Tagged: mariners
Interleague Stinks
Wow.
That’s really all I can say about last night’s game, but it’s not wow in a good way.
Have you ever noticed that whenever your pitchers are completely blowing up and allowing a ton of runs early, it always seems like your offense also has their biggest night of the week? I just don’t get it, but it happens a lot with the Padres.
We scored eight runs last night. We haven’t had anywhere near that many runs in a loooong time. If only our pitching hadn’t given up 15 runs, we would have easily won that game. It’s so weird, though: would we have scored those eight runs at all if the pitching hadn’t been so horrible? So strange.
So if you haven’t picked up on it yet, last night’s game was really, really bad. But there was a lot of good in it at the same time. Argh.
First, the bad. Two people in particular: Wade LeBlanc and Cesar Ramos. Oh my goodness. They were terribly off. Now, Wade has a horrible record at Safeco, so we could blame his outing on that. But I’m not exactly sure that I believe that the place they’re pitching at effects their performance. I don’t know. Obviously it will effect them a little, just because it’s a different place, a different crowd, different hitters. But I don’t think it should effect them that much. Maybe it’s psychological.
Wade gave up eight runs in three innings. I told you it was bad. Then Ramos came in and gave up seven runs in one innings. Even worse. Adam Russell, Joe Thatcher, and Ryan Webb did really well, but by then it was too late.
Oh yeah, I guess I haven’t said this yet. I HATE INTERLEAGUE!!!!!!!!
Postives would be that we scored eight runs, though we left nine runners on base. Adrian Gonzalez and David Eckstein had four hits each. I’m really happy that Adrian’s seemed to found his bat again. He’s on fire right now!
I was really impressed with Oscar Salazar last night. He was DH-ing, and he got two hits and drove in three runs.
I am EXTREMELY annoyed with Interleague Play. My boys ALWAYS get killed in interleague play, and it’s often killed our season. I HATE IT SOOOOO MUCH!!!!
I am also very annoyed with Josh Bard. He’s with the Mariners now, and he hit a home run last night and drove in three runs. SO NOT COOL!!! Plus I think we had Josh Wilson for a while last year and he got two hits and drove in two runs against us. It’s SUPER annoying.
I feel like my boys are getting sucked into something that’s going to chew them up and then spit them out dead. There’s absolutely no way we can get out of Interleague play, so we just have to face our doom. I am going to be seriously ticked if our season is ruined because of Interleague. It’s not right. Aw man. I HATE IT SOOOOO MUCH!!!!
But then again, I could be just overreacting to that horrible game last night. Maybe this year will be different. Maybe for once in our 40-year existence, we’ll be able to dominate the Interleague play.
I’m a huge advocate for getting rid of Interleague play. Okay, the American League is stronger than us. We get it. No, we don’t need you to show us how good you are by ruining our season. Thank you.
Alright, keeping the faith here. Clayton Richard is going out there tonight, and he is going to dominate. He is going to get us back into sole possesion of first place. He is going to get us back on track. He’s going to show me that this team can win against anyone. Actually, he’ll have a lot of help from his offense. Right, boys?
I HATE INTERLEAGUE!!
GO FIRST-PLACE-TIED PADRES!!!
Follow my blog on Twitter!
Become a fan of my blog on Facebook!
Starting Off With a Loss!
Oh my goodness, it’s so great to back into writing about an actual game. Whew. I can’t believe we finally made it!
Today was the charity game against the Mariners, which we lost 9-3. A couple of observations right out of the gate: 1) I forgot how much I hate losing. And I always run into this problem in Spring Training too even though these games don’t matter. I mean, I am really frustrated that we lost this game. I don’t know, even though they don’t matter, these games still seem to have implications for the regular season.
2) Along those same lines, I hate Spring Training because I always thought that the pitchers were supposed to be trying to get on their game, so they’re not on top of their game, yet. But every single year, our pitchers are certainly not on top of their game, but it always seems like the opposing pitchers are having no problems at all. Which leads me to think that even if the opposing pitchers are not on top of their game yet, it must mean that our hitters stink. So, in summary, Spring Training games really tick me off. And I know, I’m really, really reading too much into this.
