Life of an Ejectee

May 26, 2009

After a 9-0 homestand, the Padres went on the road with an 11-game road losing streak. Not good. As the Padres played the Diamondbacks yesterday, it looked like those road woes were back to haunt them.

Chad Gaudin started, throwing 5.1 innings, giving up seven runs on five hits. He also walked five. He was not that good.

Adrian Gonzalez got his 17th homer of the year in the fourth.

The fourth inning was when Gaudin gave up five innings, but the sixth inning was pretty bad too. With the bases loaded and one outs, Joe Thatcher came in to relieve Gaudin. The batter hit a ground ball to Adrian, who fired it home and Nick Hundley fired it back. But the umpire called the runner at home safe because Nick supposedly didn’t touch home. It didn’t help that the ump called the runner safe before he had touched home!!

I think the umpire made a mistake and Nick thought so too. 

Buddy came out to talk and he was soon tossed as well.

The two ejectees walked slowly through the dugout and into the visitor’s clubhouse at Chase Field.

“I was totally on the plate.” Nick seethed. “Totally totally totally!!!”

“I just don’t understand why he would call the runner safe when he hadn’t even touched the plate yet.” Buddy mused. “Reminds me of Game 163.”

Buddy flopped down on the uncomfortable couch in the clubhouse, starting absentmindedly at the TV showing the game.

Nick tossed his helmet on the ground. “I refuse to take a shower!”

Buddy glared at him. “Temper, temper. Perhaps you should go spend some time in the cages.”

Nick sat on the ground, still in his gear. “I think I’ll just watch the game, thank you. Hey, look, Thatch got out of the inning!”

The game went on, but Nick’s temper wasn’t cooling down. Finally, Buddy got tired of all his snapping and complaining.

“Nick, you need to cool down.” Buddy said, returning to his seat.

Nick shook the ice out of his hair. “Ahh, that’s cold!!”

Then he saw the TV. “Hey, look, I think the guys are making a comeback!”

And they were. 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 our 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.

Nick shrieked, jumping up and down excitedly.

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

This time, even Buddy had a smile on his face. “You think we can win this?”

Nick nodded enthusiastically. “Yes we can!”

Tony Gwynn Jr. sneaked into the clubhouse. “Psst. Buddy!”

Bud didn’t turn around. “What?”

“I know we’re not supposed to talk to you, but we have a question. Should we leave Burke in to pitch, or should we go with another guy?”

Buddy thought for a moment, looking totally engrossed in the commercials on TV. “Let’s go with Mujica.” he hissed.

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

“You got time for extras?” Nick asked, climbing onto the couch next to Buddy.

“Good thing it’s a day game.” Buddy commented.

In the top of the tenth, Henry Blanco singled. Chase Headley came to the plate.

Bud groaned. “Not Chase!”

Chase has been in a terrible slump. 

After fouling off a pitch and taking a ball, Chase hit one deep to center…and it went over the fence for a two-run homer!!

Buddy and Nick leaped off the couch, cheering and high-fiving each other.

In the bottom of the inning, Heath Bell came into the game to get the save. Bud and Nick cheered through the whole time he was pitching. 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!!

I didn’t expect to win. I mean, once it was 7-1 in the eighth, it didn’t seem likely. I wasn’t giving up, but I was preparing myself for a loss. My boys proved me wrong, though. They showed that they can play on the road like they did at home, and they proved that they can win on the road.

What a team. We got eight runs in the last three innings to win 9-7. We got 13 hits and the five guys who pitched from the bullpen only gave up two hits. We are now 23-22. We’ve won 10 games in a row and counting. We’re still 7.5 games behind, but only because the Dodgers have kept winning. Very frustrating.

Man, it’s really cool to see my team on the front page of mlb.com. And we should be 🙂 We’re on the longest winning streak of anyone in Major League Baseball.

By the way, I hate it when the dudes who do the recaps of the games don’t pronounce the players’ names right. Today, a guy pronounced “Macias” wrong – twice! So annoying. I’ve heard someone call Kouz “Kozmonroe”. How do you get that out of “Kouzmanoff”? Crazy.

Night at the Museum 2 was really good. It was hilarious! If you love history and want a good laugh, I would highly recommend this movie. I really enjoyed it 🙂

Well, tonight the Padres are going for #11. Kevin Correia, who has been very good in his last few starts, will be starting against Max Scherzer. I think we could sweep this. Especially with Jake going tomorrow. We’ll see…

How ’bout them Padres, huh?

GO PADRES!!

(photo credits: ESPN.com, cb2.com)    

Written by Kaity Bergquist Posted in Dailies