How Do You Know It Is Time To Give Up?

It is the first game of the "second half," following the All Star break, and your team is playing the first of an 11 game road trip. Your ace is on the hill and you score one in the first and one in the third. Things are looking up.

Next thing you know it is the top of the ninth and they are down 4-2. Fortunately the other team's biggest weakness is their bullpen, so there is still a shot. Your second year third baseman rips a double to lead off the inning, and up comes the pride of the farm system. The rookie crushes a ball opposite field off of the wall, jogging into second to represent the tying run.

Then your sometimes power hitting shortstop gets pulled for a pinch hitter by the name of Brandon Myrow...there is your first sign things are not looking good for this team. He strikes out, swinging at a 3-2 pitch that bounces before the plate. Next up...Nick Hundley. Not Todd Hundley(who doesn't exactly give the last name power), but Nick Hundley. At least he advances the runner with his slow roller to second.

Now the tying run is just 90 feet away, and the closer is a little shaken, but there are two outs. We are obviously getting to the bottom of the lineup, so we should probably throw in our pinch hitter here. The problem is we just traded him for...I don't know what, the end of paying his salary?

So your pinch hitter in the ninth inning, with two outs and the tying run on first? Luis Rodriguez!!

Thank you Bud, Sandy, and Kevin, you made it much easier for me to give up. Now lets move on. We can look forward to the future with lots of Dominican players filling in around a great core...Kooz, Adrian, Edgar (I never thought I would say that about him), Chase (freaking beast), Jake, CY (if he ever recovers), and Heath. There are 7 really solid, young guys that give us something to build on. Let's sell the rest and move on.

Sorry Khalil.

Good Start for Henn

I recently came accross a nice article about how terrible the Milwaukee Brewers' organization has been with examples by year. Well, in 2003:

Glendon Rusch starts 19 games. He wins once. Once. Let us repeat that: One win in 19 starts. One.

So I have decided this is actually a positive for the Padres. Sure, they gave Rusch another shot in the bullpen, but at least they didn't give him 19 starts. He was a bum, we all new it, so we went out and got Sean Henn to take his place. Henn got the call last night in a game already out of site for this offense (7-1) and proceeded to walk 3 give up 3 hits and 5 earned runs. Not ideal, but we won't judge on first apearances.

On a bright note, Gerut hit is first home run of the year (and as a Padre), in a 2 for 3 showing with 2 walks as well.

I am a little worried about Wolf after his 4th poor outing in his last 5 starts. The Pads actually led this one for a few minutes at 2-1 in the middle of the 5th, before things fell apart for Wolf and the cubs scored 6 in the bottom of the inning.

I enjoyed the two game winning streak, though, and it is still early May, so lets not mail it in yet. It would be nice if the Pads cared more about winning then having to pay Headley, but what can you do?

I will leave you with another quote from the Woe is the Brewers article:

1990: The Brewers do stick to their guns. Brock is still playing first base even though he hits just .248 with seven home runs in 367 at-bats. Sheffield moves to third base and later accuses the organization of racism by choosing to play Bill Spiers at shortstop over him. He would later say, "The Brewers brought out the hate in me. I was a crazy man. … I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me an error, I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'OK, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose."

6 Hours, 17 Minutes, 1 Loss

The Rockies seem to have a knack for ripping out our hearts and rubbing dirt all over them. At least Willy Taveras touched home plate.

For the Padres, the story was the same, leaving men on base. The Pads had a player reach base in 8 of the 9 innings between the 9th and 17th, but scored only one run. In the 14th, when they did score that run, the had the bases loaded with one out and 90 feet from the win. Of course McAnulty couldn't get it done. Then again Mac hit a double to lead off the 13th, and nobody could get him in.

I didn't see that inning, anyone know why he couldn't score from second on Wolf's single, I mean aside from being fat?

Aside from this being another very exciting game with the Rockies, the Padres managed to use up 7 pitchers in loss, and this could have been much worse. Guys like Wil Ledezma and Glendon Rusch, who we don't depend on to pitch on a daily basis, ate up 8 innings, saving our starters' arms as well as the daily bullpen guys. Bell and Thatcher threw two, but that isn't out of the ordinary for those guys, who should be able to pitch in a day or two.

