Odds and Ends on a Friday

A quick post for you:

1.  Reminder the second June San Diego SABR mini-regional meeting is Saturday - which happens to be tomorrow.  9:30 AM, La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave La Jolla 92037.  12-year and current MLB umpire Joe Cuzzi will be speaking to the group.

2.  Good luck to the US Soccer team against Slovenia this morning.

3.  The Padres are putting on a blood drive at the Hall of Champions today from 10-4.  From 1-2, Clayton Richard and Luke Gregerson are scheduled to be at the drive and signing autographs.

Finally, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  In many ways, fatherhood is the most thankless and yet rewarding job a man can have.  Here's to you trying to raise your children right.

Three and Five

MLB handed down their decision on Yorvit Torrealba's 'discussion' with home plate umpire Larry Vanover Monday night - 3 game suspension.  Yorvit was not amused, as quoted by Chris Jenkins:

If it’s a fine, all right, whatever, but three games is a little bit too much. One game, two games, I’m gonna get my lesson no matter what. But I don’t see umpires getting fined and I don’t see umpires getting suspended. They make a lot of mistakes.

Jon Garland had a choice comment too.  I love this one:

Garland said Wednesday that he’d pay Torrealba’s fine in appreciation for the catcher backing [him] up.

The Padres will appeal the suspension, but now that Torrealba has continued to rip the umpire in the press, I would not expect the length to get reduced.  I wonder if an appeal has ever resulted in the suspension getting longer.  For the record, good for Torrealba for expressing himself clearly, and when will MLB make the review of umpiring performance more transparent?  I think some level of public accountability with umpires who make repeated bad calls, are confrontational, and/or are inconsistent pitch-to-pitch or inning-to-inning would go a long way to restoring their reputation as a whole with the players and fans.

Short Rest and Short Tempers

To start last night's series with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Padres decided to thrown Jon Garland on three days (or short) rest.  Garland has not fared well in short rest situations; in fact, according to facts I heard after the game, he had only made 2 previous career starts on 3 days rest and was 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA.  Even if you are one who does not put a lot of stock in the traditional statistics (and as a general rule, I do not), those numbers do not portend to a good result.

So watching Garland labor through 3 innings while throwing 84 pitches was no surprise.  One would think throwing that many pitches meant he wasn't pitching well.  In fact, he got 6 of those 9 outs via strikeout.  The John Buck 2-run shot in the second hurt, but what really killed him was the walk to Toronto starter Shaun Marcum with two out in the same inning.  In fact, it appeared Marcum got a borderline pitch called a ball on a 2-2 count, then proceeded to walk.

It also appeared that call got to Garland - as evidenced by the 2 doubles he then gave up, and the two looks he gave home plate umpire Larry Vanover as he left the field.  Garland eventually made it through 5, and allowed only one hit the rest of the way (a two-out single to Lyle Overbay in the fifth).

In the meantime, the Padres were hitting home runs too - except theirs came with no one on.  Jerry Hairston Jr homered to lead off the third, an inning after he was left in the batters box while Will Venable was caught stealing.  Adrian Gonzalez homered leading off the fourth, cutting the deficit in half. 

The Curious Case of Edward Mujica came on, and while he didn't give up a tater, he didn't disappoint by allowing another run to score.  With the score 5-2 the Padres finally got a look at the game.  Singles by Scott 'Big Country'* Hairston and Venable sandwiched Yorvit Torrealba reaching on an error by the Toronto shortstop Alex Gonzalez**.

*The stadium PA system played 'Big Country' by Big Country before Hairston's first at bat in the second inning.  He will forever be known as Big Country on this blog.

** Yorvit wore out Gonzalez in this game - single to short, ground out to short, reach on an error by short.  He didn't get a chance to go for the quad though...

Unfortunately, the Hairston Jr just missed a Marcum fastball and popped out to left.  Not deep enough to score the run.  The Gwynn Jr then hit a slow roller to third.  A run scored, but there were two out.  Oscar Salazer's soft line out to center ended the majority of the drama for this game.

