Tagged: wade leblanc
Our Hole-y Team
So I was looking at our team yesterday, and we seriously have a ton of holes. I feel like guys are slipping out of our hands so fast that we can’t catch them all and they’re leaving us completely empty.
Who have we lost this offseason already? Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox, Yorvit Torrealba to the Rangers, Miguel Tejada to the Giants, Kevin Correia to the Pirates, and now Tony Gwynn Jr. to the Dodgers. Plus we lost Chris Young. Our roster is looking awfully thin right now.
But we have signed pitcher Aaron Harang, and we’re about to sign Dustin Moseley, who is also a pitcher. So now our rotation looks like…Mat Latos, Harang, Clayton Richard, Moseley, and Wade LeBlanc or Tim Stauffer. I don’t know. It might work, but it seems like a very unstable rotation.
Well, I guess we’ll have to see how things pan out. We’ve still got a ton of offseason left (waaaaaa), so we have a lot of time to pull a team together.
In other news, the Latest Leaders list on MLBlogs.com came out for the month of November. This blog is #5 of all fan blogs!!! I’m sooooo excited!! I think I was #5 a couple months ago, but 5 is my absolute favorite number and I’m so excited to get it again.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you for reading this blog. It’s so much fun to know that you guys are reading so much that you’re putting this blog in the top 5 of all fan blogs. I can’t thank you enough!
Of course, I can’t mention the number five without showing you THE number five:
Love you Kouz 🙂
I hope you all have a great day!!
GO PADRES!!!
That’s More Like It!
You know those series last week when we didn’t do too well? I think those are behind us. Ryan Ludwick has finally found his bat.
Last week was a little scary because our two big additions, Ludwick and Miguel Tejada, were seemingly hindering instead of helping. We lost four games last week, which we just don’t do. So you can understand my worry, but thankfully, things are looking up again.
Wade LeBlanc threw an absolutely amazing game last night. He only went 5.2 innings, but he only allowed five hits, one run, while striking out eight. Whoo hoo! The one thing that I find absolutely incredible is his hitting this year! He had another hit and RBI last night, which brings his average up to .324. He has 12 hits on the year.
Ludwick was the star of this game, though. He hit his first Padre home run in the bottom of the second, which gave us a 1-0 lead. LeBlanc singled in our second run later in the inning.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan hit his second home run in the bottom of the seventh. I’m sooo happy that he’s getting his bat going. We need this guy to contribute if we want to keep our first place lead and keep pushing towards the playoffs.
The bullpen was great once again. The combination of Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams, and Heath Bell is back and strong as ever. Heath got his 32nd save of the year.
Great, great game. You have no idea how relieved I was to get the win last night. It’s always a good thing to start off a series with a win, especially at home.
The best news of all is that we have a little more breathing room on our first-place lead…for now. The Giants are now 2.5 games behind, which is a lot better than the 1 that they were last week.
By the way, I didn’t really want to get into this, but what Jonathan Sanchez said the other day REALLY ticked me off. I’m mostly trying to not let it go to my head, because that’s what he wants us to do. But this series against the Giants is going to be huge. We’re going into their park for three games. But look at is this way: the Giants have been trailing us for a long time. They’ve come within one game of tying us for first place, but they’ve never been able to quite make it. It’s going to be a very tough series, but I think the Padres are going to come out on top.
Also, I think that’s really bad sportsmanship of Sanchez. I mean, he had just lost a game, and I can’t blame him for being angry about it. But you don’t go boasting about the next team you’re going to beat. Not cool. Not cool at all.
The Latest Leaders list for July just came out, and I’m #10!! This is really exciting for me 🙂 Thank you guys sooo much for reading consistently and supporting my blog. It means so much to me! Thank you thank you thank you!!
Hopefully we can get the win tonight and then another one tomorrow when I’m at the game. I’m super excited!!!! It’s going to be soo much fun.
Kevin Correia vs. James McDonald tonight. Let’s do this.
It’s time to believe.
GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!
Sweep, then Dodgers!!
After losing the series to Atlanta, we went into Pittsburgh, which was a really good move by the schedule makers. We needed to get back on track, and we did this weekend with a sweep of the Pirates.
