that Padres team. "What happened to us was we had that 10-game losing streak. The baseball just didn't roll our way. But I said at the end of the year, when you know you gave it your all, you don't look back. You have no regrets."

As Gonzalez said, the Diamondbacks aren't the same as the Padres. The Giants of 2011 aren't the same as the Giants of 2010.

Gonzalez, of course, is out of the National League West now. But he retains a connection, because his former general manager in San Diego, Kevin Towers, now runs the Diamondbacks.

"KT's a great GM," Gonzalez said. "He goes by instincts. He doesn't let a computer tell him the character of a player. You can't tell that by computer."