The Padres used their sterling bullpen once again Thursday night behind Woody Williams, and Mike Cameron's booming bat provided enough offense to subdue the Diamondbacks, 3-1, in front of 34,238 at PETCO Park and help the Friars retain their half-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.

Aided by a spectacular catch by Cameron at the wall in left-center, Trevor Hoffman claimed his 41st save and No. 477 in his career, climbing to within one of all-time save leader Lee Smith.

"While this is a tremendous sideshow," Hoffman said of his pursuit of Smith and the record, "everyone's focus is on getting runners over and in, and on getting that 27th out. It's all about winning."

With the Pirates coming to town to close out the Padres' home schedule with three games this weekend, Hoffman could catch and surpass Smith in front of the homefolks. Hoffman said he phoned Smith on Thursday and invited him to come to San Diego if he could work it into his schedule.

Facing Arizona's Cy Young Award candidate, Brandon Webb, Cameron unloaded a two-run triple to left-center in the second inning, driving home Mike Piazza, who'd singled, and Russell Branyan, who walked. Geoff Blum's sacrifice fly had Williams in front, 3-0.

Williams tenaciously protected the lead until the sixth, when Blum's error at short on Orlando Hudson's slow roller became an unearned run when Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson followed with singles.

With two outs, side-arming wunderkind Cla Meredith was summoned to retire pinch-hitter Luis Gonzalez to end the inning on a grounder to Josh Barfield at second base, leaving runners stranded at the corners.

"I look at our bullpen, and I swallow my pride and realize for the betterment of the team, it was the best thing for Meredith to come in there," Williams said, having come nowhere close to his limit with 79 pitches in 5 2/3 high-caliber innings.

Meredith sailed through the seventh with one strikeout, and Scott Linebrink worked a scoreless eighth, aided by a splendid backhanded stab by third baseman Manny Alexander of Hudson's leadoff bullet.

"Huge play," manager Bruce Bochy said of the stab by Alexander, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement. "Playing in for a bunt, to react like that ... just a great job on his part."

Bochy also applauded the catch by Cameron against the wall in left-center on Eric Byrnes' leadoff drive in the ninth against Hoffman.

"Cammy had a great game," Bochy said. "We played well. We're not a team that slugs it too much, although lately, we've been swinging good. We rely on pitching and defense, and we got it tonight."

Meredith, whose 34-inning scoreless streak ended on a Russell Martin homer in Los Angeles, is back doing what he's done since arriving from Triple-A Portland: throwing strikes down in the zone and getting hitters out with amazing regularity.

His four-pitch, three-out effort in the 11-10 epic taken by the Dodgers was a mini-classic of its own, and it was more of the same this time: 14 pitches -- 11 for strikes -- and four outs, none leaving the infield, one a strikeout.

"What can I say about that kid?" Bochy said, shaking his head in wonder.

If Meredith is an emerging star among sinkerball artists, Webb is the reigning master.

"He is the best sinkerball pitcher in the game now," Cameron said. "He throws it 92 mph, with a tilt to it. He usually starts it at the belt."

That's where he left it in the second inning to Cameron, who smoked it to the 402-foot sign in left-center, reaching third with a dive that calls to mind a kid jumping into a swimming pool.

That was Cameron's eighth triple, tying his career high, and in the eighth, Dave Roberts would unload his 13th, matching the franchise record set by Tony Gwynn in 1987.

Roberts was stranded when Luis Vizcaino got pinch-hitter Todd Walker to line into an inning-ending double play, leaving the bases loaded and resulting in Bochy's call to Hoffman.

"I was hoping to get a big hit, where we wouldn't have to use him," Bochy said of his closer, whose effort was his fourth in five days.

Webb -- who had given up one earned run and seven hits in spinning complete-game victories his previous two outings, including a one-hit shutout against St. Louis -- fell to 16-7, surrendering three runs and five hits in seven innings.

"Any time you get more than one run against him, you're doing something," Williams said. "He's fabulous. He's got special stuff, with great movement. Any time you go against him, you know you have to keep the offense down. You're not going to get a lot of runs. That's just a fact."

Williams, yielding five hits and one walk while striking out three, moved to 10-5 and lowered his ERA to 3.53.

"Give a lot of credit to Woody Williams for keeping us in the ballgame and out of the big inning," Cameron said. "He has a knack for avoiding big innings."

And Cameron has a knack for having big games when Williams is on the mound.

"Mike has done a fine job for us all year," Williams said. "I think he knows I appreciate what he does, respect the player he is. I don't know if we feed off each other, but I know the effort level is the same for both of us."