Kevin Correia started the game on Friday, which was sweet. We got four runs in the top of the second, a great team effort. K-Cor allowed three runs, but it wasn’t a problem. Our pitching was super solid, so we won the game 5-3. Ernesto Frieri, Luke Gregerson, and Heath Bell threw three scoreless hittless innings. Amazing!
The second game was REALLY great because Mat Latos was back. He was put on the DL right before the All-Star game because of a side strain of some sort, but it was more of a roster move than a serious injury. It was really good to have him back! I love this guy 🙂 He went six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. The two runs were actually solo home runs, which did break a pretty long streak of Mat’s without home runs, but that’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Great outing by Mat.
Now the question is, how much longer can he pitch? The Padres really want to conserve his innings so that he doesn’t burn out to quickly. We want this guy to be our ace for a long time. But at the same time, we might be making a playoff run pretty soon. Do we let him keep pitching until then, or do we hold him back and wait until we really need him? I think if I were the Padres, I would let him keep pitching every fifth day, but give him an inning or pitch count limit. If he only went say, five innings every start, he could still stay sharp pitching-wise while saving some for later at the same time. I don’t think we can just shut him down and then start him up again when we go into the stretch. Anyways, it will be very interesting to see how the Padres deal with this.
‘Cause if you think about it, I want this guy when we’re in the playoffs. It’s definitely not like he’s the only starter who can actually pitch, but I like our chances when he’s out on the mound. Guys like Kevin Correia, Jon Garland, and Wade LeBlanc are doing their jobs very well, but having Mat is a huge bonus. If we’re going to win the NL West, I want Mat Latos on that roster. Make it happen, Padres.
The offense in that second game was great. We got nine runs, but they were all scored on singles, doubles, ground outs, or sac-flies. No big blast here. Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley each had two hits. Will Venable was walked twice and scored twice. Everth Cabrera and Oscar Salazar each drove in two runs.
We had a 42-minute rain delay. It was kind of funny because it was in the top of the eighth and we had the bases loaded with no outs. Talk about a threat. We ended up scoring five runs that inning.
We won the game 9-2, which was great. Especially after the Braves series, it was good to get the next series won right away.
The third game was great too. Wade LeBlanc started, going six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He didn’t walk any, though, and got two strikeouts.
The Pirates got two runs in the bottom of the second on a Ronny Cedeno home run. But in the top of the third, we struck back.
After Everth Cabrera lined out, Wade LeBlanc and Jerry Hairston Jr. singled. Chris Denorfia, who I’ll talk about later, doubled to drive them both in. Tie game. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer, his 21st of the year. An out later, Yorvit Torrealba walked, stole second while Will Venable was batting, and scored on Will’s single. 5-2 Padres.
The Pirates got another run, but then we got another run. Chris Denorfia home run. That was all we needed. The offense, paired with amazing relief performances by Ryan Webb, Luke Gregerson, and Heath Bell, was enough for the sweep. Heath Bell got his 29th save of the year.
One thing I’ve really noticed this year is that our starting pitchers are not that bad with the bats. Kevin Correia drove in a run the other night, and Wade LeBlanc had two hits yesterday.
Kevin Correia: Four hits, three RBIs, four runs scored.
Jon Garland: Seven hits, one RBI, three runs scored.
Mat Latos: Six hits (including two doubles and a home run), three RBIs, three runs scored.
Wade LeBlanc: Nine hits, zero RBI, one run scored.
Clayton Richard: Six hits, five RBIs, three runs scored.
I don’t know about you, but these numbers really surprised me. I realized that they had done quite a bit of hitting, but I didn’t realize that it was this much. Amazing. Wow.
Now, Chris Denorfia. This guy has been seriously overlooked. I haven’t heard that much about him at all, but he’s been absolutely amazing for us this year. He’s hitting .287 with 39 hits and 23 RBIs. He’s contributed so much. I don’t think we would be here without him. Whoever decided to invite this guy to Spring Training is a genius.
Now we are coming home to face the Dodgers for three huge games. We’re actually playing them seven times in two weeks, which is going to be crazy. Never mind that the Dodgers are six games behind us. It’s the Dodgers. Petco Park is going to be crazy for the next three days.
