Game Reflections - #129 vs Marlins

What a wild ending. Some thoughts while waiting for the parking lot to clear out, and the Hoffman's take pictures on the field:

- Will Venable has now hit more leadoff HR's than his dad did (3-2). It was also the first Padre leadoff HR since the last time he did it - against the Marlins.

- After Blanks' double made it 3-0 it looked like another rout was on. Except the Padres got only 3 hits over the next 7 1/3 innings. In the meantime the Marlins clawed back into it.

- Mike Stanton is the best young OF hitter in the NL East. You can keep Jason Heyward. Stanton was a half-inch lower on the barrell and a broken bat away from home runs in his first 3 at bats. His broken bat shot with one on and 2 out in the sixth drove Blanks to the wall.

- Luebke has a perfect game going until Stanton's shot in the fourth.

- Gaby Sanchez is lucky he didn't get run in the fifth. He thought the 3-1 pitch was ball four (called strike two) and took his time getting back in. Then he though the next pitch was ball four (called strike three) and left the bat where he dropped it. Some verbal jawing with Dan Bellino ensued. Lucky.

- Qualls threw an effective seventh. Gregerson's two wild pitches led to a cheap run for Florida in the eighth. No one in the building expected Cameron to turn a Heath Bell pitch around for a long HR to tie it.

- Nick Hundley. Triples machine. He missed winning it with a HR by about 3 feet. Assisting him to third was a favorable carom off the fence and away from Cameron c

- Jack McKeon's strategy after the triple was questionable at best. I understand why he did it, but consider. He walked a .227 hitter who was 0-3 (Forsythe) and a guy in Gonzalez who hadn't hit yet today, to get to Venable, wh is hot and had already homered in the game. And his best reliever (Nunez) never entered the game. Just bad strategy, and not only because Venable hit the second Mike Dunn pitch over Stanton in right to win the game.

I'm sure the Marlins won't miss San Diego. That's a season sweep and nine straight the Padres have taken from Florida.

I attended Trevor Hoffman's retirement ceremony, and will have more on that later tonight.

Padres head north to play the slumping Giants Tuesday.