Tagged: san diego
Winning Padres = Happier Fans
So good to see the Padres actually playing some solid baseball this past weekend. I can stay a fan for a long time (it’s been six years, yo), but it’s always so much more fun to be a fan when the team is winning.
I’m happy. The team should be happy. Hopefully we will have a great series against the Nationals.
GO PADRES!
Oh, and you should read these blogs: Green Grass Love Affair & Nater Tater’s Friar Fritters
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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Crisis Averted: PADRES WIN!
We finally did it! We got our first win of the season!
And not just by some wimpy walks with the bases loaded. No, today we were strong. We brought out our bats for real and sent those Dodgers out of town with a loss on their record. Just one, but it was enough.
Starting pitcher Clayton Richard was phenomenal. He was dealing. He threw seven innings, allowing only two hits and no earned runs (two unearned though) with no walks and three strikeouts. He deserved the win.
On the offensive side, we had 12 hits. 12! We needed that breakout after the miserable three games before it.
In the bottom of the first, we got our first lead of the season by Jesus Guzman’s single. Then Yonder Alonzo hit a sacrifice fly. It was remarkable. Your San Diego Padres had a 2-0 lead.
Things stayed pretty chill until the bottom of the third, when John Baker hit a single that score Guzman. We now had THREE runs to our name.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, Andy Parrino hit a bomb to left-center. It was massive. That gave us a 4-0 lead, and we were pretty happy. Unfortunately, we left the bases loaded in that inning.
In the top of the sixth, Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer. Boooooooo.
The bottom of the eighth was the best though. We led off the inning with three straight singles, and then Chase Headley came up to the plate. He took a swinging strike, and then sent that thing out of the ballpark. Grand slam, 100 percent. He knew it and everyone in the stadium knew it. It was gone.
So that gave us an 8-4 lead. It was truly amazing. That was Chase’s first hit of the season and he couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.
In the top of the ninth, Andre Either did hit a two-run home run, so if we hadn’t gotten that grand slam, we would have been in trouble. But thankfully, we did get it and we got the win.
It’s obviously not ideal, only winning one out of four games. But let me tell you, it’s a huge relief. We needed that win so badly and I’m so thankful that we finally got it.
GO PADRES!
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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!
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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!
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Follow my friend Colleen’s Padres blog – http://colleen.mlblogs.com/
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!
Top 100 MLBlogs of 2011: #6
Unfinished Business is the sixth most popular MLB.com fan blog for the year of 2011.
Last year I was #8, so I guess I’ve made progress this year despite being insanely busy. Actually, this was probably the lowest year yet in terms of content, and I still gained two spots.
I was busy this year, mostly with finishing high school, working on The Telescope and spending a ton of time with friends. And of course, being a fan of the Padres. We had a terrible year. It was sad. But 2012 is a new year, and maybe all these trades will actually help us out. Who knows.
I just want to say thank you to every single one of my readers, whether you read every post or one every once in a while. Padres fans really are the best fans because we have the deal with one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball. But we love them despite it all. So thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts and my rants and my love for Padres baseball.
I’ve been doing this for over three years (WOW!) and I don’t plan on stopping soon. My sixth season of Padres fandom is coming up as well. Crazy stuff.
Thank you again. You guys are amazing.
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!!
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.
Unfinished Business 