Postives? Chris Young had a good outing, an inning with three hits and a run and a walk allowed. Did get two strikeouts though, so that puts his ERA at 9.00 even. Sweet.
Heath Bell allowed a run, and this Radhames Liz guy allowed six. Nice.
Matt Stairs hit a home run, and Kyle Blanks got two hits. Jerry Hairston got a hit and scored a run.
Okay, so it wasn’t too bad for a game that doesn’t even count. And it is baseball, after all. That’s something to be excited about. But I want to see our guys getting some more hits and scoring some more runs. I hate losing.
Speaking of which, the Oakland Athetics also lost 9-3. Kouz didn’t play, so I guess he’s still hurting. Poor baby 😦 Get well soon!!
I can’t wait to hear tomorrow’s game live! It’s going to be so great!
GO PADRES!!!
Just LOB It Out There
Let this be a lesson to us all: if you don’t pitch well, you get sent down.
Wade LeBlanc had a bad outing the last time out. He only pitched three innings, giving up three runs. But the Padres gave him a second chance, and boy did he blow it. He only went 1.1 innings yesterday, giving up four runs on five hits with three walks.
Immediately after the game, he was demoted to Triple-A. Take that!
I am very glad that the Padres would not let him stay. They were swift in their judgement. The guy didn’t get his job done, so he was sent back to where he came from. That’s good, very good.
Josh Banks, who threw 3.1 innings yesterday, giving up two runs on three hits, is expected to take LeBlanc’s spot in the rotation.
Joe Thatcher threw a scoreless 1.1 innings, but Cla Meredith gave up three huge runs in his two innings. By that time, the Padres were fighting back, only down three runs. But Cla gave the Mariners a six-run advantage.
In the top of the sixth, the Padres got a two-run homer from Chase Headley to get on the board. In the seventh, Edgar Gonzalez hit a home run to cut the lead to 6-3. The Padres then proceeded to leave the bases loaded in that inning.
Have you ever thought about how lonely/annoying it is to be a runner LOB? Let’s take Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fourth. He led off the inning with a booming ground-rule double.
So Kouz is standing there, no outs, he’s gotta expect to be driven in eventually (but if he knew our hitters, maybe not). He has to be fully concentrating on the plate in case someone hits the ball, but he also has to be laughing and joking with the Mariners’ shortstop at the same time. He has to be sure to stand on the bag, and if there’s a fly ball, he has to remember to tag up, and on top of all that, he needs to keep an eye out for his third base coach.
Chase Headley comes to the plate. Chase is batting righty, so he might hit a ball to the left side. If so, Kouz will have to stay clear of the ball, which would hinder his already-slow progress to third and possibly home.
Chase hits a few fouls and takes a ball. Then he grounds out right to shortstop. Kouz scrambles back to the bag so he doesn’t get picked off, but he didn’t get moved to third, which was Chase’s job.
Next up is Kyle Blanks. The first pitch he gets is lined down the left field line. Kouz takes off, but it’s just foul. Grrr. Kouz trots back, joking some more with the shortstop.
Two foul balls later, Kyle zinged a ball that was heading for the left field corner. Kouz took off, elated to be able to score. But then Adrian Beltre caught the ball. Kouz trots back to second, breathing heavily now.
Next up, Edgar Gonzalez. Definitely has home run power. First two pitches, foul. Next three pitches, balls. OK, with a full count and two outs, Kouz is running like mad between second and shortstop area. Back and forth, back and forth. Foul ball, running. Trotting back. Heaving ho. And then, finally, a swinging strike.
Kouz sighs, waiting for the ballboy to bring his hat and glove. He boomed a double, no outs, ran back and forth from second and third way to many times, wore himself out, but all for naught. Such is the life of a Padres baserunner.
Scary thing is, we left nine men on base yesterday. We were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Situations like Kouz’s are happening every day in Padres land. The question is, how are we going to stop it?
We need to get more timely hits. Simple as that. Once we get a runner on bases with two or less outs, he should expect to be driven in. And the hitters should expect to rack up their RBI stats. We got two home runs yesterday, but that was about it.
Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit except Scott Hairston and David Eckstein, but they were not timely hits. Henry Blanco had two hits, which was great.
Scott Hairston and Buddy Black were ejected in the third for arguing balls and strikes. Good job guys!! Too bad it didn’t completely fire up the team.
So, we lost the series. I was not very happy with this team in the past two games. They were not good at all.
Tonight we are in Texas to play the Rangers. It’s going to be a fascinating series. We’ll probably get swept. Anyways, hope you can figure out what’s going on, boys! If you can’t get things together, I’m not listening. So get it going.
Walter Silva is pitching against Kevin Millwood. Silva better go more than five innings or else.
GO PADRES!!!
Slammed Out
- 8-3 Giants
Jake Peavy started the game, giving up six runs in six innings on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. It was not pretty. We all expected Jake to be dominating, but from the beginning of the game, he didn’t really have it on. The big blow was a grand slam hit by Edgar Renteria in the fourth. That was bad.
It’s really too bad that Jake wasn’t able to get it on. That grand slam was the first he’s given up in his career, a span of 1,284 1/3 innings. I feel really bad for him, ’cause I know he’s really upset at himself for not performing as he should be. Hopefully he will be able to get locked in soon!
Our offense wasn’t the greatest. Matt Cain shut us down pretty well. We got a run in the first on a Brian Giles single. In the third, there was a strange play. Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley were on base when Kouz hit a booming double to deep right-center field. Adrian was being cautious, but Chase could see that the ball wasn’t going to get caught. As a result, they were literally on each other’s heels. Adrian slid into the plate, the ball came into the catcher, and Chase leaped over the catcher, getting himself tagged out. The umpire pointed to Chase, signalling him out, the pointed to Adrian, who had scrambled back and touched the plate. He was safe. It was bizarre! I’ve never seen anything like it. Kouz ended up at third, but was stranded there.
We got another run in the top of the ninth from a Brian Giles single, but that was it. We had 14 hits, but that was it. The Giants pitching held us down, that’s for sure.
The Giants got two runs off of Luis Perdomo, who threw 1.2 innings. Frankie De La Cruz threw one pitch to get out of the eighth.
It was a pretty sad game. We thought our ace would be able to take care of those Giants, but he wasn’t. We weren’t able to score runs when we had the chances. Frustrating…that’s what I would call it. But today is a new day.
It’s a 12:45 pm game, which is one of the most strange starting times I’ve seen. Chris Young will be pitching against Barry Zito. What a matchup! This will hopefully be a great game.
Yesterday, the Padres did a little reversing. They had traded Chris Burke to the Mariners for cash considerations, but then they traded cash considerations for Chris Burke yesterday.
So in a way, the Mariners were just taking care of him until we found a spot for him. I think it’s great that he’s back with the Padres. He was with the team for most of Spring Training, so he already knows all the guys. Plus, he’s been playing in the NL West with the Diamondbacks for a few years. Or year.
Anyways, I hope we have a really great game today!!
GO PADRES!!!
(photo credit: padres.com)
Rained Out But Ready To Go
Yesterday, the Padres-Phillies game got rained out.
But that’s OK for a lot of reasons. I think it means that the Padres won the series since they were leading 2-1. Also, it’s really lame to have a series go over the weekend and into the next week. Plus, it gave the team a lot of extra time to get over to San Francisco for two games. So overall, it was OK that this game got rained out.
But the Padres got some bad news yesterday about a young player of theirs. Everth Cabrera broke his left hand in Sunday’s game.
Everth is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks. He’s only 22, and this is his first season in any level higher than Single-A. We got him in the Rule 5 draft from the Rockies, and they were not very happy about that. This guy has a lot of potential. Before he got hurt, he had four hits and a walk in five games. He was also playing very well at shortstop. He is going to have surgery today, and hopefully we will see him back on the field soon!
With Everth’s absence, we are rather short on the middle-infield area. We have shortstop Luis Rodriguez and second baseman David Eckstein, but our only other middle-infielder is Edgar Gonzalez. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind getting more playing time, but I think we need another guy. Kevin Towers is working hard to get a guy today, before we play the Giants tonight.
