Friar Faithful

Padres Musings

Well, the World Series is over. The Hot Stove is going to be kicking up big time in a short amount of time. And things have been extremely slow on the home front of San Diego.

Adrian Gonzalez won his second consecutive Gold Glove last week. The award was very well deserved, but I, along with many, many other Padres fans, believe that Kevin Kouzmanoff was just as deserving. Unfortunately, the National Managers saw fit to give the award to Ryan Zimmerman and his 17 errors. Whatever. We all know that Kouz and his record-breaking .990 fielding percentage should have had it.

It will be very interesting to see how new GM Jed Hoyer works this off season. I can't wait to see what he's going to be able to do with this team. I'm sure things will be a lot different around here than the Kevin Towers era. But it's been really good to get some new faces in the front office. We need the change.

I think we're at three or four months until Spring Training. It will be here before we know it!

GO PADRES!! 

Well, the World Series is over. The Hot Stove is going to be kicking up big time in a short amount of time. And things have been extremely slow on the home front of San Diego.

Adrian Gonzalez won his second consecutive Gold Glove last week. The award was very well deserved, but I, along with many, many other Padres fans, believe that Kevin Kouzmanoff was just as deserving. Unfortunately, the National Managers saw fit to give the award to Ryan Zimmerman and his 17 errors. Whatever. We all know that Kouz and his record-breaking .990 fielding percentage should have had it.

It will be very interesting to see how new GM Jed Hoyer works this offseason. I can't wait to see what he's going to be able to do with this team. I'm sure things will be a lot different around here than the Kevin Towers era. But it's been really good to get some new faces in the front office. We need the change.

I think we're at three or four months until Spring Training. It will be here before we know it!

GO PADRES!! 

Over and Done

Well, the San Diego Padres' 2009 season has come to an end. The last two months were so filled with winning baseball and fun that I barely even noticed that the season was coming to an end. It's pretty sad that it's all over now.

Though we ended at fourth place in the division, 20 games behind, we had a great, great season. There were so many big moments. So many amazing games. So much heartbreak, like with the Jake Peavy drama. It really was an incredible season, even though we didn't get into the playoffs.

We saw a ton of young players come up here and have success as a team. We watched them play hard and never give up. It was amazing to see. We got a glimpse of our future while we said goodbye to our past.

We had to say goodbye to players like Trevor Hoffman and Jake Peavy, players who have spent the majority of their careers in San Diego. We rejoiced over the first part of Jeff Moorad's purchasing of the club. We're going through a lot of changes. Some of them are hard to take, but they're eventually going to be for our good.

Take the Jake Peavy trade. That was devistating to the Padres fans. We were ripped apart. Very, very few were able to overcome it and still stick with the club. But the guys we got in return really helped ease the pain. We got four young pitchers, and three of them pitched with the big league club. They're good players, and we got to see it. They helped us win, and that gives up hope and comfort.

The Padres celebrated their 40th season in the major leagues this year. The one thing that's glaringly missing in our history is a World Series. We've been there twice. But we've never won it. I have a feeling that we're going to get it soon though. There's a whole lot of talent here. It's going to happen soon.

GO PADRES!!! 

Beginning of the End

Man, where has this season gone? It feels like yesterday that we were getting all hyped up about Spring Training and here we are, a week left of the regular season. Wow.

The Padres have done an admirable job this year. They started off great, went down a bit, had a couple terrible stretches, but have really been getting things together in the last two months or so. It's been a lot of fun to watch, and I'm going to miss it like crazy.

Enjoy the last few regular season games while you can. We'll be firing up those hot stoves before we know it...

But first, we have the postseason.

Rise of the Rookies

The Padres played three games against the only team that is worse than them in the NL West: the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sure, the Diamondbacks are by the numbers worse, but this series was no piece of cake for the Padres.

The first two games were lost 4-2. The first game was an extra inning deal, and in the second game, Heath Bell gave up a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to lose it. It was not good, man.

Heath had three terrible outings in a row. After the third one, he went home and decided that something needed to change. And so, he shaved the goatee that's been with him for the last five years. But hey, it worked!

After the Padres' streak of six series wins was snapped, they went into the rubber game looking to avoid a sweep. They played one great game! They were down 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, but a runner got on and BAM! Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run tying homer.

We went to the 10th inning. The bullpen held the Diamondbacks down in the top part of the inning. In the bottom, a young rookie named Luis Durango singled to get on base. A few batters later, Everth Cabrera came up and hit a single to shallow right. A throw came into home, but Luis slid around the catcher and touched home. We won 6-5!

It was an amazing game, mostly because of this dude named Durango. He made his major league debut that day, and he had two bunt singles, one single, and a sac-bunt. And, he stole a base. But probably the most exciting part was his speed. He flew around the bases! The Padres have not had this kind of speed in a very long time, and it's exciting to see. Luis was the hero of that game, no doubt about it. It was so amazing to see this guy fly like that. Wow.

Now the Padres will go to Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Arizona before coming home for a few final series. I can't believe the season is almost over! It's kind of sad, but we need to enjoy these last few weeks here.

GO PADRES!!

Padres Take Two Out Of Three From Giants

After beating the Dodgers over the weekend, taking two out of three games, the Padres went to San Francisco for three games. The first game of the series was not good as the Padres lost 9-4.

But the next two games were great.

In the second game of the series, Kevin Correia pitched excellently. He threw six innings, allowing three runs.

On the offensive side, we got three home runs from Kevin Kouzmanoff, Chase Headley, and Will Venable.

The Giants were right with us though. The game was tied at three in the top of the eighth when Chase Headley singed in Adrian to give us the lead. Heath closed out the game, and we won 4-3!

In the rubber game of the series, Wade LeBlanc started. In his last start, he was amazing. Before that, he had been terrible. This time, he was excellent yet again. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He had an amazing effort, it was so cool to see.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 37th homer of the year, which set a career high for him. Congrats Adrian!

The Padres took the lead from the first and never let it go. Heath Bell closed it yet again and my boys won 4-2.

It was great! We won our fifth series in a row, and the Padres made their way out of the cellar. They are 20 games back of the Dodgers, and the Diamondbacks are 21 games. It feels so amazing to be out of there!!

The Padres will now play the Rockies and Diamondbacks at home. I sense a little more spoiling to do, huh boys?

GO PADRES!!!

If We Can Beat The Dodgers, We Can Beat Anyone

Over the weekend, the Padres played an incredible series against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Anyone who follows baseball knows that the Dodgers are one of the best teams in baseball. They have been pretty much all year. The Padres lost 99 games last year, and though they started the season off pretty well, things went bad quickly and they have been at the bottom of the NL West for a long time.