Even though the Dodgers are like a million games behind us, I think this series is very essential. It’s not like they’re right on our heels and it’s a do-or-die series, but we’ve still gotta beat these guys. They’re our biggest rivals, and we need to beat the teams in our division. I don’t know if we’ll be able to sweep them, but two out of three sounds good. We need it.
BEAT LA!!
GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!
A Loss is a Loss
I do have to say, last night’s game was CRAZY!!! First of all, I had no doubt that my boys would be able to get a few hits and a bunch of runs off of Ubaldo Jimenez. I just didn’t account for the fact that the Rockies would get a few hits and a bunch of runs off of Kevin Correia.
Kevin Correia is a great pitcher. At least he was last year. But I was looking at some of his numbers yesterday and I realized that he isn’t doing as well as I thought he was. Last year he was a complete surprise and could have even been called our ace. But now, I’m started to get worried about him. Once I get over my anger, then I’ll really start to get worried about him.
Here’s where he’s at right now: his record is 5-6 with an ERA of 5.49. In 15 games started, he’s given up 49 earned runs, with 11 home runs. Not good. Not good at all. In fact, I think he’s the worst pitcher on the club, numbers wise. Tsk tsk.
And last night’s game was awful for him!! Before I could blink we were down 4-0. And then 6-0. And then 8-0. It was horrible!! He only went five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits. He walked six and struck out three. He gave up two home runs! I am very upset that he lost the game like that, but more than that, I’m worried! This pitching staff has been practically invincible! We can’t have guys going out there and giving up six runs. I’m sorry. It’s just not acceptable.
So what’s going wrong for Kevin Correia?
I’m not a pitching coach, and I don’t get to study the players on TV like I’d love to, so I can’t tell you what’s wrong. I don’t know if he’s made a change in his mechanics, if he’s going through something that just won’t get off his mind, if it was just the night, the batters, the team that he was facing. I don’t know what it is, but I know that the Padres have an excellent pitching coach(s) that will find out what’s wrong and will fix it.
Okay, now to the good news. The bad news is that we lost 10-6, which is an atrocious amount of runs for our pitching staff to give up. But the good news is that we did get six runs. But the bad news is that we had the tying run at the plate and we didn’t come through.
I’ll talk about the good news a little. First off, I was super not happy because we were no-hit through five innings. Before the game, I refused to believe that the best pitcher in the majors would be able to hold down my Padres. And we did get to him, eventually, but it was super hard waiting through all those innings just dying for one hitter, any hitter, to do his job and get a hit.
Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, T. Gwynn led off the inning with a walk. Eck singled (finally), and an out later, Chase Headley drove in our first run of the game. Scott Hairston then hit a three-run homer to make it a ballgame, 8-4. It was soooo exciting!!
Then in the seventh, Adrian Gonzalez drove in one with two outs. Chase was batting next, and Adrian got to go to second because of a balk. Then Chase singled, which sent Adrian to third, setting up the stage for Scott Hairston again.
Here’s where the turning point of the game was. Scotty hit a line drive right down the left field line. If it was just a tiny bit higher, it would have been a three-run-game-tying homer. Now, this would be a moot point if the Padres had been able to get those two runs in. We only got one run on Scotty’s double, so Chase and Scotty were still there on base with two outs. We were not able to come through.
It was not a good game. I mean, I guess part of it was good because we did come back slightly. But the pitching stunk, the hitting wasn’t enough, and we didn’t get a win. Blech.
But I figured that if we didn’t get last night’s game, it was okay because we could always get tonight’s and tomorrow’s. Our first-place lead is safe. We can spare one game, but only one, per series. Preferably none at all, but you know, you win some and you lose some.
Tonight, let’s win some. We’ve got Wade LeBlanc going out there against Jason Hammel. We can do this!!
GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!!
Rocky Game But A Win
Chase Headley: Baseball America High Class-A All-Star 2006. Baseball America Double-A All-Star 2007. MLB.com Double-A Offensive Player of the Year 2007. Now he’s been in the major leagues for almost two years, and that player that he was in the minor leagues is finally coming out.
We had lost the first game of the series against the Rockies on Monday, so we definitely needed this game. Wade LeBlanc started the game for us, and he was excellent. He went six innings, only allowing two runs and two walks. He was really, really good.