Of course it was just 1 loss in a 162 game season, and the Pads are still in second place. The Dbacks will come back down to reality some day, and Jake looked incredible again. We are sitting at 8-8 and the team has not hit a home run in 94 innings. I dont know what the record is there, but that sounds pretty bad to me.

Thoughts on Last Nights Game

- Josh Bard had some great at bats last night. He showed great patience against Lincecum extending every at bat and drawing a walk, and then drew a walk in the 9th to get on base for the tying score.

- The Pads once again did a great job of getting on base and a terrible job of scoring runs. 13 hits and 2 walks and a grand total of 2 runs...that is terrible.

- Speaking of great at bats, Tony Clark got down right away in a 0-2 hole in the ninth, and he showed great patience getting it to 3-2 and ripped a double (or I guess single in the box score) to set up the tie.

- Hairston got screwed not only on the strike call, but on getting tossed. Would have been nice to have our late inning hero in an extra inning game.

- I feel like the Pads are getting a lot of Sac Flys, which is great. I recall last year that Carlos Lee was on pace to crush the record for sac flys in a year and that the number was suprising the small. I wonder where the Pads stand as far as their total thus far and how good that number really is...more to come on that later.

Maddux Model of Consistency in Giants Home Opener

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.

Hoffman Bounces Back and Hairston Does It Yet Again

Randy Wolf started his first game as a Padre and he looked good, all be it against a not so potent Astros lineup. Wolf threw a perfect first and got a little help from a Kevin Kouzmanoff two run blast in the bottom of the first. He left in the 7th after striking out 5 and handing over a 2-1 lead to the bullpen.

For the second day in a row, the bullpen gave up a run to tie the game, before Hairston brought out his late game heroics that is quickly becoming accustom to. With one out in the bottom of the 7th in a tie game, Hairston crushed a triple to right center and was brought in by a Tadahito single in the next at bat.

The bullpen only needed one more. Heath Bell gave up a two out double, then shut down the 8th, and Hoffman came in and showed no ill effects from the previous night. He induced three harmless groundballs and went into the weekend as a winner.

Hairston finished 3 for 3 in Brian Giles' leadoff spot with two runs scored and Kooz went 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.

The Padres stay at home for their first NL West games of the year with Dodgers who are just a half a game back of MY first place Padres.

Justin Germano will start the first game of the series vs Hiroki Korudo. The first start of 2008 for both players, and the first in MLB for Korudo.

Hoffman Blows First Save of 2008

I had the headline and first paragraph all cued up for tonight's post game article, and it appears that I jumped the gun. It appears that Hoffman is not the sure thing that I have grown up with. Let's hope I am wrong and this is just the rare blown save. I mean the guy saved over 40 games again last year prior to his playoff push collapse, so there is no reason to start doubting him, but it is so easy to go down that path.

It may just be me, but with two outs and nobody on, it looked like Jose Cruz jr was looking for a fastball and just hoping to get a piece of a change up if that was what he got. Hoffy threw two change-ups in the zone, one Cruz whiffed badly, and one he just got a piece of. Why then, would he throw him anything but a change up. Make the guy earn it.

Well Cruz got his fastball and poked a single, one of three straight ground ball singles that brought in the tying run. At that point, it was all over.

Tonight was the opposite of the last two nights, as the bats got it done and the pitching didn't. Brian Giles went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, including a great sac fly in the bottom of the 8th to take back the lead we had lost in the top of the inning.

Adrian Gonzalez got his first dinger and Hairston got his second in two nights. Justin Huber joined the party tonight making a nice catch to close out the 7th, but it wasn't quite enough.

The Astros got most of it done with uncatchable balls. Berkman, Lee, Blum (that bastard) and Wigginton all went yard, and though watching Blum hit a jack for the wrong team hurt, none of them hurt quite like the ball Berkman drove over the centerfield wall to put down the Pads for good.

On the brighter side of things, this is only the third of 162 games and the Padres get another shot at the Astros tomorrow to win the first of many series' in 2008. You can't win them all, but if win every series we will be in good shape.

Hairston The Hero...Again

Well, it looks like Scott Hairston is going to start where he left off last year, as the Padres go to guy. There was a lot made of the competition for the job in left (especially by me personally), but when it came down to it, the job was Hairston's to lose and he kept it. Then he came out and hit a two run homer tonight in the second game of the year, which stood as the only two runs, and all they needed, for the Pads.