Looking at this series, I'm sure the expected winners would be the Dodgers. BUT these Padres have slowly but surely improving and winning.

In the first game of the series, Wade LeBlanc and his 16.20 ERA at Dodger Stadium started, and made the best start of his brief major league career. He went six innings, allowing only two hits. He was amazing.

All the Padres' offense needed was two runs to hold down the Dodgers. Heath Bell got his 35th save of the year, and the Padres got a 2-0 win over their rivals.

In the second game of the series, the Dodgers took a 7-2 win. It was not a great game for the Padres, obviously, but they were ready for the third game of the series.

Tim Stauffer started, going 6.2 innings, allowing three runs. He was very good as well. He held the Dodgers down.

Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in three runs, and Adrian Gonzalez hit his 35th homer of the season.

The Padres bullpen held on to a 4-3 lead all the way until the ninth. Heath "Always has to make it interesting" Bell came into the game to try to get the save. He walked the first batter. It was a very nerve-wracking ninth. I didn't think a one-run deficit would be anything to the Dodgers, but Heath was able to hold down the save and give the Padres the series.

I can't believe we won the series against the Dodgers! The Padres are going to be playing their NL West rivals a lot this month, and I think we're going to be playing spoiler. Like this last weekend. It was a great, great series, and it's so good to be winning like that again. I mean, if we can beat the Dodgers, we can beat anyone.

I am so excited about next year. This team is playing some great baseball right now, and if we can keep all these pieces, we're going to be good. I'm soooo excited!!

The Padres are playing the Giants, then Rockies, then Diamondbacks. Let's see what else this team can do.

GO PADRES!!!

Sweet Sweep

After winning two series in a row, the Padres came home to play the Nationals. Things are really clicking for San Diego right now, and it's so much fun to watch.

In the first game of the series, Tim Stauffer started, going 6.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He was great.

The Padres got two runs in the bottom of the first. Chase Headley hit a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth, and the Padres won 3-1.

In the second game of the series, Clayton Richard gave up nothing but a solo homer in his 6.2 innings of work.

We scored four runs, and Heath Bell got his 33rd save of the season as the Padres won 4-1. The Padres then won their third series in a row, and went for the sweep on Wednesday.

Kevin Correia pitched extremely well. He went 7.2 innings, allowing three hits.

The game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when, with two outs, the Padres had a five-run outburst. They got addition runs in the sixth and eighth, and they completed the sweep with a 7-0 win.

It was a great series for the Padres. All three starters were excellent. The defense was spectacular, and we had just enough hitting. We also had some great clutch hitting.

The Padres are now going to LA for a three-game series against the Dodgers. We're going to be playing a lot of the NL West for the rest of the month, and I hope we'll be playing spoiler. These Padres are playing excellently, and I think they're going to ruin a lot of playoff hopes. It's going to be good.

GO PADRES!!

Padres Win Yet Another Series

Let me tell you, this Padres team has been doing AMAZING!! It is soooo exciting. Thing is, they've been winning consistently. None of this win-a-series-then-lose-five-games-in-a-row stuff. They're winning series after series after series. It's great!!

After the Braves avoided the sweep on Thursday, the Padres headed to Flordia to play the Marlins at Land Shark Stadium (seriously). The Marlins have actually been pretty good this year, and it suprised me to find that they are over .500. But I'm not really worried about our opponents with this Padres team right now.

In the first game of the series, the Padres had a six-run second inning and never looked back. It was great! During that inning, Kyle Blanks hit a two-run homer. As he ran around the bases, he aggravated his foot, which had been keeping him day-to-day. He was pinch-hit for when his turn to bat again in that inning came up (we batted way around the order!). He was put on the DL on Saturday. Blanksie has been incredible for us lately, so I really hope he can recover quickly!!

We ended up winning the game 9-5. David Eckstein and Chase Headley (coming into the game as Kyle's replacement) each had three hits. Venable, Blanco, and E-Cab each had two hits. Kouz got walked three times. We had 16 hits total.

Kevin Correia got his ninth win. He went six 2/3 innings, allowing 11 hits, but only four runs. It was a great win!!

In the second game of the series, Wade LeBlanc came up from the minors to start. He threw six innings, allowing four runs on four hits. He wasn't the best, but he did a lot better than he did earlier in the year. It was good to see.

This game was not as easy to get as the night before. The Marlins took a two-run lead in the second. The Padres were able to get a run in the fourth, and two in the sixth, but the Marlins got two in the bottom of that inning to take a 4-3 lead. In the seventh, we got a run to tie. In the eighth, Tony Gwynn had the big blow of the game. He hit a triple to drive in two runs. Tony was sac-flied in by Everth to get a 7-4 lead.

Heath Bell took the ninth and secured his 31st save of the year. And there you have it. The Padres won yet another series!!

In the third game, we lost 6-4. Oh well. We can never seem to be able to finish the sweep, but it's OK. We're just winning games, here, that's all.

So far this month, our record is 14-14. Let's make it 15-14 tonight, yeah boys??

GO PADRES!!

Padres vs. Cardinals

In the last week or so, the Padres have run into the Cardinals twice. And both times, them fell down hard.

A weekend ago, the Padres got swept in an ugly series in St. Louis. Forgettable.

Coming home, the Padres won the series against the Cubs, two games to one. But then they had to face the Cardinals again...this time for four games.

Let me tell you, this St. Louis team is playing incredibly. They are simply amazing. Everything is clicking right now, and they've gotta win the Central. I know all too well how good this team is. Coming into this series in San Diego, the Cardinals had won something like nine straight games against the Padres.

They won the first game of the series, but the Padres were able to pull off the second one. No such luck in the next two. They lost 7-0 on Saturday, and 5-2 on Sunday. My boys left the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. Ah well. The Cards are just too good.

I see hope for this team. Everth Cabrera continues his excellent defense. All our hitters are doing well, just getting shut down by good pitching. But you know what, I think this team is going to be very, very good in the next few years. We just resigned David Eckstein, which is huge. Eck has made an incredible impact on this team, and it's going to be great to have him next year.

The Padres are now going to Atlanta for three games against the Braves. Let's hope that the boys can get back on the horse and get some wins.

GO PADRES!!

Going For a Split...

We lost 6-2 yesterday. So much for a series win.

Chad Gaudin was terrible from the very beginning of the game. He didn't have his stuff at all, and it was not a good sign. Chad's struggled a lot this year. If he's not on at the beginning of the game, he's not going to have anything for the rest of it. He got his 10th loss of the season yesterday. Yikes.