In the bottom of the fourth, Jerry Hairston tripled in Chase Headley, who had singled to start the inning.
The Rockies got their two runs in the top of the fifth, which was disappointing.
I’m a Padres fan, and I always try to keep the faith, because these guys have proved to me over and over again that they will fight hard to win the game no matter what. But I have to admit, things were not looking that great. We left *cringe* 11 runners on base, and were only 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. At one point, we left the bases loaded. Kyle Blanks got thrown out at the plate. We were not getting that clutch hit, and that was a problem.
In the bottom of the eigth, Will Venable got a triple. Jerry Hairston sac-flied him in to tie the game.
Luke Gregerson threw two fantastic innings after Wade left the game. Heath Bell got the top of the ninth, and, for once, he didn’t allow a hit. He did allow a walk, though, so he’s still up to his “I have to make everything interesting” act.
In the bottom of the ninth, it was time to get this game wrapped up. Extra innings are super annoying, and besides, there’s no time like the present. You know how those extra inning-ers go: the longer the game gets, the harder the guys press to get it over and nothing happens for a really long time. Sure, those games are fun sometimes, but they should be avoided at all costs. Thankfully, we did not have to drift into the land of extra innings last night.
Lance Zawadski started off the inning with a walk. Tony Gwynn sac-bunted Lance over to second. David Eckstein, who had been caught stealing earlier in the game, flew out to left field. Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, which was very expected, to try to get to Chase Headley.
Wrong move, buddy.
Chase has been in that situation a lot, and he’s really taken the most advantage of it. Hahahaha when are they ever going to learn? Chase is going to come through for us. Maybe he wouldn’t have last year, but that was then. Now, he’s going to come through and send everyone home happy…everyone except Jim Tracy, that is.
After taking a ball in the dirt, Chase sent a single out to right field that Carlos Gonzalez didn’t even bother to retrieve. Lance scored, and the Padres won the game!!
What a great game of baseball. Amazing pitching, tons of suspense, and some good offense. Unfortunately, the Padres had a lot of little blunders, but at least they were able to win the game.
Besides Chase Headley, there was another player in this game who did extremely well. I’m telling you, this might have been the best pickup of the off-season: Jerry Hairston Jr. He’s been extremely valuable, especially in the field. Absolutely amazing. Shortstop is in good hands while E-Cab’s on the DL. No worries there. Last night he had a hit and drove in two runs.
You know what I realized last night? I realized that Kyle Blanks is not a natual outfield. I think that kind of got lost in the shuffle here. The guy’s a first baseman, and he’s doing an amazing job out there. He’s got zero errors and 30 putouts. I guess I feel like his switch from infield to outfield wasn’t as publicized as Chase’s was. Anyways, keep up the great work out there, Kyle.
Chase is doing amazing, and it’s soooo good to see. We’ve really been needing a guy who can threaten pitchers enough that they don’t walk Adrian to try to get to him. It might take a while to get that into pitcher’s heads, but hopefully Chase keeps that success and really does turn into a threat behind Adrian. He certainly did the job last night.
Very well played game by my boys last night. Let’s win this series tonight!! GO CLAYTON RICHARD!!
GO FIRST PLACE PADRES!!!
Singling All The Way
Story of the game: Wade LeBlanc.
This guy has been amazing ever since we called him up a few weeks ago. In the three games that he’s started, he’s only allowed one run on 17 hits with 16 strikeouts. Yeah, he’s been good.
Last night, he went 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits, no runs, no walks, and striking out six. I would also like to mention that his ERA is 0.52. 0.52!!!!!!
He even picked a runner off of second.
Not only was he amazingly solid in his pitching, but he turns out to be a bona fide hitter as well!
He went 3-for-3 last night. No joke. He’s now batting a cool .667. Four hits in six at-bats. Yep, that would do it.
When I found out that he had three hits, I was like, no way. That’s just too funny! But man, it’s true. He really helped himself out.
In the bottom of the fourth, we got four runs on four hits. Funny thing is, all of them were singles, The even funnier thing is, all 13 hits in this game were singles. No extra-base hits for these boys. I’d say that this game was the epitome of small ball.
