Tagged: nick hundley
Hoping for a breakthrough…
Field view from Opening Day.
What are we going to do with this team??
Tonight we lost our third game in a row. Meaning that we’ve opened the season with three losses. This is miserable. We absolutely can’t hit, and our pitching is not strong enough to keep us in the game long enough to score some runs. We’ve only scored eight runs in the whole season, and five of them were tonight.
Oh, that’s good, you might be thinking. Five runs in a game is not bad. BUT what you do not realize is that we only had four hits and three of the runs came in by walk. Nothing to say for our hitting prowess, just the weakness of the opposing pitcher.
Don’t get me wrong, the comeback we had was huge. We were down 5-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, and we were able to get five runs to tie the game in that inning. Chase Headley, Jesus Guzman, and Nick Hundley got the walk-in RBIs. So that was a crazy inning.
The game stayed tied all the way until the 11th inning, when that kid Dee Gordan hit an RBI double to break the tie and put the Dodgers up 6-5. Then the bottom of the 11th was really frustrating. We got the lead runner on by walk, sacrificed him over, and then got two quick outs. Naturally, we’re able to get the potential tying run on base and then decide not to do anything about it.
On the bright side, we had no errors.
The starting pitching so far has not been very good at all. Dustin Moseley went five innings today, allowing five hits and five runs. Then a bazillion guys came in from the bullpen and did very well until the 11th.
So we’re 0-3. Against the Dodgers. In Opening Week. This is not fun.
Hopefully we will be able to at least pull of the win tomorrow. PLEASE.
GO PADRES!
Check out my Storify story on this game.
Follow me on Twitter.
Like “Unfinished Business” on Facebook.
No Fireworks
Tonight, the Padres presented Star Wars-themed fireworks after the game. But during the game, there were no fireworks. The Padres were more bland than tofu tonight.
We had a whooping total of three hits in the entire game.
But the defense was not bland. Instead, it was a little more spicy than any of us could handle.
OK, the bland vs. spicy comparison doesn’t really work when describing the defense. It was more like, the defense was so terrible that I was ready to jump off the Toyota Terrace.
Cory Luebke started off the game with a three-pitch strikeout, but things didn’t go so peachy for the rest of the game. Not even for the rest of the inning, for that matter. He ended up allowing a two-run double to get the team into a hole early, not that we would have been able to come back from anything.
Chad Billingsley, starting for the Dodgers, was brilliant. He made it all the way to the 9th inning, hit 100 pitches and got taken out of the game to very loud booing from the Padres fans. We did not appreciate what he did to us.
It was the top of the third that was the worst half inning ever. With one out, Mark Ellis doubled, Matt Kemp hit a grounder to third that should have been routine for Chase Headley, but instead he decided to throw it funny and Alonzo had issues with it at first. He went to try to get the out at home and threw that away too. Nice. Then while the next batter was at the plate, Cory threw the ball into center field. I think he was trying to catch the runner on second. Juan Rivera then hit a pop fly to right field, where three guys decided to go for the ball. All three of them missed it, of course.
It was the most miserable inning. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was one thing after another. I thought I was watching a Little League game. Believe me, I remember my little brother’s games where the ball would not stop being throwed in the wrong direction. I mean, over the past few years, our defense has been the one thing that’s been more than okay. If we don’t have our pitching, offense and now defense, what do we have?
We only were given two errors, but we deserved at least six. That’s five errors in the first two games of the season. Ugh.
Luebke left after 4.2 innings with six runs and nine hits tagged onto him. But not all of them were his fault. His defense was not behind him today.
Micah Owings came in in relief and had an impressive outing. He went 3.1 innings and only allowed one hit and one walk. Andrew Cashner also threw a scoreless inning.
It was a really bad 6-0 loss. I was not happy with our boys. At all.
At least the fireworks were cool.
GO PADRES!