He only went 3.1 innings, giving up six runs on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He was terrible!!

The bullpen did very well, thankfully. Luis Perdomo went 2.2 innings, Greg Burke went two, and Joe Thatcher went one. Bullpen's been good. Starting pitching, bad.

We didn't get any runs until the bottom of the sixth. Will Venable hit a two-run homer, his fifth home run in the last seven games. We had seven hits, and that was it.

This is a forgettable game. I had hoped for a series win, but the Braves jumped all over Chad Gaudin and we couldn't get back.

Ah well. Negatives? Kouz grounded into three double plays. That is not the way to get things done around here, my boy...

Now the Mets are in town for four games. You'd better get at least a series split, boys!!

Clayton Richard will be pitching against Livan Hernandez. It will be very interesting to see how Clayton does the second time around in a Padres uniform...

GO PADRES!!!

The Future Padres Today

In a strange turn of events, the Padres have won six out of their last ten games. They took three out of four from the Reds last week, and then two out of three from the Brewers over the weekend.

Trevor Hoffman returned to San Diego for the first time since singing with the Brewers in the offseason, but that got buried by the news of a Jake Peavy trade. Jake hadn't been talked about at all after he went on the DL. Rather, we were hearing rumors about Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell going to the Dodgers or Red Sox. Then, suddenly, Jake Peavy was headed to the White Sox for four pitchers.

It was a very tough trade to handle. Jake had been part of the Padres for his whole baseball career. We took him right out of high school and brought him up though the minor league system. He's been in the majors with us for eight years. Man. This guy was our ace!! We loved him so much. Oh well. At least Jake gets to be with a winning team. There's nothing I want more for a favorite player. 

When a fan has a favorite team, they get attached to one or two players. But thing is, I'm a Padres fan. I'm a fan of all the players who are on the roster. Jake's no longer on the team, and I mourned for him, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Baseball goes on. Now we've got four new players to love on the Padres' roster. I'm a Padres fan no matter who's on the roster.

I am being very skeptical of this amazing turnaround the Padres have had in the past week. It's great to be winning, but why are we winning right now? It's kind of weird. But from what I've seen in the past few days, the rookies are really stepping it up. Last night, top prospect Mat Latos started the game and was excellent. Will Venable, Kyle Blanks, and Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in runs. Everth Cabrera stole two bases. It's just been really great to watch. I'm excited about this team! I think this is a glimpse of the Padres' future. And that's really cool to see. I'm so done with all this losing. I'm ready for a team that's actually good. A team that wins.

Let's hope it gets here soon.

GO PADRES!!!!

Rebuilding

Over the past three days, the Padres played three games and lost all three of them. It was not good. I'm not sure where the Flordia Marlins are in the standings, but I don't think the Padres should have been swept by them. But then again, I consider the Padres to be the worst team in baseball, so this was not that suprising.

For the first series all year, I did not listen to any of these games. Thing is, I didn't really care. I went to my third Padres game of the year last Saturday, and I had a blast. But ever since, I haven't listened to the games, and frankly, I really haven't cared what these Padres are doing. And it's scaring me.

The Padres lost the first two games by the score of 3-2. We were obviously in those games, as the pitching was very good. But we couldn't get the job done.

In the third game of the series, we lost 5-0. Now that was bad!! But I expected them to lose. I expected them to be swept. How terrible is that?

I feel like such a terrible fan, but am I really to blame? Sure, I'm not listening to the games, but I'll still support them. I'll still write about them. I'll still wear shirts from my vast collection. But I don't really care what the Padres are doing right now. I don't care if they lose, at least. I'd be happy if they win, but they're not doing that right now.

Maybe it's just because I've been so busy. I'm getting ready for a big trip next week, so I've been preparing for that. Maybe it's because I'm beginning to realize that there's more to life than the results of the Padres. I know, I'm pretty crazy. I actually went through something like this last year at about the same time.

I think I should finally get into the mentallity that we are in a rebuilding process. The Padres are obviously looking to the future. They're trading away great players while the performance on the field drops lower and lower, while the fans in the stands dwindle. I have a feeling that the front office doesn't really care.

I don't know what to do about this team. They're not going to play well for the rest of this season, and they've got two months to go. I'm not going to listen to this pathetic baseball. I'd rather follow the Red Sox for the rest of the season and postseason. I don't want to watch this pathetic baseball. 

So we'd better get "rebuilt" soon.  

Great Derby Last Night!

I watched the Home Run Derby for the first time in my baseball fan career last night, and it was very interesting. I loved how casual it all it; it's basically a hyped-up batting practice of some of the best hitters in baseball!

San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez only hit two homers, but we can excuse him. He had a long complicated day of traveling before finally making it to St. Louis just in time. It was great to finally see him get some recognition as one of the best hitters in baseball, because he really is. He's the most underrated too. 

At least he hit a couple home runs, unlike a certain Brandon Inge. I personally think Ian Kinsler should have been in the game instead of Inge, and this kind of solidifies that :)

Adrian was eliminated after the first round, but that was OK. Hopefully he was able to get a great rest last night and will be ready to play tonight. Great job Adrian!!

The rest of the guys, meanwhile, were pretty amazing. Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder got the early advantage by hitting 11 home runs each in the first round. In the end, it was Fielder who came out on top with the win. 

One of Fielder's home runs went 503 feet. 503 FEET!!! It was a huge blast. That guy has some power.

Just overall, a great effort by all the guys who participated, and it was really fun to be able to watch it on MLB.com, too.

I am really excited about the All-Star game tonight. I'm not sure how I'll be following it yet, but I'll keep an eye on it somehow. I hope Adrian and Heath Bell will be able to help the National League to get a win! And, I'll be rooting for Trevor Hoffman, too. I miss that guy sooo much!!

By the way, it's been nice to have a little break from the Padres. This break is a life-saver!

GO ADRIAN, HEATH, THE PADRES, AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE!! 

Padres End Second Half On Good Note

The Padres played four games against the San Francisco Giants in the days before the break. Like so many other series this year that the Padres have played, San Diego lost the series.

In the first game, Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter into the seventh. There, he allowed three runs, but he was close. Too close. I mean, it was Lincecum, but the Padres should have been getting more.

On the other side, Josh Geer gave up six runs in 4.2 innings. Then, later in the game, Cla Meredith gave up three runs. The Padres fell, 9-3.

The second game of the series was the worst. Jonathan Sanchez, making the start in place of the injured Randy Johnson, threw a no-hitter. The Padres just got out of it on Thursday, but they couldn’t avoid it on Friday. Sure, it was a great story and all, with Sanchez’s father in the stands, but it never feels good when your team is no-hit.