Chris Young could argue he was the hero as well, but he would have to share that award with the bullpen who pitched another 3.1 shutout innings. CY kept the Astros off the scoreboard, but he got away with 10 baserunners, 5 with a free pass.

Hairston had a base running blunder that could have brought in an extra run in the 8th when he over ran the bag at third, thinking Paul McAnulty was out at first, and was tagged out to end the inning. In the end, the run wouldn't have mattered as Hoffy came in and shut things down, and did so in proper form. 1 hit (which should have been the third out) and two strikeouts include complete domination of Lance Berkman to tie up win number 2 for MY first place Padres.

Peavy Announces Plan To Run for 2008 Cy Young

It looked on paper to be a great pitching duel to open up the 2008 season, but turned into a one sided affair. While Roy Oswalt struggled to get through his first start finishing only 5.1 innings which did not include a single 1-2-3 inning. Meanwhile, Jake flew through the Astros lineup, conceding only three hits over 7 innings and no runs, starting off 2008 just like last year, with the second consecutive opening day shutout.

The Padres managed 11 hits off of Oswalt which ties a career high. Oswalt has finished in the top five of Cy Young voting 5 times, seeming to be a candidate for the award every year. "I didn't really have a whole lot tonight," Oswalt said. "I didn't have any breaking pitches. Pretty much had to pitch my fastball the whole night."

Tadahito Iguchi started off his Padres career on the right foot, going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and a run scored. Paul McAnulty took advantage of the start in left going 2 for 3 with a walk. I didn't give the guy much credit coming into the year, but he got things started the right way.

Apparently Jake and Roy have been friends ever since meeting on the 2005 All Star team, to the point where Roy is actually staying at the Peavy household during this season opening series. Jake didn't show his friendship well, by not only beating the Astros on the mound, but getting an RBI single, and RBI sacrafice fly, and a walk in his three at bats vs his good buddy.

When asked if he would rub it in, Jake said, "I don't know if I'll go hard at it tonight because I know how it feels to be on the losing end of a big league ballgame. Nobody's happy, but maybe the next few days I may throw some comments out there, and I promise you, in November or December he's not going to forget about it."

Peavy has won all three of his Opening Day starts, with a 0.45 ERA. He allowed six baserunners Monday night, none of whom advanced past second base. Heath Bell and Cla Meredith did what Padres bullpens have come to be known for and that is finish a combined shutout.

The Padres started out the season with 14 hits and a shutout win, which is about all you can ask for. Me, I hate to see so many base runners and only four runs, but I won't start complaining yet. The Padres will need more than pitching to win an extremely competitive NL West, and at least they showed they can get hits off of one of the best pitchers in the game. For now that will do. Nice work!

Box Score

Season Starts Well for Padres and Competition

The Padres started off the season in first place with a second straight shutout on opening day. They won with their best pitcher (maybe ever) against one of the best pitchers in the league. I guess it is a bit of a suprise due to the Padres struggles against Roy Oswalt in the past, but with Jake on the hill vs a suspect hitting team I can't say it is jaw dropping.

What did we learn on Opening Day (the third of the season)? Well Houston probably won't hit again this year, and maybe the Padres will. The Padres struggled a bit getting guys in again, which is nothing new, and the bullpen sparkled as usual.

The Giants are probably as bad as expected and Zito has a long way to go (either to get back on track or to finish up his massive contract). The Dodgers had a nice showing (against the worst National League team), as did Arizona and Brandon Webb.

The Diamondbacks pitching is going to be really tough and give the Padres a run for the staff of the year. Webb put four guys on for free and another three by way of hits, on his way to 2 earned runs and win #1. Not exactly dominant, but more than enough.

The Rockies and Jeff Francis didn't start the day out too well before getting bailed out by the rain. I wouldn't be suprised if some of last year's pitching heroes fade this year, but that is coming from a biased point of view. I think the Rockies are the one pretender team of the West. They had a great run in the playoffs last year, but they had to win out, get a few losses, and a bogus call just to get into the dance. Not exactly means for a high ranking in the subsequent year.

I don't think you can take much more from opening day than you can from Spring Training, but it looks like it will be a good year for the NL West. Here are your standings after a day.

Team	Wins	Losses	Win Pct	GB
Padres	1	0	1.000	-
Dodgers	1	0	1.000	-
Dbacks	1	0	1.000	-
Rockies	0	0	0.000	0.5
Giants	0	1	0.000	1