Brandon Medders is not yet on the Diamondbacks' 25-man roster, and the team cannot assign him to the minor leagues without the possibility of another team claiming him.

kelly presnell / arizona daily star

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Brandon Medders is sick of Tucson, and it's nothing against the city.

It's just that if the 28-year-old Diamondbacks right-hander finds himself back here in April, it means he isn't on a major- league roster.

In his ongoing bid for one of the final spots in the Diamondbacks bullpen, Medders threw 1 1/2 scoreless innings of relief to snare the win on Monday as Arizona topped San Francisco 6-5 at Tucson Electric Park.

"I haven't been told anything, and I haven't heard anything," Medders said, on his odds off making the staff. "I like it that way. If they said today I made the team, I'd still go about getting ready the same. I'm almost better off not knowing."

Just two seasons ago, Medders was highly valued as a reliever.

Following a midseason call-up in 2005, Medders finished his rookie year with a 1.78 ERA in 27 games, yielding just two home runs in 30 innings.

In 2006, Medders was again a solid relief component, racking up a 3.64 ERA in 71 1/2 innings, giving up five homers.

But last summer everything went flat.

"It wasn't that I couldn't get outs, but my delivery had a hitch and my fastball started to flatten out and stay out over the plate," said Medders. "That led to quite a few home runs. I would get outs, but I was giving up too many home runs."

Medders yielded nine home runs in just over 29 innings, and was demoted to Tucson midway through the season, before being called back in September. He ended 1-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 29 1/3 innings.

"They gave me all the chances they could to figure it out at the big-league level, but I couldn't," said Medders. "We were in a division-title race so they couldn't afford to have me work it out up there."

Medders is back on top of the ball again, not allowing his arm to lag, and he is liking the results.

But now he finds himself out of options, meaning if he isn't handed a roster spot with the Diamondbacks, he will be put on the majors' waiver wire. He could also be traded.

If no other team wants to give the hard-throwing Alabama native a shot, he could end up back in the minor leagues — perhaps back in Tucson.

He's already spent parts of three seasons with the Sidewinders, racking up 82 games with Tucson. In the majors, he has a 3.36 ERA in 117 career games.

"Tucson was not where I wanted to be. It meant I wasn't pitching well," said Medders. "Everything is right now. We'll see what happens."

Arizona took a 3-0 lead in the first, on an RBI single from utility man Chris Burke, followed by a two-run home run from first baseman Conor Jackson.

San Francisco evened the score at 4 in the sixth on back-to-back home runs from right fielder Fred Lewis and catcher Bengie Molina, both coming off Arizona starter Micah Owings.

Lewis' two-run shot sailed over the 40-foot high batter's eye in center field.

Molina's solo homer ended Owings' day, and Medders came in to relieve.

He immediately allowed a double to Giants third baseman Jose Castillo, but retired the next five batters.

"He gave up that first hit and then started to use his off- speed stuff more, which he needs to do," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin. "He can't throw all fastballs. And his breaking ball was good."

Arizona infielder Augie Ojeda's RBI groundout capped a two-run sixth inning, and provided the winning difference.