Check out my Storify story about this game – http://storify.com/kaitybergquist/padres-lose-again
Follow me on Twitter – @kaitybergquist
Follow my friend Colleen’s Padres blog – http://colleen.mlblogs.com/
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!!
Mets top Padres in rubber game.
The Padres lost a three-game series to the Mets this afternoon, 7-3.
Despite an outstanding performance on all sides the night before (offense and pitching), the Padres weren’t able to pull through Wednesday, leaving Padres fans wondering if the season of losing would ever end.
Starter Mat Latos was solid, only making one big mistake. He threw six innings, allowing three runs with six strikeouts. All three runs came on a three-run homer to Mets third baseman David Wright in the third inning. (Wow, that’s a lot of threes.) Unfortunately, his offense wasn’t able to back him up and he got the loss, his 12th of the year.
The Padres only got three runs in the game, with two of them coming in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Hundley doubled in Aaron Cunningham with no outs, and then Alberto Gonzalez doubled in Hundley right before Jason Bartlett struck out to end the game.
But the Mets had no such problem. Angel Pagan, leading off in the lineup, had two hits and three RBIs. That, coupled with Wright’s bomb and Willie Harris’ RBI single in the eighth gave New York more than enough to win the game.
Padres fans know that the team isn’t going to go anywhere, at least not this season, but it would always be nice to have some good games during the last few months of the season, like Tuesday’s 6-1 win. But a series like this shows why the Padres are 15 games out of first place: even if they are able to have a solid game, they aren’t able to carry that momentum even to a game the very next day. Consistency, momentum, whatever you want to call it, the Padres don’t have it. And that’s why they are stuck in the cellar of the NL West.
The Padres will host the Florida Marlins for the next four games over the weekend, leading up to Trevor Hoffman’s retirement ceremony before the game on Sunday. You won’t want to miss it.
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.
GO PADRES!!!!!
WALK-OFF HOMER!!!!!
1. Congratuations to Brad Hawpe for going 2-for-5 with a double, a single, a flyout, a grounding into a double play, and then almost almost almost hitting a home run. You, sir, have raised your average to .125. Props.
2. Well, it took us 13 innings, but we got the bats going and got a huge win. Ryan Ludwick had a two-homer game, including the two-run game winner in the 13th. It was so great. Nick Hundley walked before that, and in the top of the 13th, Chris Denorfia made the catch of the year for the Padres out in right field. It was incredible. First of all, he made an outstanding catch, and then doubled off the runner at first. It was so great.
3. We had seven hits in the game and scored five runs, which I think is a huge improvement. It was only one game, but man, it was big. We needed this one a lot, and thankfully, we were able to get it with a bang.
GO PADRES!!!!
Back on Track
You know that hitting thing that I was talking about yesterday?
Well, my boys found their bats today in the third game against the Dodgers.
With the series already won by LA, we needed today’s game to avoid the sweep. The Dodgers started off with a run scored by T-Gwynn Jr. (of course) in the first. We didn’t score until the third inning, where we got an RBI single from Jorge Cantu.
Then Ryan Ludwick hit a huge solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead 2-1. We kept the lead for the rest of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer. In the bottom of the seventh, Cameron Maybin homered. It was sweet.
We won 7-2. Starting pitcher Aaron Harang got his second win. Nick Hundley was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs.
It was such a good game! We really needed that win. And best of all, we were hitting really well!
I’m really excited about the boys. This next series against the Reds is going to be great. I’m going to the game on Tuesday…SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I can’t wait to see my boys in person. I almost never get to see them live, so it’s going to be amazingly fun. Can’t wait!!
GO PADRES!!!!
Pro Day @ The Rock
Everyone is talking about the Padres Awards Dinner and the Town Hall Meeting, especially all the bloggers. But I went to something last night that’s seemed to go under the radar.
Yesterday was Pro Day at The Rock Church. Which meant that Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Hundley, Jacques Cesaire of the Chargers, and heavyweight champion Chris Byrd were there to share their testimonies.
