Tagged: cameron maybin
Losing Control
(Photo courtesy/lobshots.com)
In the first few games of this season, pitcher Andrew Cashner has been getting notice because of his pitching speed. Though hitting 100+ is impressive, it’s not when you don’t have any control. Like walking three straight batters in a tie-game situation.The Padres lost 9-8 to the Dodgers tonight in a very bizarre game where the Padres were able to come back from a deficit only to hand the win back.
For the first three innings, the Padres went 1-2-3 except for the first inning, when Cameron Maybin led off the game with a single. Other than that, Aaron Harang put down nine in a row. Just lovely.
Finally, Will Venable broke that with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth. The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead at the point, so that was huge. We ended up getting three runs in that inning, closing the Dodgers’ lead to one run.
But then the Dodgers got four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. We didn’t score until the top of the seventh, where we got three MORE runs. So run production was not really our problem in this game. We had nine hits, while the Dodgers only had six.
What was the problem was the ninth inning. Going into the inning, we were losing 8-6. Chris Denorfia walked to start the inning, and then there were two swinging strikeouts. Got that, two outs. The Padres do not do well with two outs ever.
Except for today.
Chase Headley hit a two-run game-tying home run WITH TWO OUTS in the top of the ninth inning. Bam. 8-8 all.
So we’re feeling good, right?
Cashner comes in to pitch the bottom of the ninth. We get two quick outs. And then the trouble starts. Andrew walks three batters in a row to load the bases. Joe Thatcher replaces Andrew and throws four straight balls to walk in the winning run. What. On. Earth.
Absolutely pathetic. The bullpen LET US DOWN. That should not have happened. I mean, Joe could have had the decency to at least throw a strike, right? PATHETIC.
Not much is giving me hope for these Padres right now. Sure, it’s insanely early in the season and I’m not giving up on them yet. But this is not fun.
Thankfully, we have the Major League Debut of Joe Wieland to look forward to tomorrow. No pressure, dude. The team is just 2-6 and in desperate need of a win, no biggie.
GO PADRES!
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My Opening Day Adventure
Padres pitcher Edison Volquez, who started Thursday's game against the Dodgers. (Photo credit Kaity Bergquist)
Opening Day is magical. When you’re in the ballpark. But when you spend over an hour looking for parking and dealing with horrible traffic before the game, it was hard to settle down and enjoy. But thankfully, we did.
Word to the wise: if there’s a 4:05 Opening Day start, you should probably leave for the ballpark around 8 a.m.
So that was miserable. We missed all of the pre-game festivities. We were sort of able to see the flyover, and we did see Jerry Coleman throw out the first pitch. But that was it.
We were also in the nosebleeds of the nosebleeds, and there were some very unpleasant Dodgers fans up there. Right behind us was a group that was extrememly loud and obnoxious for the entire game. It was miserable having to endure them the whole time. I do not appreciate the fans who come in here and think that this is their stadium, and that they can say whatever they want and insult people as much as they want. There was one guy who was literally insulting Padres fans for the entire last half hour of the game.
Thankfully, Colleen and I are going to be sitting in a classier section for tonight’s game.
The game itself was not good. I was really impressed with Edinson Volquez for the first three innings. He was spot on. But then he suddenly lost it in the fourth inning and walked in two runs. I was not happy.
Though this is a new season, I felt like I was watching last year’s team. Weak offense, somewhat strong pitching with a lot of weak moments, and pathetic defense. We had three errors. None of those helped the cause at all.
We only had five hits in the game. Cameron Maybin had two, one of which was a two-run homer. Jesus Guzman had one, and then the pitcher and a pinch-hitter each had one. That was it. None of our “big” players had any hits at all. Not that we really have any big players, but guys like Chase Headley, Nick Hundley, Orlando Hudson and Chris Denorfia did not contribute.
Hundley did have two exceptional defensive plays, though. In that fourth inning where Volquez was busy having a meltdown, Nick was able to get an out at the plate with the bases loaded. That was HUGE. He also caught a critcal runner stealing.
Pitcher Anthony Bass did well in relief, but Brad Brach did not. He allowed two runs in the eighth. Ernesto Frieri was also okay, but he’s soooo slow.
So overall, a very disappointing game with the 5-3 loss. Not what we were hoping for, that’s for sure. Hopefully we will be able to turn things around tonight.