That is, until the earthquake hit in the eighth.  I truly was not worried until the tremor kept going and going.  The PA announcement to 'REMAIN CALM' did more to excite the crowd than the earthquake did.  Of course, I immediately said, to no one in particular, "They're not out of coffee are they?  THEY BETTER NOT RUN OUT OF COFFEE!!!" fully realizing no one under 40 would get that joke.  Judging from the high school kids looking at me quizzically, they didn't.

The final excitement was Torrealba's final at bat of the night, with Big Country on first and no one out.  Based on Torrealba's reaction the pitch was inside; my seats did not support a good angle to see the pitch. Vanover called it strike three and Yorvit went ballistic.  Vanover stuck his finger in Torrealba's face (here we go again), and Torrealba got right in his grill.  Yorvit also bumped the umpire a couple of times.

Yorvit's going to get fined and probably suspended, and that's too bad.  I'll save my umpire rant for the Podcast.*

*I'll also point out that on my last Podcast I stated the Blue Jays had never played San Diego.  That's wrong, they faced off in San Diego back in 2004.  The Padres have never played in Toronto.

The Curious Case of Edward Mujica

Edward Mujica has a bad case of Gopher-ball-itis in 2010, up to and including the decisive, mammoth shot he surrendered to Ike Davis on Tuesday in the eleventh.  Last year he gave up a home run about every 7 innings (14 in 93 2/3 innings pitched).  This year it's every four (8 in 29).  Is the 2010 trend a sign of worry?

For analysis like this, I find Fangraphs the best site to look at.  Comparing 2009 to 2010 we find:

• Mujica's K/9, BB/9, WHIP, and BABIP are all better this year than they were in 2009.  In some cases, significantly so (like BABIP is currently 100 points better, .213 from .316)
• He's throwing more ground balls (his GB/FB rate is up) and giving up fewer line drives (13.2% vice 17.2%0
• His velocities are about the same:
• Fastball averaging 92.4 (2010), 92.7 last year
• Slider averaging 82.1, 82.7 last year
• Split finger fastball averaging 87.5, 86.9 last year
• Hitters contact rates are virtually identical to what they were last year.  Hitters are swinging at more pitches out of the zone, and Mujica is getting more swinging strikes.

By those metrics, there really isn't an explanation.  The only thing I can find is he's throwing a lot more splitter this year (up about 15%) than last, and he's not throwing as many fastballs (down 9%) and sliders (down 5%).  I don't know if favoring the split has led to a higher HR rate (it doesn't make sense, because the split is evaluated as his best pitch right now) or not, but it's the only major change Mujica seems to have made in 2010.

All his metrics indicate he's pitching better, but he's getting hammered by the long ball.  Odd. 

5 June San Diego SABR meeting Wrap-up

As I promoted last week, the San Diego SABR Chapter hosted the first of two mini-regionals on June 5.  The focus of the meeting was Andy Strasburg's Fantography project, his effort to preserve for posterity those great baseball photos we all have that may never be seen outside our families or Vacation slide shows.

Yes I realize many of you have never sat through Vacation photos at someone else's house, and have never seen a slide projector.  Ah for the days when all you needed was a light bulb and a blank wall to look at photos, instead of an HD TV or a $200 photo frame a memory stick plugged into.  But I digress.

Thirty-two baseball enthusiasts made their way to La Jolla for the meeting. That's slightly above average for a San Diego SABR event, and many thanks to all who attended.  Andy presented some of the photos he has collected during the project, and back story for many of them.  After Andy's remarks, a couple of folks who had contributed their photos talked about the ones they had donated.

David Nuffer speaks to the group (Photo:  Andy Strasburg)

Howard Frank tells his story (Photo:  Andy Strasburg)

Bret Moutow.  Yes even Cubs fans are welcome here (Photo: Andy Strasburg)

I make the Cub crack tongue-in-cheek.  As you know from attending Cub games, they have a large and vocal following in these here parts.  Some of them attend our SABR meetings regularly, and they contribute a lot to the chapter and the discussion.

At any rate, the meeting ran about 60 minutes, with a lot of discussion after it broke up among the attendees and Andy.  Sounds like a great event, I'm sorry I missed it.

Our next mini-regional meeting will be 19 June with current MLB Umpire Joe Cuzzi.  Grab you Dad and head to the La Jolla library.