He was completely dominant. He had 11 strikeouts, and didn’t even give up a walk. The Giants won, 8-0.

In the third game of the series, the Padres lost 2-1. Tim Stauffer was called up to pitch for the Padres, and he did very well. I was glad that the Padres got seven hits and a run, but I think they should have been able to get more runs.

With the series already lost, the Padres went out to get the fourth game. In the top of the first, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a three-run home run. Two innings later, Eliezar Alfonso hit a three-runner too!

We ended up winning 10-4. Kevin Correia pitched very, very well. The bullpen was also very solid. Kouzmanoff and Will Venable had four hits each. The Padres had a total of 14 hits. It was a great way to end the second half, though it was a tough weekend.

Adrian Gonzalez will participate in the Home Run Derby tonight. GO ADRIAN!!

Gonzalez and Heath Bell will play in the All-Star game tomorrow night. GO HEATH, ADRIAN, AND THE NATIONAL LEAGUE!!

After the break, the Padres will play four games against the Rockies at PETCO Park. GO PADRES!!!

Swept By Arizona

The Padres played the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games, right after the Padres lost an amazing series to the Dodgers. Things did not go well for the Padres at all, as they got swept by the only team in the NL West who were then worse than them.

In the first game, Walter Silva only went 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Arizona helped the Padres out, that's for sure. In the second, Chase Headley singled. Justin Upton made an error in the outfield, so Chase went to second. Will Venable then grounded out to send Chase to third. Eliezar Alfonso drove him in. Luis Rodriguez and Walter Silva singled, and Alfonso scored on a wild pitch.

In the fifth, Everth walked, T-Gwynn singled, and Adrian Gonzalez singled in Everth. Very cool. By now, the score was a 3-3 tie.

It stayed that way until the seventh. Tony Gwynn singled and stole second. Kouz hit a booming double that was that close to getting out, scoring Tony. We took the lead, 4-3.

In the eighth, we added an insurance run. With two outs, Everth Cabrera walked. He stole second and third and two consecutive pitches. The catcher threw to third to try to nab him, but the throw bounced off the third baseman's glove and down the line. Everth easily scored.

But in the bottom of the inning, newly-off-the-DL Luke Gregerson gave up two runs to tie the game. It was not good.

In the top of the ninth, the Padres were unable to get anything. I figured that the game was headed to extra innings, especially when Cla Meredith got two quick outs in the bottom of the inning. But then he walked Justin Upton, and All-Star hopeful Mark Reynolds hit a single to drive him in. Game over.

In the second game, Kevin Correia threw six innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He made two errors, coupled with another error by Edgar Gonzalez, to give up two runs.

In the eighth, Arizona had a 4-1 lead. Kevin Kouzmanoff started off the inning with a double. Chase Headley then hit a ball off the fence and back into the field. If it had been an inch higher, it would have been a game-tying home run. As it is, the Padres went on to lose 4-3. It was a very close game, but the boys couldn’t get it done.

In the third game, Chad Gaudin threw 6.2 innings of one-run baseball. He walked four and struck out seven. The Padres had a 2-0 lead thanks to doubles by Kevin Kouzmanoff and Will Venable.

But when the bullpen came in, they allowed five runs to let the Diamondbacks run away with the win. It was not good.

Now the Padres have taken over last place in the NL West. Oh great.

The Padres will play the Giants for four games before the All-Star break.

GO PADRES!!

Padres Lose Series To Dodgers

The Padres played a three-game series against their rivals the Dodger over the holiday weekend.

The first game was terribly played by the Padres. Chad Gaudin allowed five runs in the first, and that was that. The Padres got three runs, but they lost 6-3.

But nobody cared about the score. It was the return of the Manny that really mattered. PETCO Park was sold out two days in a row, and on Friday night, the majority of the crowd was Dodgers fans. That was very frustrating to this Padres fan. This is PETCO Park, peoples, home of the PADRES. It was terrible that the Dodgers were getting more cheering than the Padres. Thankfully, Manny had a walk and that was it.

This whole Manny hype is utterly ridiculous. Seriously, besides all the Dodgers fans, WHO CARES? This guys cheated, and he's been treated like a hero. This is just wrong. The media attention was wrong, even that he's back is wrong. There's gotta be a more strict punishment for a guy who's cheating the game. And do you really believe that he's going to stop juicing? Yeah right!! He's got practically the whole world looking at him, a huge nation of fans thinking he's the savior. He has to keep up what he does best, Manny being Manny, and to do that he needs help. I hated all this media attention at PETCO. Sure, it got the Padres some attention, but who cared that the Padres lost? Who even cared that the Dodgers won?

A new day brings new hope, though. On the fourth of July, my Padres went out and played an excellent ballgame. The game was broadcast on FOX just because of the Manny, but it was the Padres who stole the show.

In the first inning, Manny got his moment to shine by hitting his first homer since getting back. Yeah, whatever.

In the second, Henry Blanco singled, but was hurt rounding first. Turns out that he strained a hamstring. Eliezar Alfonso came in to catch, and the backup catcher would have been Edgar Gonzalez. I think Kouz would have been the absolute emergency catcher :) 

In the third, starting pitcher Josh Geer started the inning with a double, the first extra-base hit of his career. Wow.

Then, Everth Cabrera laid down a sac-bunt to move him to third. Next up was David Eckstein, and all Padres fans knew that he would get the job done. I mean, runner on third with one out, Eck's going to get him in. He's been doing it all year. And guess what? He did it! He hit a single to tie the game. 

Things stayed scoreless until the seventh. Josh Geer threw 6.1 innings, giving up two runs and walking none. He was good. Randy Wolf on the other side was pretty good himself. He threw six innings, allowing one run and striking out eight. OK, he was a lot better than Josh!!

In the seventh, Greg Burke allowed the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch. Oh boy. But the scoring in this game was no where near to being done.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Padres rallied to take the lead for good. Eliezar Alfonso walked, Tony Gwynn singled, and Kyle Blanks was hit by pitch. Then Everth Cabrera, the hero of the game, singled in two to give the Padres the lead.

Later in the inning, Adrian Gonzalez singled in Everth to give us a 4-2 lead.

In the top of the eighth, the Dodgers got another run to make the game very close. 

In the bottom of the inning, Alfonso singled and Gwynn reached on an error (the Dodgers had three errors in the game!!). Heath Bell got the last out in the top of the eighth, so he was batting for himself. He hadn't had an at-bat since 2005, but he went out there and laid down a sac-bunt. Way to go Heath!

