Padres Win, Walk-Off Style

March 24, 2009

Back to some Padres baseball. On Sunday, we lost 12-7. I don’t even want to go there because I need to talk about yesterday’s game!

• 9-7 Padres (yes, you read that right!!)

WE WON!!! It was such a cool game. Definitely the best game they’ve played so far this spring. Chris Young started and threw 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He also struck out five. It was good to see him go out there and have a fairly good game. Justin Hampson gave up a run in his 0.2 innings of work. Cesar Ramos had three decent innings. He threw two scoreless before allowing three runs in his third inning of work. Edwin Moreno threw the top of the ninth.

The Royals had a four-nothing lead until the sixth. But then the Padres scored four runs in the bottom of that inning to tie the game. Kyle Blanks had a booming two-run double. The Royals went ahead 7-4.

I didn’t listen to the whole game, but I came in around the bottom of the ninth. The Padres are behind by three runs. It’s so cool how you can look back at certain events, certain things that happened in your life, and you can remember exactly what was going on, what you were thinking. Well, this bottom of the ninth was one of those for me. Ah, I wish I had a play-by-play recap of that inning! I’ll try to remember it as best as I can. I think we got two runners on with one out. A guy popped out shortstop, I think. Then Kyle Blanks came up. Kyle had already had a hit and two walks when he came up to the plate. He promptly hit a run-scoring single to tie the game. Then Chase Headley came up.

During this inning, I knew we were going to come back. Like, I had that feeling, but I didn’t let myself get my hopes too high. But I knew. I told myself to enjoy the inning, no matter what happens, because something big might very well happen right now. With two outs, you’re always cautious about getting your hopes up too high. But I knew that Chase could hit a walk-off homer. So cool that I thought about that! I think Ted Leitner called it. It might have been the batter before, but he mentioned that if one of these guys could just get one into that wind, which was blowing out, they could give the Padres a walk-off win. He TOTALLY called that.

Well, what do you know. After a pitching change, Chase Headley stepped into the box. With a count of 3-1, he hit a NO-DOUBTER right out of the park. It was so cool to hear the excitement in Ted’s voice as he called it. He didn’t have to tell us it was a no-doubter; we could hear it in his voice. I was sooooo excited!! Come-from-behind walk-offs are the best! I love love love them!!! It was so exciting. I mean, we won for the first time in a realllly long time. And this time, the hitting was able to catch up with the pitching.

Catcher Josh Bard got signed by the Nationals over the weekend. I really hope he can get some playing time!

Yesterday the Padres got a couple new players. We signed pitcher Shawn Hill to a minor league deal. He might get a rotation spot. We also got pitcher Luke Gregerson as the player-to-be named-later in the Khalil Greene deal.

Josh Geer, Scott Patterson, Joe Thatcher (WHOOOOHOOOOO!!!!), Jose Lobaton, Matt Antonelli, and Will Venable were sent to Triple-A. I feel bad for a few of these guys (not Thatcher), but it will be good for them.

I know you’re all wondering….

You’ve been slogging through all that Padres news to see if there’s any other news…

Yes, my dad read my entry last night…

He talked with my mom this morning…

And the answer is…is….is……………

I’M GOING TO FAN DAY!!!!!

I am sooooooooooo excited!! It’s going to be so much fun!!!! I can’t wait. My dad won’t be taking me because he has responsibilites at church, but my mom and my little brothers will be going. I might even bring a few friends. Wow, that’s the Sunday after next!! I’m kind of glad that it’s coming up quickly, so that way I don’t have to wait as long 🙂 Hyun Young, it’s going to be great to hang out at Petco Park with you! We need to convince Jen to come too! It’s free, Jen…nice and easy on a student’s budget!!

I wanted to thank you all for all the support, and for all the great comments that I put in my previous entry. I can’t wait to share all the pictures and stories from this event with you! Thank you so much. You guys are the best!! 

Today the Padres are playing the Angels in Tempe. Cha Seung Baek is starting. I think he’s due for a good outing. Let’s see if we can carry the momentum from yesterday into today!

Team Japan won the WBC for the second time last night. It was a really great game. I thought the defense was incredible. So, congrats to Team Japan. They made an incredible run, and they are a stellar baseball team.

I’m off to eat a celebratory slice of chocolate cake. I’m so excited!!!

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credit: wikipedia.com)  

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Written by Kaity Bergquist Posted in Dailies Tagged with cake, cha seung baek, chase headley, chris young, fan day, hyun young, jen, joe thatcher, josh bard, kyle blanks, padres, san diego, spring training, team usa, yes