In the bottom of the fifth, we scored five runs. The amazing thing was that we started the inning with seven consecutive singles. Chase Headley, Scott Hairston, Kyle Blanks, Oscar Salazar, Yorvit Torrealba, Wade LeBlanc, and Jerry Hairston Jr. It was soooo cool!! There was really no big blow in the whole game, but we got a bunch of runs the small way.
Tim Stauffer came into the game after Wade left, and he threw 2.2 solid innings. A hit and a walk, and that was it for him.
Let’s take a look at some of the contributions from the lineup last night. Jerry Hairston Jr. hit leadoff, taking the place at shortstop of Everth Cabrera, who is going to go on the DL. Of course, I’m sad that Everth is injured and won’t be able to play for us in a while, but I’m super thankful that we’ve got a solid defender who can replace him. J-Hair is a really, really good player. I think the Hair-Bros are doing better than any of the other Bros combinations that we’ve had.
Anyways, in that leadoff spot, Jerry had two hits and drove in two runs. He also made some ESPN-worthy defensive plays. Man he’s good.
Eck was batting second and drove in a run on one hit. Adrian was batting third, and he was the only one in the starting lineup not to get a hit. He did not have a good night at the plate, but hey, he’s batting .299 and the rest of the team was able to pick him up, so I think he’s good.
Chase Headley, Scott Hairston, and Kyle Blanks each had one hit. Scotty and Blanksie each scored two runs.
It’s the bottom of the lineup that I really want to talk about. Those last three guys, Salazar, Torrealba, and LeBlanc, had the best day of anyone. Salazar and Yorvit each had two hits. Yorvit drove in three runs. And, as we know, Wade had three hits. I love that the bottom of the lineup weren’t easy outs.
Overall, this lineup is extremely solid. I’m looking forward to seeing J-Hair get some more playing time, especially at short. I think he’s going to add a lot as an everyday player.
No Trevor in this game, but I’m sure that he’ll be out there sometime in the next three games. I know that he’s eagar to get out there again and prove that he can still pitch. But at the same time, the only way he’s getting out there is when we’re blowing out the Brewers again and they just want to get him out for some work.
Honestly, though, if we did find ourself in a situation where it’s the bottom of the ninth and we’re losing, I think that we could easily come back against him. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Trevor and miss him like crazy, but the way he’s been pitching…
It would be really ironic if we put T-Gwynn out there against Trevor. Just to rattle him a little bit.
I wish Trevor all the best, and I really do hope that he’ll be able to get out of this funk, but these are my boys now and winning is the priority. If we have to win against Trevor, that’s cool. And you know what, I think it’s even cooler because then the Brewers will be so frustrated with him that they’ll release him and we can pick him up and bring him back where he belongs.
Time for some more domination, boys.
GO FIRST PLACE PADRES!!!
Coming Together
On Sunday, my boys played a great game. I told you we didn’t have to be worried.
Chris Young started the game, throwing 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Not the best outing, but it was good enough. I am so excited that CY is pitching at all. I’m just praying really hard that he won’t get injured this year. It’s been a couple tough years for him, but hopefully he’ll be able to stay healthy and pitch amazingly this year.
We had nine hits: Nick Hundley had two, driving two runs. Jerry Hairston Jr. had a hit and drove in two runs. Kyle Blanks had two hits and scored two runs.
Surprisingly, we only had one stolen base, but that’s okay. We were caught stealing twice, though. You know, as amazing as all this base-stealing is, I don’t think that they’re going out there thinking about stealing a base. I think that they’re just more aware of the pitcher and the catcher, like how slow the pitcher is or if the catcher has a less-than-average arm. Then, armed with that knowledge, they go when they think the moment is right.
Liz, Bell, and Luebke pitched scoreless innings. Craig Italiano got the save in the 5-3 win. CY got his first W of the season. So great to see!
Last night we played the Giants in Peoria. It was so amazing, because we ust had Daylight Savings Time and it had been a warm day. It was a taste of what it’s going to be like in the regular season. Listening to some great Padres baseball on a warm summer night…ah. I can’t wait!
Anyways, phenomenal pitching performances by Mat Latos, Wade LeBlanc, and Edward Mujica last night. Would you look at that! Only three pitching! Man, that REALLY feels like the regular season!