Everth Cabrera then hit a two-run single. David Eckstein drove in Everth, and the Padres had a 7-3 lead!

In the top of the ninth, Heath Bell was all over the place. Maybe it was because he was so excited about his bunt or whatever, but he was having a hard time throwing a strike. He allowed a walk, and a single to drive in a run before striking out three. Whew!! It was pretty stressing, but Heath made it, and the Padres won the game, 7-4!!

It was such an incredible game!! "Everything" Cabrera was definitely the star. He had two hits, driving in three runs. He also had that sac-bunt. He does what needs to get done.

Not to mention his defense. He had five excellent plays to rob players at shortstop, including two against the Manny. HA! Seriously, this guy has been just amazing, and he's only going to get better! AHHH!! He put on quite a show for the TV.

I am sooo excited about this guy!! It's going to be so much fun just to see him get better!

In the rubber game, things appeared like it would be an easy game for the Dodgers. But it ain't over 'til my Padres say it's over!!

Josh Banks was not that great. He allowed six runs in 4.1 innings, allowing three home runs. Ugh.

In the fifth, the Padres finally broke through to Chad Billingsley. Kevin Kouzmanoff snapped an 0-for-17 streak with a solo homer.

So, we go on to the ninth. We're losing by five runs, rubber game. Billingsley was still pitching, which just goes to show how good he was. I was taking a nap, but woke up as the inning started.

Chase Headley started it off with a solo homer. Ok, getting closer... Tony Gwynn doubled, and Chad was done for the day. In comes Jonathan Broxton, of all people. This is the huge guy, almost 300 pounds and throw upwards to 100 mph. This guy is gooooood.

But the Padres have done it before. They have scored five runs off of Broxton in the ninth at PETCO Park to win a game. Will they do it again?

David Eckstein flew out for the first out. But then Scott Hairston walked. But then Adrian Gonzalez struck out. The Dodgers were this close to getting the game...

Will Veneble singled to drive in our third run. Edgar Gonzalez and Eliezar Alfonso walked, Alfonso's driving in a run. I was hanging on every pitch, by the way. It was so crazy!!

Next up was Everth Cabrera. Now, this was probably the most stressing at-bat of the whole inning. Oh man. He ran the count to full before finally hitting it. It went through the middle into center, and two runs scored to tie the game. But the center fielder threw to third and got the out there. So, the inning was over, but we had tied the game. It was great, but so sad. If the baserunner hadn't made that blunder, we would have had the winning run right there. That was really disappointing, but we did great. We got five runs. We did the improbable.

But things didn't go well from there. We had perfect opportunities to get the game won, but my boys were trying too hard. Finally, in the top of the 13th, James Loney hit a solo homer to put the Dodgers on top. I hate James Loney.

The Padres couldn't do anything in the bottom of the inning, despite leaving two runners on, and so we lost, 7-6.

Well, the Padres played pretty well, but the Dodgers are just better. 

The Padres are now playing the Diamondbacks for three games in Arizona. Walter Silva will pitch against Jon Garland tonight. 

GO PADRES!!  

Padres Win Series Over Rangers!!

Over the weekend, the Padres played three games in the heat of Arlington. It was a great three games for the Padres, as they won their first series in a month.

In the first game, the Rangers pounded the Padres, 12-2. It was a terrible game!! The pitching struggled badly, and the hitters couldn't get much. It was not a good way to start the series.

In the second game, Josh Geer threw a great game for the Padres. He went seven innings, allowing only three runs. But his offense was supporting him very well. They got three runs on five hits in the second, and kept adding on through the game.

The Padres ended up with a season-high 16 hits while winning the game 7-3. The pitching was a ton better, and so was the offense.

In the rubber game, Chad Gaudin threw a gem. He went eight innings, giving up one hit. Yes, you read that right. He allowed a hit in the bottom of the first with one out, and then nothing for the rest of the game. He struck out nine while cruising through the game.

Scott Hairston provided all the offense for the Padres. He was 3-for-4 with a single, double, and home run, driving in two.

Heath Bell came in to save the game. He allowed a walk, but turned a 1-4-3 double play to close the game. He earned his 21st save in 22 chances. The Padres won the series, and are finally done with interleague.

Interleague did not treat the Padres well. It hasn't in quite a while. They went 5-10.

Now they get to come home to face the Houston Astros for three game. Roy Oswalt will pitch against Josh Geer tonight. I really hope the Padres can continue this two-game winning streak!!

GO PADRES!!

Padres Head to Seattle...

Over the weekend,the Padres played three games against the Oakland A's.

Oakland took the first two, mostly because of bad starting pitching by the Padres. The Padres did fight hard and scored a good number of runs, but the A's were just better.

But in the third game, the Padres got a superb starting performance by Kevin Correia. He threw 6.2 innings, allowing one run, one walk, and striking out seven. It was just what we needed.

Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer and the Padres took the game, 4-1.

It was not the best series, but at least we avoided the sweep. Now we will play the Seattle Mariners in Seattle. We have been doing miserablely against American League teams, so it will be interesting to see if we can salvage anything out of the remaining six interleague games.

GO PADRES!!

Kouzmanoff Walks Off

I love Kevin Kouzmanoff. He's a really, really cute person, but he's also an amazing ballplayer. Yesterday, he was one of the heroes.

Josh Geer threw six innings, giving up three runs and striking out six. He was pretty sharp, but he gave up two home runs.

The Padres got two runs in the bottom of the first. Later in the game, the score was 3-3.

The Padres bullpen has been amazing over the last few weeks. Greg Burke, Edward Mujica, and Heath Bell threw a combined four scoreless innings. It was good.

In the bottom of the tenth, the game was still tied. With two outs, Adrian Gonzalez came to the plate and doubled. Kouzmanoff came to the plate, and with a 3-1 count, lined a pitch to left field to drive in the winning run.

It was a great game. The pitching was amazing. Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, and a home run. That was great for him to get some big hits.

Kouzmanoff only had one hit, but it was a big one. I am so proud of him!!

The Padres will host the A's for three games this weekend. It will be an interesting series...

GO PADRES!!!

Heading Down...

You know what I did this weekend?

I didn't listen to the three miserable Padres games against the Angels.

Of course, I did listen to parts of it, and followed it a little on Gameday, but overall, I stayed away from listening to the whole game and feel so much better for it.

And very detached from my Padres.

It's not like these three games were worth listening to anyways. We got swept, and we were overmatch, outhit, and outpitched. The Angels won the first game 11-6, the second 9-1, and the third 6-0. We caught them at a bad, bad time. Or else we were the ones who turned them on.