(Thanks to Tom Larwin for providing the photos in this post.)

Padres drop a heartbreaker on Strasmus Day

In case you couldn't tear yourself away from the ancient and royal festivities surrounding Strasmus Day in our Nation's capital, the Padres played a tense game last night in New York.

(They say Stephen Strasburg walked on the Potomac as part of his game preparation.)

A Chase Headley single and Adrian Gonzalez double with one out in the first started the Padres off, and for a long while it looked like it would be enough.  Clayton Richard threw very well and had a shutout with two out in the seventh, when Jose Reyes hit the tying HR to left (although that shot would have to be confirmed via replay).

(Strasburg free climbs the Washington Monument as part of his strength and conditioning program.)

San Diego had opportunities to forge ahead.  Lance Zawadzki doubled with one out in the eighth and was left.  Scott Hairston got to second thanks to a David Wright throwing error and was stranded.  David Eckstein singled and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but he stayed right there.  One only gets so many opportunities to win a game.

(Strasburg puts his pants on both legs at the same time without jumping.)

Based on bullpen usage during the Philadelphia series, Edward Mujica was the most rested arm down there as this game headed into extras.  Mujica has allowed the second most HR by a reliever in the NL behind only Juan Guitterez of Arizona, and he crept closer in that department as Ike Davis rounded the bases off him.  2-1 Mets in 11.

(Strasburg has sent his Mom flowers every day since he signed his ML contract.)

Coupled with another Dodger win, the Padres fell out of first place for the first time since April 19.  It doesn't get any easier for San Diego, they get Johan Santana again today.

The SABR mini-regional Saturday was a success, and I will have a post on that up later Wednesday.

Podcast time shift and San Diego SABR meetings

What a scintillating win for the Padres to close out a 9-game homestand - an Adrian Gonzalez walk-off Grand Slam.  The Padres went 6-3 over those nine games.  On May 24, these were the standings:

• Padres
• Dodgers 1 game back
• Giants 3.5 games back
• Rockies 4 games back
• D'backs 6.5 games back.

Here they are today:

• Padres
• Dodgers 1 game back
• Giants 3.5 games back
• Rockies 4 games back
• D'backs 12.5 games back.

It sucks when a team plays .667 ball and picks up no ground at all on their division.  Except the Diamondbacks, who might be the worst team in the NL right now.  It tells me the NL West is a much better division than I thought it would be coming into the season.  San Diego continues to have the best record in the league.

Two items for you today.  First, the Padres Trail Podcast is moving to 9pm Pacific starting tonight (that's 2100 for those of you in the military).  Although I'd like to say it's due to fan requests, it's actually because Burn Notice returns to USA tonight... at 10pm.  Three guesses where I'll be at 10:00.

Second item:  the San Diego SABR chapter has decided to start hosting 'mini-regional' meetings, in addition to our two semi-annual meetings.  The first of these two mini-regionals will be this Saturday, 5 June, at 10am, and will feature Andy Strasburg.  Andy is the Chapter Vice President, but he is two other things as well:  the creator of Fantography, currently on display at the SD Public Library Main Branch, and Roger Maris' biggest fan.

The second mini-regional will be 19 June at 9:30 am, and will feature current umpire Joe Cuzzi,  12-year MLB veteran.  Here's a unique opportunity to talk to one of the game's arbiters that may never pass your way again.  You can ask him about Jim Joyce if you want.

Both events will be held at the La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Avenue, La Jolla, CA, 92037.  Admission and parking are free.

I most likely won't make the 5 June meeting due to a previous engagement, but I'm going to move heaven and earth to be at the 19 June one.  If you go to either, PLEASE tell the man at the door you heard about it at Padres Trail!

Do The Padres Need A Hitter?

One of the impressive things about this Padre start is what they've been able to do without much offense.  Coming into Tuesday's action, they had the third lowest wOBA in the National League, yet sported the league's best record.  Naturally their somewhat (somewhat?) anemic offense has started calls for the team to pick up a bat.

