Nothing Can Stop Us
This series against the Mariners was so cool! Mostly because we swept them. But there were so many parts of this series that were so encouraging to see. How did we win all three games? How did this team work together to get the job done? That’s what I’m going to talk about today.
In the first game of the series, it was all about the pitching. Clayton Richard started and boy did he throw a great game. He went six solid innings, only allowing five hits and four walks while striking out five. He then transfered the game to the bullpen 1-2-3 punch of Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams and Heath Bell. Also known as GAB. Heath allowed a walk and a hit, just to make things a little interesting, but he was able to close the game to get his 20th save of the year. Will Venable and Oscar Salazar gave us all the offense we needed: Will with a two-run homer, and Oscar with a run-driving-in single.
San Diego’s pitching is the bomb.
So we won that first game of the series 3-0. In the second game of the series, Jon Garland went up against ace Josh Johnson. Both are very, very solid pitchers, but who do you think would triumph? The Padres, of course. No ace, not even guys with 13-1 records and 1.60 ERAs, can stop my Padres.
Okay, to be honest, Johnson was a tough pitcher. But we still came up on top, and that’s the thing that really matters.
Garland went 6.2, only allowing one run on four hits. Johnson went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Not bad at all, but it was all the Padres needed. Add a little bullpen of, you guessed it, Gregerson, Adams, and Bell, and we’ve got another Padres win. Score of 2-1. Adrian Gonzalez drove in one and Garland drove in the other. Simple as that.
We hadn’t had a sweep in a while. So we decided to go for it. Mat Latos started and was amazing. He went 5.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits. Then Ryan Webb came in and gave up a run, which wasn’t a good thing.
In the top of the first, Chase Headley singled in David Eckstein. Then Will Venable sac-flied one in.
But Will wasn’t having that great of a game. He dropped two foul balls and a fly ball. But on the other hand, he did drive in three runs, and I’d say, he won the game for us.
With the game tied at two in the top of the eighth, Will hit a two-run bomb to take the lead. Heath Bell was out of service, so Luke Gregerson came in and got the save. Thank goodness. I mean, Heath’s a great pitcher and all, but he is so stressing! I really appriciate closers who have three up, three down innings.
It was a great game. A great series! But one thing that I’d really like to point out is how we were able to win these games without much help from Adrian Gonzalez. Contrary to popular belief, I think that Adrian is not carrying our offense. I think we’ve got a solid group of guys that can win with or without Adrian Gonzalez. All Adrian did yesterday was score a run. He didn’t provide any offense, and yet, we somehow won! Amazing.
This team is so solid that they can win no matter what. If Adrian went down with an injury, I would not be worried at all. I believe that this team would still win consistently. They really aren’t getting the credit they deserve. They are the first-place team in the NL West for goodness sakes!! When are you going to be able to get that in your head? This is seriously legit. They’ve got this in their hands and they’re not going to let it go. This boys are so for real it’s not even funny.
Tonight we get to face the most solid pitcher in the majors. Blah blah blah. I’m not putting down Ublado Jimenez’s accomplishments. I mean, 13-1 and 1.60 are pretty impressive numbers. But I can’t wait for my Padres to make that 13-2. No problemo.
Kevin Correia can do it. Adrian Gonzalez and his offense can do it. GAB can do it. The San Diego Padres can do it. They can beat this guy as the best team in the National League.
GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!!
Unfinished Business 