Let's take a look at the starting pitching, which was horrible. Atrocious. On Friday, Chad Gaudin threw three innings, giving up 10 hits and eight runs. THREE INNINGS!!!

On Saturday, it should have been Jake Peavy out there throwing a gem. Instead, it was Josh Geer out there throwing away the game. He went 5.2 innings, but gave up seven runs on nine hits.

On Sunday, Chris Young did not have it. And when I say did not have it, he did not have it. He looked like an 8-year-old out there. Of course, a 6-foot-10 8-year-old, but seriously. He could not find the plate. He just could not find it. He was done after 2.1 innings. He gave up five runs and five walks. At one point he gave up four walks in a row...with two outs!! AHHHHHH!!!

Kevin Kouzmanoff has been really hot lately. He had four hits in the series, including two homers. He also made some great defensive plays.

Adrian got three hits yesterday. That was very, very good. Sure, it didn't help any, since we got five hits total, but I know it was great for him to get that chance to swing the bat and get on base.

We were simply outmatched, man. The Angels' pitching was overpowering, and we could barely dent it. I hate it when teams get really hot right when we play them, but that's baseball. Now, we're heading for the cellar. Colorado and their 11-game winning streak has overtaken us by a lot, and now we're in fourth place, 13 games behind. Groan.

I think we will still be able to make a run, but we have got to get winning. Interleague absolutely kills us, man. This team and these fans need some big interleague wins. We need this. We have never been good in it, so we need to change that right here right now.

We've got an off-day today. That's good. The pitchers need to rest, take care of their arms, and think "strikes". The batters need to rest for a while, but then hit the batting cages and study the pitchers ahead very, very closely. We're going to be home for the next six games, so take advantage of that. Get out there, fight, and win. I know you can do that. I know this team can win!! I've seen it so many times this year. But you have to get it going. 

So, like I said, off-day today, and then we face the Mariners for three and the A's for three. Oh joy. Then we go on the road to face Seattle and Texas. Oh joy oh joy oh joy. Then we can be done with interleague!!

And boys, please, stay away from here. 

GO PADRES!!!! 

Padres Split Series With Dodgers

The Padres played a short two-game series against the Dodgers in Dodgers Stadium, losing the first game but taking the second.

In the first game, Chris Young gave up four home runs to the Dodgers on route to a 6-4 loss. The Padres were held down. Kevin Kouzmanoff got a two-run single in the first, but it was a short-lived lead.

In the second game, Kouzmanoff drove in our first run in the first. We got our second on a groundout from Edgar Gonzalez. In the third, we got our third run thanks to a RBI single from Chase Headley.

Kevin Correia gave up a run in the first, but settled in and did not allow a baserunner for the rest of his six-inning outing. He was very sharp, and it was great for him to get that outing.

Greg Burke, Edward Mujica, and Heath Bell closed out the game. Bell got his major-league leading 18th save of the season.

Adrian Gonzalez was on an incredible streak, hitting like crazy, but pitchers have finally learned their lesson. Gonzalez is getting walked at least twice every game. He's not getting a chance to add on to his major-league leading 22 home runs. Thankfully, the guys batting behind him are heating up, so pitchers won't be able to pitch around Gonzalez much longer.

The Padres have an off-day before starting interleague play against the Angels. Chad Gaudin will be pitching against Kelvim Escobar in the opening game of the series.

GO PADRES!!

It Only Took Five Hours and 45 Minutes...

What a loooong day for my Padres. First, it was Padres Photo Day, so all the players had to stand on the field before the game, in the sun, while hundreds of fans took pictures of them, while the players really wanted to be doing something more productive, like watching video on the opposing pitcher or stretching.

Then, they played two games.

Dan Haren was amazing. He didn't give us anything except a solo homer to my baby Kouz in the 7th.

By then, the Diamondbacks already had a 6-0 lead thanks to Josh Geer's five innings of work and Joe Thatcher's one inning. I say we send him to Triple-A. 

It all came down the the ninth inning. Arizona had a comfortable 6-1 lead, but as we've learned, these Padres don't go down easily. They are going to put up a fight.

Adrian doubled, Chase singled him in, and Brian Giles walked. An out later, Arizona's closer came in and Nick Hundley drove in Chase. An out later, David Eckstein came to the plate as a pinch-hitter. On the first pitch he saw, he hit a three-run homer to tie the game!! It was soooo exciting!! I mean, where did that come from? That was Eck's first homer of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

But now here comes the sad part. We went to the 18th inning, and the Padres did not get ONE measly hit for all nine extra innings. Terrible. We lost the wind in our sails. Sure, we got a few walks, but not one hit. Miserable.

Meanwhile, the bullpen was very solid. We used every guy in the book: Burke, Meredith, Perdomo, Bell, Mujica, Gregerson, even Friday night's starter Chad Gaudin. Even shortstop Josh Wilson.

I had heard that Josh could pitch, and I thought it would be pretty likely that we would need him. And we did. He came in to pitch the 18th, with catcher Henry Blanco playing third.

Josh had some really good stuff. He was relying mostly on the 4-seam fastball, and he got up to 88 mph. He got a couple outs, and was one strike away from getting out of the inning when he tried a pitch he hadn't thrown the whole time. Big mistake. Mark Reynolds hit it out of here to right field, a three-run homer. Talk about sucking the air out of a ballpark.

He was very close, and he did throw very well. But he gave up the game. We went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 18th, like we did so many other times during the game.

I'm worried about this team. Last year, after we lost the 22-inning game, our season deflated. This year, we've had some highs and some lows. There was an extra inning game in Philly that we lost. After that, we didn't win very much. But then when we won the 16-inning game at home, we continued a 10-game winning streak.

I'm worried about Jake, about the bullpen. Jake's going to be pitching tonight in the fourth game of the series with a bad ankle and a slight cold. He's not 100%, but he understands that the bullpen needs any slack he can give them, so he's going to be out there fighting. We could probably go to a few of the guys in the bullpen like Thatcher, Burke, Meredith, and Perdomo because they pitched only one inning each. 

I'm worried about our hitters. We didn't get much yesterday, that's for sure. In a sense, we were "no-hit" through nine innings. Well, we learned that we can never give up on this team, cause they seem to hit bullpens really well. But sometimes it's not enough.

I just hope they get a ton of sleep today and are ready to go tonight. I said before the series that I hoped we could at least get a split. Well, we have to get this game tonight to do that. I do not want to lose this to Arizona. Not a bit.