Last January, the San Diego SABR chapter was pleased to have Merv Rettenmund speak at one of their semi-annual meetings.  During that meeting, Rettenmund mentioned how Petco Park is very difficult to hit in during April/May, but that the ball "jumps" better once the summer starts.  Since 81 games a year are played at Petco, the park should play a big role in the team's month-to-month wOBA numbers*.  That, coupled with this year's team, got me thinking.  Has the Padre offense improved when the weather warms up, and can the Padres rely on this improvement to give them the 'jump' of offense they need to contend this summer without acquiring another bat?

*Granted, the monthly numbers will be affected by the number of home/road games played in that particular month.  I did not look at the schedules for each month when conducting this analysis.

Thanks to Fangraphs, I took a look at the Padre team wOBA, month by month, since Petco Park opened.  I included Mar-May 2010 in the data set, and threw out the high and low value for each month.  Here's a graph of the averages.

What I find interesting about this graph is, on average, the Padres struggle MORE to get on base once the summer starts (here summer is defined to start on Memorial Day.  Nothing if not a traditional outlook at Padres Trail).  The team wOBA is worse in June and July than it was in March/April, and May.  Note the big jump in August, and that jump is consistent across seasons (and talent levels of teams).

This tells me, although the ball may travel better once June 1 rolls around, it doesn't start jumping until August 1, and the Padres will continue to struggle offensively through 2/3 of the summer.  The team can't wait until August for an offensive boost.  A lot can happen in 60 days, including the Padres sinking completely out of contention.

There are a couple of positions on the diamond (most glaringly, shortstop, Jerry Hairston Jr's 3 HRs in the last 8 games not withstanding) where the Padres would be better off with a better bat.  I'm sure that Jed Hoyer's team, with their renewed emphasis on building a team that fits in Petco, has a list of candidates that could improve the team if on this roster.  It's probably time to start seriously looking at those options.

This team will contend all season given their pitching and defense.  It would be fantastic for their offense to get some help, and get them into the post-season.

(Here's the complete data set)

Yet Another Series Win

This homestand has become exactly what the Padres needed.  Few predicted the team would win 2 of 3 from the powerful St Louis Cardinals, but they did.  Some hoped they'd win 2 of 3 from the resurgent Washington Nationals, but they have.  A quick series recap, in case you've been buried in barbeque this weekend:

• Friday, Clayton Richard gives up a 3-run HR to Josh Willingham which the Padres can't quite overcome.  In the ninth, San Diego scores a run and loads the bases with no one out (down by two), but the rally fizzles.
• Saturday, Nationals second baseman Adam Kennedy can't quite pick up a ground ball in the hole off Adrian Gonzalez's bat.  Chase Headley singles, and Nick Hundley homers to give the Padres an early 3-0 lead.  They win 4-2.
• Sunday, the Padres survived two solo homers by budding Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman to take the game in extra innings.  There another Kennedy error (again with two out, no less) let the Padres get the winning run to second, where rookie Lance Zawadzki singled him home.

So the Padres have taken 4 of 6 on the homestand, and remain in first place two ahead of Los Angeles.  Courtesy of a Cincinnati loss Sunday, they've reclaimed the best record in the league at 30-20.

Two other items for your perusal after the jump.

Can't Win Them All

Although it would be nice, you can't win them all.  When Bud Black stated he didn't think the bullpen would need reinforcements following last night's 13-inning game, it meant Wade LeBlanc would be out there for a while regardless of how poorly he pitched.

And he didn't pitch that poorly, all things considered.  Brendan Ryan had a big day off him (3 hits, including a HR in the fourth).  Albert Pujols homered.  The Padres, on the other hand, couldn't muster anything off Cardinal spot starter PJ Walters, and with no run support LeBlanc was doomed.  Adam Russell pitched two innings for the depleted bullpen and gave up 4 runs, taking the doubt out of the issue.  8-3 Cardinals in the finale.

Padres finished the series 2 for 25 with runners in scoring position, and still managed to win 2 of the 3 games.  That's one of the more ridiculous stats you'll see.  No Sacrifice Flies were hit with a runner on third throughout the 3-game series.

I was at this afternoon's game, but it was a seminal moment - I took my oldest to his first baseball game.  Needless to say we didn't watch the whole game, nor did we stay until the end.  But the boy did get a hit at the Park at the Park field, and we did walk around a lot, and he did eat a lot of Skittles.  A good day.  So, the rest of this post will be photos.