GO PADRES!
Oh yeah, there was a game yesterday too…
In all the Trevor Hoffman excitement yesterday, the actual game sort of flew under the radar. But it’s worth knowing about, because it was a seriously great game.
Cory Luebke started it, and he carried a no-hitter to the fourth inning with two outs, just like he did on his outing before (on Tuesday.) The no-hitter was broken up by the Marlins’ Mike Stanton hitting a solo home run in that fourth inning.
But rewind to the bottom of the first, with leadoff hitter Will Venable starting off the game. With a count of 2-0, he hit a solo home run to right field.
An out later, Cameron Maybin walked. An out after that, Orlando Hudson singled. Then Kyle Blanks doubled in both Maybin and Hudson for a 3-0 Padres lead.
Cory and the Padres cruised through the seven innings. Other than the home run, not much happened. The Padres did leave quite a few runners on base, but we had a solid lead and we’re feeling pretty good.
In the top of the eighth, the Marlins’ John Beck hit a sacrifice fly to move Florida within one run of a tie. Heath Bell came in because there were two outs, and got the final out.
Then the top of the ninth was when the craziness started. Heath Bell got two quick outs when Mike Cameron came to the plate. And. He. Hit. A. Freaking. Home. Run. I couldn’t believe it. I could not believe that he hit a solo home run to tie to game.
“You did not just do that,” I said over and over again. “You did NOT just do that.”
I was not happy. We were literally within one out of winning that stupid game and Mike came in and stole it away from us. Garrrr.
But then we got to the bottom of the ninth. Whew. Thank goodness for the bottom of the ninth.
Nick Hundley, who has been on fire since he came off the disabled list, hit a triple to lead off the inning. SOO exciting.
Then Edward Mujica, who was pitching for the Marlins, intentionally walked the next two hitters to load the bases (Logan Forsythe and Alberto Gonzalez.) We booed him, of course. I knew that it wouldn’t help him at all. Because guess who was coming to the plate? That’s right. Will Venable, the man who started off the game with a home run, was about to finish the game with another bang.
Single over the head of the right field. Nick Hundley scored. Padres win.
It was a great game. Even Heath blowing it gave us the opportunity to finish off the game with excitement. So everything turned out well in the end.
Yesterday was a great day to be a San Diego Padres fan. Thank you to the Padres organization for such a wonderful day at the ballpark.
GO PADRES!!
Looking Up
Last night’s game was a great one for the San Diego Padres.
We had 15 hits, which is rare. But it was so much fun to watch! Nick Hundley, who recently came off the disabled list, had three hits, two triples and a double. Two triples!! It was so great.
Then Logan Forsythe, Jesus Guzman, Kyle Blanks, Orlando Hudson and Alberto Gonzalez had two hits each. Cameron Maybin hit a solo homer in the seventh.
We actually got the early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first, and kept that lead for the rest of the game. The Mets were able to get one run in the top of the fourth, but we added one run in the bottom of that inning, two runs in the seventh, and one run in the eighth.
Cory Luebke, who started the game, threw very, very well. He had a no-hitter through 3.2 innings. He ended up only giving up three hits on one run with five strikeouts. What an outing!
In relief, Chad Qualls allowed the Mets’ only other hit in the game. Luke Gregerson and Erik Hamren threw the eighth and ninth with no problems.
It was a really good 6-1 win. We had some really solid hitting, really solid pitching. It was great to see.
Guess what? Trevor Hoffman day is only a few days away!!!! I am sooooo excited. But I’m going to cry so bad. Just the sound of Hell’s Bells makes me freak out, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to be a mess on Sunday. But that’s okay. Trevor Hoffman is my all-time favorite Padre (besides Kevin Kouzmanoff), but more than that, he’s one of the all-time favorite Padres in San Diego. I have so much admiration and respect for Trevor, I could go on and on about how much this guy means to me.
I’m just so happy that this retirement ceremony is happening. There was a time just a few years ago where I thought Trevor and the Padres would never be on speaking terms again. Those were some bad days. But I’m so, so, thankful that we have new leaders in the front office, people who respect Trevor and all he means to San Diego, people who will give him an amazing ceremony to honor his incredible career. It’s going to be a great day to be a Padres fan.
Unfinished Business 