Were all those extra innings worth it? In my mind, they really weren't. We could have ended the thing in the ninth with the same results. It wasn't worth draining the bullpen, making the guys play essentially an extra game. Nothing is ever worth it when you lose.   

Alright, Jake. It's your turn.

GO PADRES!!

Swept By The Champs

Wow, what a terrible series for the Padres. They didn't hit, they barely pitched, and it was just miserable.

The Padres came home after a 3-3 road trip. They had a nine-game winning streak at home, but it quickly got broken.

Kevin Correia started the first game of the series, giving up four runs in 4.1 innings. 

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 21st homer of the season and Scott Hairston hit his eighth. But the Padres fell to the Phillies, 5-3.

The Padres and their fans looked to the next game, and with Jake Peavy on the mound, you feel pretty good about your chances. It was not meant to be, though. Jake only threw one inning, the shortest outing of his career, giving up four runs. He left the game with the flu, which he is still battling. 

We eventually lost 10-5. It was miserable. A terrible, forgettable game. 

The Padres crawled into the third game, looking to Chris Young to keep them in the game. He went six innings, but gave up three runs. 

The Padres were only able to get one miserable run in the bottom of the eighth on David Eckstein's single. 

It was a very ill-played series by the Padres. They couldn't hit and could barely pitch. Terrible. 

They have an off-day today, which will hopefully help. Then they play the Diamondbacks for four games over the weekend. 

I don't know what's wrong with this team, but I sure hope they figure it out soon. 

GO PADRES!! 

One Win Out of Three

It's been overcast in San Diego for four straight days now, but yesterday Padres fans got a beam of sunlight as the club won the series finale in Colorado.

On Saturday, the Rockies won 8-7. It was a crazy back-and-forth game. The Padres had leads of 3-0, 6-4, and 7-6, but Heath Bell blew his first save of the season and handed Colorado the series win. The ninth inning was eerily like Game 163: Scott Hairston hit a tie-breaking home run in the top of the inning, but the closer blew the save, allowing three hits and just like Trevor did that night. This time, though, the winning run did touch the plate.

But on Sunday, the Padres went out to get the win and they got it. Adrian Gonzalez hit his 20th homer of the season in the fourth, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead. He had done the same thing the night before.

Chad Gaudin threw 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. He was so sharp! We really needed that outing from him, and I think he needed it for himself. Solid outing for Chad, and he got the win.

Anyways, Kouz got his first two hits of the series and drove in a run. Scott Hairston hit his second homer in as many games. A lot of the guys had two hits yesterday: Scotty, Kouz, Adrian, Gwynn, and Josh Wilson.

It was an amazing 5-2 win, and it was Jake Peavy's 28th birthday too! Happy birthday to Jake, keep icing up that ankle.

Heath got his 15th save in 16 chances. Now we can't just say he got save #15 anymore. We have to add that unslightly "in 16 chances". How could you Heath?!?!? But it was great for him to get right back on track right away.

Though we lost the series, I am still very confident in this team. They were so close to getting the second game, and they put out a great effort yesterday. We're coming home now for six, and I think that's going to be huge. It's going to be great for the guys to get home, where we're currently on a nine-game winning streak.

Kevin Correia will be pitching today instead of Jake. Jake will hopefully pitch on Tuesday, as that ankle is still bothering him a little. I have a good feeling about this series against the Phillies.

GO PADRES!! 

Padres Against Rockies For Three...

Today the Padres will be playing the Rockies in Coors Field for the first of three games.

The Padres are coming off of four straight series wins, while the Rockies just got swept by the Dodgers.

Josh Geer will be starting against Jason Marquis.

Cliff Floyd is expected to join the Padres before the game.

GO PADRES!!

So Close...

Disappointing.

That's how I would describe last night's game.

Disappointing that Adrian Gonzalez was sick with the flu.

Disappointing that Kevin Correia gave up six runs in 5.2 innings.

Disappointing that we left the tying and winning runs on base in the last two innings.

Disappointing that Adrian missed a home run.

Disappointing that Chris Young (ARZ) caught Kouz's certain gapper in the ninth.

Disappointing that we didn't have enough to win our 11th game in a row.

We were close, but thus ends the streak.

With a loss.

It was a good game, overall. Kevin Correia was good for the first four innings, but he gave up two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth.

Cla Meredith and Luke Gregerson were good, continuing the bullpen dominance.

We were completely held down by Arizona starter Max Scherzer. I'm telling you, this kid is good. He's got some incredible stuff, and he was really fooling us. I mean, he got 10 strikeouts, and most of them were of our guys swinging at pitches in the dirt, high, or outside. He was very good.

In the eighth, the Padres started rallying. Well what do you know...

Chris Burke homered to start the inning. Tony Gwynn and David Eckstein singled, and Scott Hairston walked. The next batter was Kevin Kouzmanoff, who was promptly hit to drive in a run. Poor guy.

Chase Headley singled to drive in another run. While Drew Macias was batting, the pitcher threw a wild pitch and another run scored. Macias was then walked, and the sick Adrian Gonzalez came to the plate as a pitch-hitter.

Adrian came down with flu-like symptoms the night before the game, and was not able to play at the beginning of the game. But later on, he was starting to feel better, so he took some swings in the cage and told Buddy that he was available to pinch-hit.

The opportunity came, and there's no one Padres fans would rather have out there than Adrian Gonzalez. And he just missed it. He hit it high and long to right field, but it was an out. ARGHHHHH!!! He was so close, but that was the last out of the inning.

In the ninth, we rallied again. Tony Gwynn and Brian Giles singled. Then David Eckstein, the poor guy, got hit to load the bases. But Scott Hairston grounded into a double play. Though we scored a run, that really killed us. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kouz had a seven-pitch at-bat. One of the foul balls that he hit was heartbreaking. If it had been fair, it would have tied the game. But it wasn't good enough. ARGHHHHH!!!!!

He finally flew deep to right center field. I have seen so many balls fall into that hole in the past two games, but Young was able to make a spectacular catch to end the game. That should have fallen in. That should have scored the tying run and put the go-ahead run at second. Instead, it sealed our first loss since May 14th.

It was disappointing. But I am so proud of my boys. They bounced back after a 0-6 road trip, came home and played some amazing baseball, winning nine games. They back from a 7-1 deficit and won the game. And they fought back last night. These guys are playing some great baseball right now, and it's not going to end. I believe that we're going to keep winning. We're going to win this game and this series tonight, and then after the off-day, we will see what we can do against the Rockies. We're going to keep playing solid baseball, and we're going to keep winning.

This is so much fun. We're second in the NL West right now. We're 8.5 games behind, but we're in second place. Haha. I know we can do this. This team is so good right now!