I love it when we get new players. It’s so much fun! We’re probably going to get a cheap minor league-ish guy, but that’s OK. One of the names that’s floating around is Chris Burke, who was with us for most of Spring Training until he was traded to the Mariners for cash considerations. I don’t know if the Mariners would give him back, though.
But how about this guy?
Yeah, he hasn’t played a full season since 2007, but I think Marcus Giles would be an interesting player to have back. I really loved having him here in 2007, though his hitting was not that great near the end. He was in the Rockies’ Spring Training in ’08, and the Phillies in ’09, but he didn’t make the roster either time.
I think that would work out really well. What we really want is his defense. He’s a San Diego boy, and his brother Brian is on the team. Plus, he’s probably really cheap.
But then again, I don’t know if Marcus is interesting in playing baseball anymore. He has three little girls, and I think he’s content with just enjoying his family.
Also, he’s a natural second baseman. I don’t think he’s ever played shortstop. But maybe Eckstein could move over the shortstop and Marcus could take second…nooooo. Marcus would have to be on the bench and maybe spell Eckstein once in a while. Well, maybe not. It would be cool to have Marcus here in San Diego again, but that probably won’t work out.
Nevertheless, it will be cool to see who our new player will be.
Today we are playing the Giants in SanFran. Watch out Giants…look who’s pitching!
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! Let’s see…he started the season with an average game, then had a stellar game, then an average game, so now he’s due for a stellar game. As in, 8 or 9 innings, 10 or so strikeouts, and maybe only a couple hits allowed. Yeah, that feels just about right.
Jake’s opponent will be Matt Cain, who we’ve hit very well in the past few years. I think it’s going to be a really great game tonight.
GO PADRES!!!
(photo credits: schulzmuseum.org, upload.wikimedia.org, cache.daylife.com)
Only Nine
- 9-4 Rangers
The number nine is one of the “sacred” numbers in baseball. It represents the length of a baseball game, not in terms of time or mintues, but in terms of duration. Each team has at least eight chances to give their team some runs, and either one or both of the teams will get a ninth chance, depending on the game situation. That ninth inning is usually pretty special. Sometimes, your closer will come out in a close game to try to save it. Other times, your team has to face the other team’s closer. If the home team is behind, they get one last chance to come from behind, to get a walk-off hit. If it’s a tied game, the home team only needs to score one run, and the game is over. The ninth inning can be very exciting.
In the Padres-Rangers game yesterday, the Padres’ pitching gave up nine runs. This is an improvement, as they had given up 12 runs on Tuesday. I mean, only nine! Cesar Ramos started, and boy did he start early. Meaning, he started the Rangers’ slaughter of us early. How’s four hits and three runs…in the top of the first?! In his three innings of work, he gave up five runs on seven hits.
This is Joe Thatcher. JOE THATCHER CANNOT PITCH. Period. Well, sure, he can throw a ball to the plate, but that’s different. I can throw a ball to the plate! Being a “pitcher” as opposed to a “thrower” means being able to use your pitches, use the plate, and get batters out. JOE THATCHER IS A RUN-GIVER. He helps us lose. He used to be able to pitch, but he’s lost it. Lost it lost it lost it. Sure, it’s still Spring Training, and these pitchers are still getting into form, but still. Joe Thatcher gives up runs, whether it’s Spring Training, the regular season, or Single-Single-A. He did pretty well in Triple-A last year, but he can’t pitch in the majors. It’s too bad, but it’s the truth. Last year, he pitched 25.2 innings for the Padres, and he gave up 25 runs. NOT GOOD. In this spring so far, he’s pitched 7.2 innings, giving up ten hits and four runs. OK, so he’s doing a little better, but still. He can’t be on this roster.
The point of that whole rant was that Thatcher gave up two runs in yesterday’s game. I think the Spring Training stats are not up to date, so maybe Thatcher’s thrown 8.2 innings with twelve hits and six runs. I think that’s right…
Jae Kuk Ryu and Edwin Moreno each gave up a run, but Arturo Lopez and Matt Buschmann had scoreless innings. Obviously, the pitching is going through the dead-really-really-dead arm stage. I just hope they break out of it soon. Real soon.