View from our seats.  I like the 1978 jerseys.

Jerry Hairston Jr and David Eckstein

Matt Holliday singled, then got thrown out trying to stretch it to a double, to end the fourth.  Here's LaRussa asking second base umpire Mark Wegner if he has pigeon shit in his eye.

Wade LeBlanc pitched as hard as he could, but it wasn't enough.  Here he is exiting the game in the sixth.

Pitching, Good Fortune, and a Hairston

Went to last night's game.  The Cardinal side of the story is posted here if you care to read it.

First, people driving downtown last night were a****les.  Unbelieveable.  I'm headed down 10th street to the Padres parking structure we usually use, and let a couple of folks in, you know, to be courteous.  Well apparently everyone else in the middle lane then thought I'd just let them in too.  One Padre fan was willing to risk damage to his Lexus SUV in order to cut me off (yes he did emerge unscathed).  Lesson learned:  drive like a jerk too.  It's sad society has come to this.  LA fans driving around were much better.

Okay, cleansing complete.  On to the game.

• Thank GOD Tony LaRussa likes to overmanage.  As Joe Posnanski said recently, he can't help himself.  Granted, hindsight is 20/20, but how much different would last night's game be if:
• Felipe Lopez isn't thrown out stealing in the first, or
• John Jay isn't thrown out at the plate to end the inning, or
• Kyle McClellan comes out instead of pitching to Matt Stairs (Stairs is 0-3, 3K lifetime against Trever Miller), or
• The contact play isn't on with first/third, 0 outs in the 11th.
• Matt Holliday was booed before his first at bat.  Way to go, Padre fans - never forget.  He STILL hasn't touched home plate.
• The Cardinals ended two innings (first and fourth) with a hit and a runner thrown out on the bases.  I don't think I've ever seen that happen twice in a game I attended.
• Dick Enberg pointed this out in the twelfth, and it's amazing:  The Padres are 0-15 this series with runners in scoring position.  They've won both games.  Wow.
• Kevin Correia was more like his old self (before running into Ubaldo Jimenez, Clayton Kershaw twice, sandwiched around the untimely death of his brother) in this game - 6 innings, 5K's.  He danced in and out of trouble for most of the night though.
• It was nice to see Bud Black's learned from recent history, and had Ryan Webb/Luke Gregerson up in the pen as the sixth inning started.  The sixth has by far been the worst inning for Correia - he's surrendered 10 runs in that frame alone.  When Correia loses it, it's not a gentle degrade - he goes bad in a hurry.  You gotta be ready with a quick hook once he gets that deep into the game.
• I've never sat through a more painful inning (for both teams) than the fifth.  Both teams brought their clean up hitter to the plate with the bases loaded.  Both struck out.  Both had a borderline pitch called a strike during the at-bat.  Both wear #7.  Odd.
• You want to make fun of the Padre bullpen?  Don't.  Gregerson/Mike Adams/Heath Bell struck out 7 hitters between them.  Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica bent but didn't break in extras, although Webb was helped by more bonehead Cardinal baserunning.
• I didn't know Adrian Gonzalez had that kind of speed.
• I looked down to update my scorecard, and the next thing I know Stairs has hit the ball in the gap.  He couldn't have thrown it out there in a better spot than rolling the ball under the 401 sign in left-center.  Tremendous theater.
• Tip your cap to Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick.  Those were great at-bats against Bell, who was throwing gas (96 repeatedly on the fastball).
• Luis Durango ALMOST got to the ball Schumaker hit.  In one of a 1000 'what-if's' from this game, what if Durango had given ground and held Schumaker to a single?  Don't know.  Perhaps the inning is different, perhaps not.

Quote of the night comes from Jack in the Box:  "Buy me some peanuts and Sourdough Jacks."  This made me laugh.

Quote of the night #2:  Mark Grant "Hey Dick, what's your scorecard look like?"  Enberg:  "It looks like I left it in the rain."

PJ Walters vs Wade LeBlanc today at 3:35.  Walters is making his first start of the season, and the second start of his major league career (the last was 17 April 09 at Wrigley).  LeBlanc looks to bounce back from a horrible outing in Seattle.  Padres go for the sweep.

