Last night’s game was a blast to be a part of. The Padres are going through a very essential time right now: it’s about two months into the season, and the fans still aren’t sure if this team is for real yet. The too-good-to-be-true pitching is coming back down the earth, and the offense is really slowing down. This series is essential: are the Padres going to be able to turn on the pitching and the offense, or are they going to lose their first-place lead?

Last night’s game was not encouraging. All week, the offense has been pretty slow. In the Cardinals series we scored six runs. Last night was a blast just because I got to be there to cheer for my boys, but it was really frustrating at the same time.

Ever since before the season started, I decided that I would just take this season one game at a time. I decided that I wouldn’t make predictions about what my boys were going to do, and I wouldn’t say if we were going to win the NL West or hang out in the cellar all season. I didn’t do those things because honestly, I had no idea what this team was going to do. I didn’t know if we were going to be bad or good. I didn’t have a clue.

There was a really interesting column in the Union-Tribune about the fact that Padres fans still aren’t sure about this team. That’s okay. I’m not sure about them either. I’m definitely keeping the faith, but just like at the beginning of the season, I have no idea where they’re going to go right now.

Last night I saw some things that really worried me. Mainly, it was the offense. We did score three runs, but we left eight runners on base. When we were down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, we got the bases loaded with no outs. But the Nationals were able to get out of the inning only allowing one run. I’m sorry, but that’s unacceptable. If we’re going to go to the trouble to load the bases in the ninth, with NO OUTS, we absolutely need to get more than one run out of that. Besides that, we had plenty of other chances to get runs earlier in the game. We shouldn’t even have to go into the bottom of the ninth! I don’t know what else to say. We’ve just got to get the job done.

I was pretty pleased with Clayton Richard’s start. He went seven innings, allowing four runs, including two home runs. I feel like those two homers were his only mistakes. But let me tell you, that first three-run homer was a killer. It definitely set the mood for the rest of the game.

One thing that I noticed about Clayton was that he got a lot of short grounders. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed to be going for balls that were hit really close to him a lot. He did make a few good plays, but he missed a lot of them. Another thing I noticed is that the name “Clayton” is really hard to scream. Anyways, I think that Richard was very solid.

Yorvit Torrealba had a great night, getting three hits. David Eckstein, Oscar Salazar, and Chris Denorfia each had two hits. Denorfia also drove in two runs. I was impressed with him.

What I was not impressed with was Ryan Webb pitching the top of the ninth. I guess he couldn’t really help it, but he allowed an insurance run that pretty much killed our game. I mean, at 4-2, we had a huge chance of coming back in the bottom of the ninth, but 5-2? Not cool at all.

It was a frustrating game, but you know what, it’s okay. I’m pretty sure that we’ll get the next two games. I think the offense should come back. And I really hope that the pitching will be okay.

Last night, as I watched these boys load the bases in the ninth, I really, truly believed in them. No matter what anyone wants to think, these boys are legit. This long first-place reign is not a hoax. These San Diego Padres are for real.

The crowd was okay last night. There was about 23,000 out there on a Friday night. But there were a lot of empty spaces. Too many. I would really encourage people to go out to Petco to take in a game. Like I said, this team is for real. I think it would be great for the team to get some big support from their fans. 

Though we were a small crowd, we really turned it up in that ninth inning. We all believed in our boys, and it was so much fun to be a part of an enthusiastic crowd. I love it when we’re all cheering super loud without prompt from the scoreboard. I know that for my part, I screamed my lungs out, especially in that last inning. My throat is really sore today, but it was so worth it.

I had a great, great time out there. Obviously, it would have been even better to have a win, but it was okay. It was still great to go out there and support my boys. Lately, my fanhood had been a little disconnected, but I think it’s been recharged. I love these boys, and they’re doing great. They’re making San Diego proud. I can’t wait to listen to tonight’s game and hopefully listen to a big win!

GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!! 

 San Diego is so beautiful 🙂