Tonight Jake Peavy is starting. Automatic win. Well, not quite, but you feel REALLY good having Jake go out there in the rubber game. If we can get a few hits and a few runs to support Jake, we're going to get the win. Simple as that.

Oh yeah - Billy Buckner is starting for the Diamondbacks. Have fun with that.

GO PADRES!!

That's Ten

After a 9-0 homestand, the Padres headed out on the road with an 11-game road losing streak. They looked to put an end to that against the Diamondbacks in Chase Field.

Chad Gaudin started and gave up seven runs in 5.1 innings. He was not that great, getting hit by a five-run fourth inning.

In the top of the fourth, Adrian Gonzalez hit his 17th homer of the year.

But the game was 7-1 Arizona by the top of the eighth. Manager Bud Black and catcher Nick Hundley were thrown out of the game in the sixth. Things weren't looking good for San Diego. 

But then they started coming back. With one out in the eighth, down 7-1, Scott Hairston doubled, sending David Eckstein to third. Adrian Gonzalez walked, then Kouz hit a single to drive in their second run. Henry Blanco drove in the third run. An out later, Drew Macias hit a three-run double, bringing the game into the Padres' grasp, now only facing a one-run deficit.

Greg Burke threw a scoreless eighth. He has yet to give up a run in his major league career. 

In the ninth, Brian Giles doubled, David Eckstein moved him to third, and Scott Hairston doubled him in. The game was now tied.

In the bottom of the ninth, Edward Mujica struck out the side around a double and intentional walk.

In the top of the tenth, Brian Giles singled for the slumping Chase Headley. Chase was able to break out of his slump and hit a huge two-run homer. That gave the Padres their first lead of the day at 9-7. 

In the bottom of the inning, Heath Bell came into the game to get the save. He got a strikeout, then the next batter popped out to Henry Blanco.

The last batter hit the first pitch to Adrian Gonzalez, who made a great play and tossed the ball to Heath on the cover.

Padres win #10!!

It was a great game. The Padres are now 23-22, 7.5 games behind the Dodgers. They've won ten straight games. It's been an amazing run!!

Tonight Kevin Correia and the Padres will go for #11. I think they could sweep this series :) We'll see...

GO PADRES!!  

Seven in a Row

Last night, the Padres won their seventh game in a row.

You could tell from the very beginning that it was going to be a great game. The crowd of 27,260 was in it right away, and Jake Peavy, as a Padre, started it off with three strikeouts around two walks. It was great.

Jake threw six innings, giving up two hits and no runs, walking four and striking out 10 batters. He was definitely fired up, though after the game he said he was "emotionally drained".

In the bottom of the first, we got our first run. This was Carlos Zambrano's first start after being on the DL after a while, and he was not that sharp. We got the bases loaded against him in the bottom of the first, but we only got one run on a Brian Giles RBI sac-fly.

In the fifth, we got two more runs. Anthony Gywnn drove in Jake, who singled, and Brian Giles got a RBI single.

The bullpen was great. Luke Gregerson and Edward Mujica were able to throw a combined 2.2 scoreless innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Adrian Gonzalez hit his 16th homer of the season, a solo shot. That was really great for Adrian. He hadn't had a homer in quite a while, like a week, so he needed it.

Heath Bell came into the top of the ninth after Mujica got the bases loaded. Mujica actually had an at-bat in the bottom of the eighth and got a hit! He must be talking to Jake.

Heath was able to close the game and keep the Cubs from scoring, getting his 12th save of the season.

It was a really great game. The pitching was fantastic, and we got just enough offense. That was actually our first shutout of the year.

David Eckstein got hit in the right upper chest/shoulder area in the first inning. He fell to the ground, in terrible pain. He got up and went to first, but was taken out of the game in the next inning. He has a "chest contusion" and will hopefully get better soon. This guy is one of the grittiest players in baseball, and the Padres really need him. He's been beat up pretty bad in the last few games, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't in the lineup tonight. He needs a break.

Tonight is Josh Geer against Randy Wells as the Padres go for a series win. It will be a very interesting game, but I think we can get #8. Why stop now? :)

GO PADRES!!

(photo credit: padres.com)  

We Can Breathe Again...

Yesterday, the news came out that Jake Peavy was going to the White Sox. The Padres and the White Sox had agreed on a deal, and all they needed was Jake's consent to finalize the deal.

But Jake wasn't taking it. First of all, he's made it very clear that he wants to stay in San Diego. But he does understand that baseball is a business, and that his contract is very large, maybe too much for the Padres. So, he's said that if he has to go somewhere, he want to go to a National League team. So why the Padres would talk with an American League team at all is beyond me. 

As much as a hate to look at my front office in an unfavorable light, I do have a theory to way they did this. Against the fans' wishes, the front office obviously wants to get rid of Jake. The Cubs had a huge interest in Jake during the offseason, but it fell through, and Jake stayed a Padre. What if the front office wanted to get the Cubs back into trade talks? What if they never planned to actually send Jake to the White Sox, knowing he would use his no-trade clause? Maybe they offered him to the White Sox to stir up the Cubs, who are coming into town today. The Cubs might get jealous and want to renew trade talks. Is the Padres front office capable of such a evil plan?

Well, I think they are. And I think they might have leaked the story yesterday to the press, something that caused Jake a lot of trouble. He had a ton of media surrounding him at the game last night, but he was there at Petco Park, and he was in a Padres uniform. He made a statement, activating the no-trade clause by saying that San Diego is the best place for him and his family right now. 

Nobody really expected him to take the deal in Chicago; it didn't make any sense. But it was still scary. 

So right now, tonight, Jake is a Padre. This might be his last start as a Padre. This might be the first of many more. We really don't know, but one thing is sure: there are going to be more close calls like this. There are going to be more teams interested, and there may be some close calls. And maybe, he will leave. We'll have to see how it goes. For now, Padres fans need to enjoy this excellent pitcher. These might be his last days in San Diego. 

Tonight he is pitching against Carlos Zambrano. After the game, he will answer all questions. 

GO PADRES!!     

Peavy to White Sox?

This morning the Padres finalized a deal with the White Sox to deal Jake Peavy. The Padres would get pitchers Clayton Richard and Aaron Poreda.

But Jake has a no-trade clause. In my thinking, there's no reason for him to leave San Diego, but we'll have to see.

This would be a devistating loss to the Padres: their players, their front office, and especially their fans.

The deal is done, but Jake has to use his no-trade clause. As of 8:50 am PT, no word on Jake's decision had yet been released.