Greg Maddux had a rough start to the Padres first road game of the year, giving up a run on two walks and two hits before heading back to his seat in the dugout. The difference between Maddux and many other Major League pitchers is that he didn't get angry and in turn get worse.
Fortunately the one run was still less than Matt Cain allowed in his first and Maddux came back out in the second with his one run lead and cruised for the rest of the game. He retired 19 of the last 20 batters he faced, and finished with a 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 Ks in 7 innings.
Of course today, he got a little help from the bats as well. The Pads scored 8 runs on 13 hits for their highest output of the year. After scoring only 7 total runs in the three game series vs the Dodgers, they got much needed support from the plate.
Adrian Gonzales led the Friars going 4 for 5 with 2 RBI and 4 runs scored, making him a part of 6 of the 8 runs, including the two run homer that put the Pads ahead from the start in the first. Khalil Greene also joined the fun, getting two hits in his three at bats, one of which was a triple to deep right field in the 7th. Khalil also knocked in 3 runs between the triple and two sac flys.
Tonight Randy Wolf makes his second start as a Padre against second year starter Tom Lincecum. Wolf had a great first start at Petco going 6 with 1 run and a no decision. Lincecum got a win in hist first start and also gave up only one run, but let a lot of runners on base that failed to score. He only went 4 innings and gave up 4 hits and 4 walks before leaving in the Giants one and only victory of the year.
Hopefully the Padres won't let the same bug catch them and they can get those base runners home. They should be working the same mentality as yesterday described by Adrian Gonzalez. "We wanted to work the count deep so we could get him out of the game early," so that they can get to that Giants bullpen.