Garland, Defense Shut Down Cardinals

Jon Garland walked the high wire, and came away unscathed.   Especially in the first inning.

Before we get to that, a quick comment.  Darren Smith, on the Padre BP show, talked about last year's Cardinal/Padre finale and the Will Venable/Albert Pujols dust-up at first base.  He shed some additional light on that event; apparently AP tends to straddle the first base line when recording outs at first, so the Padres were told to go through him.

Smith, in attempting to recall the specifics of the event, said it occured in September, on Sunday, and the Padres won.  Not quite.  Happened on a Sunday?  Yes.  But, it was 23 Aug 09, and the Padres lost 5-2.  It helps my memory that Smoltz struck out a career best 7 consecutive hitters, and that it was Ryan Franklin's last save in 2009, AND that I wrote about it over here.  Come on Darren.  I know you're a St John's* alum, but you're better than that.

* A little Big East dig, since I went to Villanova.

Garland labored through the first, but got the big strikeouts when he needed them.  His defense backed him up by turning 3 double plays during his seven innings.  Jerry Hairston, Jr, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and hit his first 2010 HR - off Cardinal ace Adam Wainwright, no less.  Another example of the Padres doing just enough to win.

Mike Adams threw an uneventful eighth, and Heath Bell negotiated an interesting ninth (exacerbated by the strike zone, if Ted Leitner/Andy Mazur are to believed) to get the save.

Last night was the third 1-0 win this season by San Diego.  That's the most since 2007, when they won 5 such games.  The franchise record for 1-0 wins is 6, set in 1985.

If I had anything to nit-pick, it would be Adrian Gonzalez striking out 4 times.  However, considering the first three came against the 2009 Cy Young runner-up, that's not much of a nit.

Kevin Correia looks to snap his personal 3-game losing streak tonight against Jamie Garcia.  This will be Kevin's second start at Petco against the Cardinals; he lost the first one 7-0 to Chris Carpenter.  He is 1-2 in 3 career starts facing St Louis.  Five current Redbirds have at least 8 Plate Appearances against him:

1. Felipe Lopez (29 PA):  .200/.286/.280
2. Matt Holliday (25 PA):  .304/.360/.609
3. Albert Pujols (13 PA):  .400/.538/.500
4. Yadier Molina (9 PA):  .143/.250/.143
5. Skip Schumaker (8 PA):  .429/.500/.571

I'll be at the ballpark tonight.  Hope to see you there.

My coverage of the game from the Cardinal perspective can be found here.  Yes the content is different.

Odds and ends and the Cardinals

Well the Latos/Hernandez duel was pretty good, with Latos getting the better of it.  Of course, it didn't hurt the Mariners put a woefully weak lineup on the field for that game (and if you don't read USS Mariner, you should), and their bullpen combusted in the eighth.  Considering the Padres got ambushed on Friday night, taking 2 of 3 over the weekend was a nice turnout.

Coupled with a Dodger loss, and our Friars find themselves still in first as we start play this week.  This is becoming a trend.

This will be a short 'catch up' post, where I make a couple of announcements.  First, we've added two new players to the Juan Eichelberger All-Stars:  Milton Bradley and Chase Utley.  Anytime a player exists with the name of a major board gaming company of my youth they are automatically inducted on this roster.  If there was a McGraw Hill or a Parker Brothers playing at the major league level, they'd be on the team too.  Chase Utley sounds like a guy with 'a tea cup on [his] lap and ticker-tape coming out of [his] ears'* as opposed to the best power-hitting second baseman in the game.  That's enough.  Also, with Yuri playing short, we need some help up the middle.

*Can anyone name the movie that line appears in?  I'll give something to the winner.  Not sure what, but it'll be nice.

Second, I've been asked to write about the Padres over at Baseball Digest.com, and have accepted.   My first story went up today.  I hope to make it a regular weekly feature over there.

Finally, since the next Padre opponent is the other MLB team I blog about, I am going to try something daring:  do a game recap for each of the 3 Cardinal/Padre games from the perspective of each team's fanbase.  I don't think this has been attempted anywhere ever by the same writer.  It might suck, it might be great, it might cause the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy to happen 2 years early - I don't know.  But it'll be fun nonetheless.