Mat Latos…man. I am super excited about seeing this guy pitching in the majors this year. He was great last year, and I think he’s going to be amazing this year too. Last night, he pitched four full innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Amazing. He was perfect. Wow.
Wade LeBlanc took over after Mat’s incredible performance. I remember when Wade came up at the end of 2008. He was always facing the Dodgers, and he was terrible. But when he came up last year, he wasn’t that bad. Last night, he was amazing. All these young pitchers are so exciting!
Wade also threw four innings, but he didn’t allow a run. All he gave up was two hits, while striking out three. I guess he was even better than Mat!
I think the best thing about these two guys’ outings last night was that they were able to go four full innings with so little trouble. Sure, that’s not a regular season start, but they’re getting there.
Edward Mujica pitched for the first time this spring, and he was great. He allowed a hit and stuck out one and closed the game. It’s great to see him out there again.
The offense is exciting me soooo much!! These guys are sooo great, even if they had some help from the Giants’ defense 🙂
In the fifth inning, we were down 1-0 when things really turned on. Everth Cabrera started the inning off with a walk. Wade LeBlanc laid down a sacrifice that sent Everth to second. Tony Gwynn doubled, tying the game. Jerry Hairston came to bat and the pitcher threw a wild pitch, which got Tony to third. Jerry walked. Adrian came up and singled in T. Gwynn. Kyle Blanks doubled, sending in Jerry and Matt Antonelli (who replaced Adrian). Matt hustled all the way from first to score. Chase singled and stole second. Will Venable struck out, but then Nick Hundley got on base on an error, which also allowed two guys to score.
Then Everth came up again and singled, driving in Nick. Everth got to second on another error. Then Wade LeBlanc got on base by an error. Finally, Tony Gwynn struck out to end the inning. All in all, we got seven runs on five hits and three errors. Whew.
The score stayed that way for the rest of the game. We ended up with ten hits on the night, with no errors. The Giants ended with four errors. HAHAHAHA!!! I thought that was funny.
We got five more stolen bases last night. We’ve stolen 20 bases this spring, and have been caught only seven times. We’re leading the majors in stolen bases, by the way. I’m loving it!
What a great, great 7-1 win. It was clean, quick, and wonderful. Definitely the best game of the year so far. I am soooo excited for the regular season!!!
We’re looking good. We really, really are. I’m not worried a bit about these boys. They’re going to be just fine.
Today we’re playing the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim again. Jon Garland vs. Jered Weaver. It’s going to be sweet.
Joe Thatcher is going to be pitching for the first time this season. I didn’t realize that the Thatch hadn’t been around yet. Hmm. Thatch is the guy that I’ve always not liked in the bullpen. I mean, he was great at the end of 2007. He was amazing then. But when he totally fell apart in ’08, I was not happy with him at all. He was actually pretty decent in 2009, so I feel like giving him a second chance. GO JOE!!!
GO PADRES!!!!
Three Out Of Four!
Last night the Padres wrapped up their four game series with the Pirates by sending Wade LeBlanc to the mound against Daniel McCutchen.
Both teams had not hit a home run for the whole series, but that changed when Adrian Gonzalez came up in the top of the first. With a runner on, he hit his 39th homer of the season to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. With every home run that he hits, Adrian makes a new career high. I definitely think he’s going to have at least 40 this year. Wow.
The Pirates have been worthy opponents this weekend. It was surprising, but it was pretty cool. They’ve got a lot of great young players right now, and maybe the Pirates will be a good team soon. Last night, they cut our lead in half right away on a solo homer by Garrett Jones in the bottom of the first.
Wade LeBlanc threw very well. He only went five innings, but he only allowed one run on five hits. He walked three and struck out five. He was very solid, especially compared to earlier in the year!! YAY WADE!!
The Padres got a run in the third. The Pirates got a run in the sixth.
The Padres had a great eigth inning. Chase Headley led it off with a solo homer. Later in the inning, Nick Hundley hit a two-run homer to give us a 6-2 lead.
Unfortunately, the Pirates came right back in the bottom of the inning, getting three runs off Luke Gregerson, who has been so solid lately!! I guess that’s just baseball.