Kyle Blanks got the Padres’ first hit of the game in the fifth with a double. Will Venable then drove him in. Chris Burke walked and got a hit. Drew Macias hit a two-run homer in the ninth, but it was way too little too late. We are not doing well. But of course, it’s only spring. I don’t know. I just don’t want to go through a season like last year again.
If you guys haven’t seen it yet, you have got to watch this video on MLB.com. It’s called “Sounds of Spring Training”, and it’s hilarious. Check it out here. If the link doesn’t work, search for it. It’s amazing.
Last night I got to play some version of baseball with a bunch of my friends, and it was so much fun! We used a really soft ball, and all the fielders spread out wherever, but it was a blast. It’s one thing to play catch with my two younger brothers, but it’s quite another to actually play an “organized” game with people my age. I had so much fun! I was playing catch with a real baseball with a friend after the game, and I got hit in the side of my mouth area! I really should have caught the ball, but oh well. The first thing I was worried about was my retainer and all the work (braces, etc) I’ve had done in my mouth. But thankfully, everything was intact. I think my retainer cut the inside of my lip with the impact or something, though. It’s all swelled up, but I’m just thankful that it wasn’t worse!
Now, the Padres are having some injuries too. We found out yesterday that pitcher Mark Worrell is having some elbow soreness. This is the guy who we got in the Khalil Greene trade, the one who has that funky sidearm delivery. Also, Chris Young is going through his annual elbow tendonitis.
Tonight we are playing the Mariners in Peoria, but we are technically the visiting team (the Padres and the Mariners share the same facility, so there’s a bit of a rivalry). It will be an interesting game. Cha Seung Baek is starting.
GO PADRES!!
(photo credit: cache.daylife.com)
PADRES WIN!!
Exhibition or no, the Padres won their first game of the season yesterday, 4-3. It was a really great game for my Padres. Jake Peavy started and allowed a hit but induced a double-play grounder to get out of the inning. Soon-to-be-closer Heath Bell allowed two runs and four hits in his second. But new second baseman David Eckstein just missed one of those hits, and another one of the hits fell between three fielders. It was definitely the first game of the season…The Padres got on the board with a two-run bomb from my boy Kevin Kouzmanoff (pictured). I totally called that he was going to hit a homer. Adrian Gonzalez also drove in a run. The Mariners tied the game at 3 in the 9th off of Oneli Perez. But in the bottom of the tenth, the Padres walked-off with an RBI double by Kyle Blanks! Another highlight from this game were three double plays. Also, Chase Headley threw out a runner at the plate from left field!
It was a really good game for my Padres. I mean, we only had 7 hits to Seattle’s 12, but we got the job done. All of our pitchers were pretty good! And our hitters drew 7 walks. I think that’s a really good thing. You know, even though this game doesn’t mean anything even to Spring Training games, a win is a win. I’ve been waiting for this win since September 28! Just kidding. But it really has been a long time. Wins just feel so good! I went through a lot of losses last year, and it’s just really important that we win some games this year. It was just an exhibition game, but it was a win. WHOOOHOOO!
This afternoon we are playing the Mariners again. And this time, it will actually “mean” something. No, it’s not like the Cactus League has a championship or anything, but now we start keeping track of our record and stuff. Here’s the lineup:
- #33 CF Jody Gerut
- #8 2B Chris Burke
- #24 RF Brian Giles
- #16 DH Cliff Floyd
- #49 LF Emil Brown
- #66 1B Kyle Blanks
- #28 C Henry Blanco
- #18 3B Travis Denker
Starting is RHP Chris Young followed by Matt Buschmann, Justin Hampson, Joe Thatcher, Cesar Carrillo, Edwin Moreno, Nick Schmidt, Arturo Lopez, and Chad Reineke.
I am seriously going to lock myself in my room with an energy bar (since the game starts at lunchtime) and a bottle of water. I was going to keep score, but I am seriously debating if I really want to do that. It might be a good challenge though…we’ll see. But this afternoon, I am going to listen to Padres baseball. GO PADRES!!!!!
Unfinished Business 