The Cardinals are scuffling right now but are still one of the most dangerous teams in the league.  St Louis has had some success at Petco (10-9 against the Padres since the park opened).  Adam Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in the NL, and the ace of the Cardinal staff.  Jon Garland has his work cut out for him, because the Padre offense won't get much from Adam.  Jamie Garcia is an early favorite for Rookie of the Year.  The other Cardinal starter is unsettled; both Brad Penny (who's turn it would be) and Kyle Lohse are on the DL after injuries suffered this weekend.  From the Cardinal perspective, it's great to bring a kid up and pitch in a pitcher's ballpark.  From the Padre perspective, it's fresh meat.

Amazingly, this series will pit two division leaders against each other (amazing because none of us expected the Padres to be in first place the week before Memorial Day) You'd think that'd mean a Wednesday Night Baseball gig, right?

No, it'll be Yankees/Twins.  What-ever.

Well That's More Like It

OK, first a mea culpa.  I spent last week in TAP class.  TAP stands for Transition Assistance Program, and is one of many things the military offers folks getting ready to 'transition' prepare for life on the outside.  The class was great, but it also meant I had to do actual work in the evenings - so I didn't get to write much.

Friday is softball night in these here parts, so I was able to listen to the game on the drive up to Hourglass.  I got out of the car with the Padres down 3-2 and Wade LeBlanc in a heck of a jam.  I got back in the car in time to hear San Diego score ... and make the score 15-5 Mariners.  Of all the things I thought would happen during Friday night's game, 23 runs and 30 hits combined did not enter into my calculations.

I don't think Wade LeBlanc enjoys his trips to Seattle.

Tonight's game was much more like what I expected when two of the weakest offenses in baseball hooked up.  Matt Stairs popped a couple of stitches on the ball he hit, didn't he?  True to form, the winning run scored on a wild pitch (USS Mariner has been rather vocal regarding the state of play by Seattle catchers this season.  Josh Bard has been the best of the bunch).  I thought Heath Bell was going to blow the save, but he managed to strike out Milton Bradley and get Casey Kotchman to ground out to end the game with runners on the corners.

So the Padres stay tied for first with Los Angeles, and open up a 2.5 game lead on San Francisco.

Tomorrow's game should be a doozy - Mat Latos and Felix Hernandez.  Looking forward to it.

5/15 Game Recap: Dodgers vs Padres

Went to tonight's ball game.  It did not turn out like I had hoped, as San Diego lost to LA 4-1.  This is not your normal recap.

1. Since the game was advertised a sellout, I felt we had to get there early.  So, my father-in-law and I left for the ballpark at 3:20 pm.  Thanks to little traffic, we were parked by 3:50 and in the ballpark by 4.
2. Hot Dogs and soda.  mmmmm.
3. The section immediately to our right was loaded with Dodger fans.  Also, the 4 folks immediately behind us were LA fans as well.  They rooted for their team with gusto, and got obnoxious from time to time, but I really didn't have a problem with any of that.  Having spent a great deal of time rooting for favorite teams in opposing ballparks, so long as they aren't in my face or throwing things at people I'm good.  Of course, as the game went on and the Dodgers put a hammer lock on the outcome, they got more and more vocal.  And after the game?  Whooo boy.  Lots of chanting and heckling as they exited the building.
4. Why give out 'Beat LA' t-shirts that are blue?  Yes it was a dark blue, but the Dodgers wear blue too.  Why not Sand (or, egads, brown/yellow)?  Make it stand out, marketing gurus.
5. Also, 'Beat LA' is what they chant in San Francisco at Giants games, and in Boston at Celtics games.  I think the chant originated in the Boston Garden during the 1980s NBA finals, but I could be wrong.  We need something different and original here to poke at the Dodgers.

Some game notes follow next.

Giant Killers

Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Padres would win the first six games of the season from the Giants, but that is exactly what has happened.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Padres would have the best record in the NL after 34 games, but that is exactly what has happened.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think Mat Latos would beat the Giants twice by a 1-0 score, but that is exactly what has happened.