So, we were still clinging to our 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Heath Bell came in. And you know what happens when Heath has only a one-run lead. Yep, he gives it up. He got the bases loaded with no outs! Thankfully, he only allowed one run to tie.
We went to extra innings. Neither team got anything in the tenth, but the Padres got plenty in the 11th, that’s for sure.
Everth Cabrera singled, Eck sacrificed him over, and Adrian was intentionally walked. Then Chase Headley doubled, driving in Everth. Will Venable was intentionally walked to get to Oscar Salazar, which I do not get at all. It was a very bad move, as Salazar doubled in Adrian and Chase.
After a pitching change, Nick sac-flied in one, and T. Gwynn singed in our 11th run of the game.
Adam Russell took the bottom of the inning, and we won 11-6!! It was such an amazing game. The Pirates were really in it, but we took three out of four. Oh yeah!
Chase Headley had an incredible night. He had five hits, all from the left side, and drove in two runs.
What a great series for the Padres. Now I think we’re ready to go play in the freezing cold Colorado for three games!!
As you know, Kouz has been out for quite a while with the calf problem. He was hoping to be back in last night, but something came up. I’ll let the clip in the Union Tribune tell the story:
It’s always something …
“My calf feels great,” third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff told Black Monday afternoon, “but I tweaked my back.”
Kouzmanoff, who was hoping to be able to return to the lineup Tuesday with a sufficiently recovered strain of his left calf, was more embarrassed than pained to report his latest injury. Evidently, he hurt himself when going back to sit in the chair in front of his locker at PNC Park, but the chair wasn’t there and he went straight to the floor on his backside.
Black said he thinks the tweaked back is not serious enough to keep Kouzmanoff from playing in Colorado.
Oh my goodness, I laughed so hard when I read this!! That’s just hilarious. At first I was like, oh no, not his back!! But then I realized that probably isn’t the chronic back problem that he has. Man, soooo funny!! Kouz is amazing 🙂
Yeah, so the Padres are ready to go play spoiler in Colorado. But it’s going to be soooo cold. I feel so bad for all the guys who have to play in weather like that! Well, hopefully they will be able to keep hot 🙂
Edward Mujica is pitching tonight.
GO PADRES!!!
Five Series In A Row
I love these guys. Something amazing is happening here in San Diego, and it’s so much fun to watch.
Wade LeBlanc got the ball for the series finale against the Giants. He threw seven innings, allowing nothing but a two-run homer and four hits. I’m not sure what was going on with him earlier in the season, but he’s finally found his groove (and his strikes). It’s about time. This guy might have a chance to break into the starting rotation next year. Great effort yesterday, Wade!! Well done.
The offense of this game can be summed up in two words: Cabrera and Gonzalez. In the top of the first, Everth led off the game with a single. While Eck was batting, he stole second. Eck grounded out, and while Adrian was batting, Everth moved to third on a passed ball. Adrian singled Everth in to give us the 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, E-Cab walked. With Eck batting, he stole second. Eck sacrificed him over to third. Adrian came up and hit his 37th home run of the season, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead.
Adrian’s 37th is the most he’s ever hit in a year as a major league player. Last year, he made a career-high of 36. Now his career high is 37. I know it’s just a number to Adrian, but it is a big accomplishment. Congrats, Adrian!!
The Giants got on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, but that’s all they got for the entire game.
In the sixth, Oscar Salazar hit a solo homer to extend our lead.
LeBlanc started the eighth, but did not get an out. He walked the first two batters. Luke Gregerson came in and did an incredible job of getting out of the inning. He got three straight outs to end the threat. Let me tell you, the guys in the bullpen have been the unsung heroes this year. They really don’t get much attention, but they have done an excellent job here.
Heath Bell allowed a hit in the ninth, but he closed it to get his 37th save and give the Padres their fifth straight series win.
Oh my goodness, I was soooo happy!!! This is a different team than we saw earlier in the year. These guys are playing hard, working together, and getting the job done. It’s so great!
We are now 20 games behind, which doesn’t really matter at this point, but it’s still good to see us inching back towards the right direction.
Man, with the way things are going, Heath might have a 40+ save season. I think Adrian’s definitely going to have over 40 home runs.