I hadn’t been to The Rock before, but it was a really good experience. They have five services every Sunday and a congregation of over 12,000, so things were a little crazy.
I was really excited to see Adrian, especially since he’s been traded. I know that he’ll still be around San Diego a lot, but it’s pretty sad that he’s no longer a Padre.
The service was great. Pastor Miles McPherson (a former Charger) was really funny. You could kind of tell that the guys had done this four times before, but they were still really great. Nick was making all sorts of jabs at Adrian because he’s on the Red Sox. McPherson asked Nick how he was going to pitch to Adrian when we meet the Red Sox in June.
“I’ll tell you later, when Adrian’s not listening,” he said. “If he hits two home runs against us, we’re going to have to drill him in the leg.”
“What’s the sign for drilling him?” McPherson asked.
Nick laughed. “I couldn’t show you in church.”
There were a lot of great laughs, but the highlight of the night was hearing these guys’ stories. All of them, being very successful athletes, thought that they had it together, but ultimately realized that it wasn’t about them or their accomplishments, but what God was doing in their lives and what He wanted for them.
Adrian talked about how when he was with the Rangers, he heard about a trade that he thought was going to give him more playing time and a better chance to improve. But instead of the trade helping him, it sent him back down to the minors. He had thought that he was getting somewhere in his career, but then that roadblock was thrown into his way and he had to decide whether he would sit at home and pout or realize that the Lord had a plan.
It was really inspiring to see these big athletes really open their hearts and show us that they’re not the ones who have it together; it’s only because of God working in their lives that they’ve been able to live like they have.
It is so cool to think that these guys are just like me. They’re sinners desperately in need of grace. They’re broken people leaning on the God who heals. They have struggles just like me, but the One who lived the perfect life that we couldn’t and who died the death that we deserve is holding us in His hands. Jesus has got us. And it’s so cool to think that someday, these guys will be in Heaven right next to me, glorifying God together. I truly think of these guys as my brothers. They don’t know who I am, but it doesn’t matter. We’re all a family because of Jesus Christ.
After the service I got to go up to Adrian and Nick and get their autographs and pictures with them. They were so nice, especially considering that they probably signed autographs after every service that day.
All in all, it was a wonderful event. I’m glad I was able to get pictures with the guys, and have Adrian’s signature on a Padres card before he abandons us. I was greatly encouraged, and I hope that The Rock does this again next year.
GO PADRES!!!
Moving On…
What a sad series. You know, the series at home vs. the Diamondbacks was great because of the sweep. And one amazing things about this team this year is that they have winning records both at home and on the road. That’s rare. But it seems like we do better at home anyways.
So this series against the Braves was not good. But one series does not a season make. We just need to put this one behind us and concentrate on the next series against the Pirates.
But first, a few comments, questions, and concerns.
Buddy Black got a three-year contract extension this week, which I am absolutely thrilled about. Buddy’s been our manager since 2007, and he’s done an amazing job. Sure, we haven’t won a championship…yet…but I think that was more the front office’s fault than Buddy’s. I’ve always been amazed at what Buddy could do with whatever he had. Especially in ’08, he had a team that wasn’t really a team, but he took what he had and did the best he could with it. I especially love the way he’s been able to work with the pitching staff. As a former pitcher and pitching coach, he’s got the perfect experience to work with our pitching staff. There’s a reason that this pitching staff is the #1 staff in baseball right now.
Congrats, Buddy. This is well deserved.
Now in some very sad news, David Eckstein has been put on the 15-day DL with a calf strain. You can’t even imagine how bad this is for the club. Eck doesn’t get that much recognition for what he does for this team, but he is going to be sorely missed.
I’ve been saying that the only thing that could possibly kill our second half would be injuries. We’ve got the pieces to win the NL West (the pitching, the hitting, the defense), so there’s no problem there. But the only thing that could get in the way would be injuries.
