My Boys Got GAME

March 30, 2009

What a weekend! I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but boy is it worth it! Let me just say this: hope is in the air for the Padres!

• Friday: 5-2 Padres

What a great game! Jake Peavy started for the Padres, and as I hoped, he had an excellent outing. He went six innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven. This was definitely the best outing of any pitcher this spring. Newcomer Shawn Hill threw one good inning, but then gave up two homers to Nomar Garciaparra and Jack Cust. I think Hill will do well for us. Edwin Moreno took the ninth, striking out two and inducing a fly ball to center to finish the game.

Scott Hairston was the man of the hour on the offensive side. In the fourth inning, he hit a gigantic three-run homer. In the sixth, he hit another blast, this time a solo. This guy is incredible. I can’t wait to see the impact he makes on the club this season. Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in a run, and Jody Gerut had two hits.

You can’t say enough about Jake Peavy. I mean, he looked so sharp! He did incredibly well on Friday night. This performance proves that we can’t trade him. He hasn’t given up a run in Cactus League play. I think he’s ready. I think he’s been ready for a long time! I don’t know what went wrong in the WBC, but I think it had to do with the pressure to perform and the playoff atmosphere.

So far, it is obvious that he has suffered no ill effects on the WBC. He will start again on Wednesday, and then will be in perfect place to start Opening Day. We just can’t trade this guy. Padres fans are only going to come out to see him. He’s going to have a great season. If the Padres trade this stud, who’s going to go out to the ballpark? We need this guy. He’s incredible.

• Saturday: 11-10 Padres

This game was crazy. It looked really hopeless from the very beginning, but my boys chipped their way to a victory.

Chris Young started, giving up six runs on seven hits before getting an out. He was not very good. We were losing 9-1 by the middle of the second. Cesar Ramos allowed three runs in his 2.1 innings. Justin Hampson had two solid innings. Arturo Lopez, Luke Gregerson, and Greg Burke had solid innings.

Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Headley, and Emil Brown each had a homer. Chase had four hits, including an RBI in the eighth to tie the game at ten. Jody Gerut and Nick Hundley each had two hits. Luis Rodriguez had three hits. Edgar Gonzalez had three hits. In the bottom of the ninth, runner on second, Edgar came to the plate and hit a crisp single to drive the runner in. It was a great walk-off win for my Padres. We did so well! We chipped away until we came out on top. I have hope for this team!

•  Sunday: 7-3 Padres

Cha Seung Baek started and did OK. Better than usual, maybe. He threw 3.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He then left the game with a strained flexor tendon. Oneli Perez gave up one run, but the other four relievers did very well.

We got two runs in the second and four runs in the fourth. We played small ball, driving in guys with singles. No player had more than one hit. But it was a really good offensive game. We kept adding on, lots of singles. We won our third game in a row!

So how ’bout them Padres, huh? They are doing great! The pitching is still average, but the offense is on fire. It’s about time that they are winning! I just hope that it carries into the season.

One week until Opening Day! I am so excited! It will be great to have some meaningful baseball!

My brother played his seventh game on Saturday morning. It was a really great game. The Pirates were down 4-2, but they rallied back to take an 8-4 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, the other team (the Red Sox) got three runs, but the Pirates were able to hold on and win the game 8-7. It got kind of stressing there in that last inning, but what a relief it was to win the game! The Pirates are now 5-2. They’ve won five in a row! 

One of the weird aspects of the game was that the umpires were told to expand the strike zone. We didn’t know about it, so when the ump was calling strikes on balls that were about three inches from the ground, some of the parents were going nuts. It was pretty crazy for the whole game. The kids had to adjust their hitting. I really wasn’t sure what a strike was, and I don’t know if the umpire was either. He was not that consistent in his calls. Hmmm…

The roster is starting to shape up. I don’t think I want to cover all of it right now, but the big move is that we traded infielder Chris Burke to the Mariners for cash considerations. Luis Rodriguez is going to be our Opening Day starter at shortstop. This move makes it very likely that Everth Cabrera, our Rule 5 draft pick, will make the roster. He has not played above Single-A, so this would be a learning experience for him. He’s got a great arm and a lot of potential. His glove is good too, but he hasn’t had the best defensive spring. I think he would be a good asset for us to have at the major league level.

It will be a very interesting week to see how the roster shapes up. And maybe we can win some more games!

As you all know, Hyun Young, Jen, and I are going to the Padres Fan Day this Sunday. I think it would be really cool if we could somehow advertise our blogs while we’re there. My brilliant idea (haha) is printing out a sign and putting it on my bag or whatever. I’ve ruled out the idea of writing my blog name and URL on a t-shirt because I’m going to be wearing my Padres jersey. If any of you creative minds come up with something, please let me know!

Today we are playing the Indians (Again? No way! I think we’ve played them the most of any team this spring!). Kevin Correia will be starting as my Padres look to continue their winning streak!

GO PADRES!!

(photo credit: majorleagueblog.net)     

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Written by Kaity Bergquist Posted in Dailies Tagged with fan day, hyun young, jake peavy, jen, kaybee, padres, san diego, spring training