What a great series. I am soooo glad that we didn’t have to face Lincecum!!
I love the Union Tribune. They’ve got some quality writing going there. BUT there was something in there today that I took slight offense to. Every day, they have a “Who’s Hot Who’s Not” section. Recently, Kouz has been in the “Who’s Hot” section a lot, because his bat has been on fire. And of course, because he’s really hot.
But today, he was in the “Who’s Not” section!! How rude. It reads: “Sidelined by strained calf muscle just as the club was launching a campaign to promote third baseman for a Gold Glove. Also had 13 RBI in last 13 games.”
I mean, come on. It’s not Kouz’s fault that he got hurt. He was just trying to throw a ball to first when it happened. I don’t think getting hurt warrants being placed in the “Who’s Not” section. Sure, it’s terribly disappointing, but I guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t read the papers. I love you Kouz!!!!
If you would like to join a Facebook group for Kouz, “Kevin Kouzmanoff for Gold Glove,” click on this link and invite your friends to join as well!!
My boys get an off-day at home today. We will play the Rockies for three games this weekend at our beloved Petco Park. Three NL West rivals in a row. Well, make it four if you count the Diamondbacks next week. 4-2 record against the first two. Hmmmm.
The Rockies have a 8-4 record against us this year, but this team is a much different team than the one that was around earlier in the season.
Tomorrow, Edward Mujica will get the start. Now, that will be interesting. He’s been in the bullpen for us all year.
Enjoy the off-day, boys 🙂
GO PADRES!!
Unlikely Hero
Coming into last night’s game, Wade LeBlanc had had a very bad time in the majors. In the eight major league starts he had before, he had an ERA of 8.53. He also had a 16.20 ERA in two starts at Dodger Stadium. He hadn’t been that good at all in his starts with the Padres. Descent in Triple-A, but not good in the majors.
Until last night.
LeBlanc had, by far, the very best start he’s made in the major leagues. He threw six innings, allowing two hits, three walks, and struck out two. He was being aggressive, throwing strikes, and he threw an excellent game. I’m very pleased. Well done, Wade.
In the top of the first, we got two runners on with no outs. Everth walked and Eck singled. But Adrian struck out and Everth got caught stealing. Thankfully, Kouz was able to single in Eck to give us the lead.
In the top of the second, Oscar Salazar singled. Will Venable grounded out, sending Oscar to second. Then, craziness abounded. Nick Hundley singled, the hit going off the pitcher’s glove and to the shortstop. The shortstop threw past first, and as Oscar chugged around to score, the first baseman threw over the catcher’s head and into the stands. My goodness. The Dodgers got charged for two errors on that play, and the Padres got their second run.
After LeBlanc left the game, Joe Thatcher and Luke Gregerson threw. Heath Bell relieved Luke with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, with the potential tying runs on board. Heath induced a fly-out to left field to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Heath came back to get the save. First batter he faced singled. But, he got an excellent double play started by Kouz. Heath ended the game with a called strike to the last batter.
And so, we won 2-0, beating our division rivals. Sure, we’re 20 games behind them, but this time, the mouse came out on top of the cat.
Like I said the other day, we’re playing spoiler. We keep the Dodgers down, and we can determine who’s going to win this thing. Last night’s game was not easy. We only got two runs, five hits, the whole game. The Dodgers had some big threats going. All it would have taken was a single to tie the game. Thankfully, our pitching was able to keep them down, but it wasn’t easy.
There’s a ton of energy when the Padres and Dodgers meet. The crowd was 52,965!! I definitley heard some “LET’S GO PADRES!!” out there. These series are intense.
We have no right winning this series, I know. By the numbers, we’re the worst team in the NL West. The Dodgers have been in the lead almost all year. They’re a dominating club. But this Padres team has changed since the last time we met. They’re different, better. And I think they’re going to become a playoff-hopeful team’s worst nightmare.
Mat Latos will be making his last start of the year tonight against Randy Wolf. After tonight, the Padres will be shutting down Latos, since he’s had a very large work load this year. I hope he’ll be able to have a great start to finish off a great year. Go Latos!!
GO PADRES!!! BEAT LA!!!
Unfinished Business 