But the good thing about this team is that no matter who goes down, we’ve been able to keep winning. This team is not dependant on one player. We are a team. So far we’ve been able to survive without Chris Young, Everth Cabrera, Will Venable, Kyle Blanks, and Mike Adams. But I honestly don’t know if we’ll be able to keep going without David Eckstein.
I mean, already we’re 1-2 without him. The numbers from other times he’s been on the DL are not good. This guy is so essential to our success. Part of me is really worried that there’s no way we’ll be able to win without him. But the other part of me is saying, “Are you crazy? These are the Padres! They find ways to win no matter what!!”
Get well soon, Eck. We need you!!
I was really scared yesterday when Jerry Hairston Jr. got hit in the hand with a pitch. Thankfully, he’s okay, but that was pretty scary for a minute there. Especially with Eck out, we’re going to need Jerry in the core of the infield.
Last night’s game was a great come-from-behind-er, but today’s game was nasty. First of all, we were shutout 8-0. Ryan Webb had an awful outing, allowing four runs in the seventh. He only got two outs. It was not good. Plus, we only had four hits in the entire game and we lost the best record in the National League to the Braves. Grrr.
Not the mention Nick Hundley grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and one out. Or the fact that we were shutout.
Thankfully, we still have our first-place lead, but only by 3.5 games. Still, I shouldn’t be complaining. Overall, this team has been incredible and will continue to do so.
So this series is put behind us. Pirates up next, plus the return of Mat Latos, which, by the way, I am extremely psyched about. Pittsburgh is on the bottom of the NL Central, 19.5 games behind, so hopefully my Padres won’t have too much trouble with them.
GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!
We’re BACK!!
Yeah, that’s right, Dodgers. Thought you were safe in that first-place lead did you? Thought maybe you were going to stick up there? No way! Not on my watch!! That’s right, my Padres are back and they are not going to give up until they have complete and utter possesion of first place. So there.
Last night’s game was great! I am so glad that we’re back home. In our last ten games, we are 5-5. In fact, we were on a one-game losing streak going into last night’s game. It was a huge relief to get off of that, as I’m sure you understand.
I think the theme of this game is that the boys never give up. These Padres don’t give up. They just don’t. I was distractedly listening to the game last night, not even knowing what inning it was, and I thought, are the boys able to come back and win this thing? Do they have what it takes to overcome a one-run deficit? Well, I’m here to tell you that they can and they will.
Kevin Correia started this game and pitched very well. I was impressed. He went six innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. He was really good. I’m telling you, our pitching is perfect.
The Padres actually scored first on a single, a triple, a ground out, and a single. That gave us a two-run lead.
Then the Mariners got three runs. That wasn’t good. But at least we got first blood.
In the bottom of the ninth, we got down to business. Will Venable singled, Eck sacrificed him over, and Chase was hit by pitch. Then Adrian came up and doubled in Will. So sweet. Scotty “Walkoff” Hairston was intentionally walked, which set up things for Nick Hundley.
My goodness Nick has been hot. I love that dude. In fact, he was so hot that he drove in our winning run with a sac-fly. We’ve seen a lot of weird walk-offs before, but I’m not sure if I’ve seen one quite like that before. Good job, Nick!!
See? We did it. We came back and won the game and we put ourselves back in first place. Big thanks to the Dodgers for losing last night.
I was also very excited that we won this game because we’re back in Interleague again. And as you all know, I HATE interleague. Mostly because the Padres have always been HORRIBLE in interleague. That thing used to literally kill our season. But thankfully, the boys are going to dominate this year and not totally drown under the almighty American League teams. We are 3-1 in interleague. Amazing.
Lance Zawadzki didn’t play at all last night 😦 Me sad. But he did get a start on Thursday, and uh…lowered his average to .207. Hmm.
We are now back in first place, and if I have anything to say about it, we are there to stay. Ahh. It’s so good to be back.
GO FIRST-PLACE-TIED PADRES!!!!!
Unfinished Business 