I don't know if this is an indictiment of my dreams or the Padres are a better team than believed before the season started.

On the Podcast last night we talked about some potential problems the Padres have that could derail this strong start.  The superior pitching (starters due to regress, bullpen perhaps not).  Kyle Blanks' struggles at the plate.  The offensive hole at shortstop.  I also pointed out, however, the Pythagorean record for these Padres is 23-11.  Their actual record is 22-12.  This isn't a fluke, folks - they're playing as well as their record reflects.

Whether it's sustainable or not for the bulk of the season remains to be seen.  Fangraphs' Jack Moore posted today on how wide open the NL is in 2010 - seriously, almost everyone has a shot right now.  Should the Padres come back to earth and play .500 ball the rest of the way, they'll win 86 games.  That might be good enough this year to win the Wild Card.

Some food for thought as we head into our first series with the Dodgers this weekend:

• San Diego has had a few longer winning streaks against the Giants.  To wit:
• Seven straight in 1982 (4/14 to 6/27),
• Ten straight in 1996 (5/1 to 9/16),
• Eight straight in 2007 (6/26 to 9/16).
• San Diego has never won the first 6 games of a season series from the Giants, though.
• Oddly (and as pointed out by Jerry Coleman I believe), both series with the Giants have produced the same game scores:  one game 3-2, one game 5-2, and one game 1-0.
• Jonathan Sanchez is probably talking to himself.  In his two starts against San Diego this year, he's thrown 15 innings, struck out 15 Padres, allowed 5 hits and 2 runs.  He's lost both games.

I don't know when the last time was a pitcher threw consecutive 1-0 victories against the same team.  I tried to do a search on Baseball Reference, and the Play Index feature laughed at me.  Here's what I did find:

• Since 1969 there have been 38 games decided 1-0 where the winning pitcher threw 9 innings gave up only 1 hit.
• Since 1920 there have been 209 games where the visitor threw a complete game and one-hit the home team.
• Of those 209 games, in only 29 the visiting pitcher threw the one-hitter and won 1-0.
• It was last done to the Giants at home (albeit in Candlestick) on August 20, 1986, by Don Corman of the Philadelphia Phillies.
• It was last done to the Padres at home (in Jack Murphy) on August 3, 1983, by Nolan Ryan of Houston.
• It has been done before by a Padre - the immortal Dan Spillner did it in Wrigley of all places, on June 19, 1974.  It was one of 2 shutouts he threw in a year he went 9-11.

Here's the coolest stat.  The last time a pitcher won a game on the road 1-0, threw a complete game one hitter, and drove in the lone run was June 26, 1955, when the Kansas City A's Alex Kellner beat Baltimore's Jim Wilson in old Memorial Stadium.  Oddly, the #8 hitter that day (catcher Joe Alstroth) doubled and Kellner followed with a single, exactly like what happened yesterday with Zawadski and Latos.

Coupled with his first start against Jonathan Sanchez, Mat Latos has now twice been involved in something this season not seen at the Major League level in at least 35 years.  Yesterday's game was more impressive because it's been 60 years since a pitcher did that.

He's killing the Giants in new and inventive ways.

Padres start a 5 game homestand tonight.  Saturday's game is sold out, and I'll be there.  Get out to the stadium and root on the best team in the NL.  They deserve it.

Still in first - YEE HA

First some administrative items.  We have a shortstop for the Juan Eichelberger All-Stars, and he is Yuniesky Betancourt.  Remember, this is all about the NAME, not the PLAYER.  Because if it was about the player, Betancourt'd be DFA'd today.  We also have a back-up catcher:  Humberto Quintero.  I love this name; it sounds like the nom-de-plume of a Roman Emperor.

Back to the Padres.  They won 2 of 3 from a bad Astro team over the weekend, which made me smile.  They could have swept, but Mujica decided to test the 'Minute Maid Park is a Band Box' theory (and he was proven wrong), and Jerry Hairston AIR-MAILED a throw to first in the ninth (which led to an unearned tying run).  Life goes on.

I have one complaint about this series, only one complaint really, and that is why was Jon Garland lifted after 7 innings and 83 pitches on Saturday night?  At the time he left, Garland had allowed 3 baserunners (2 hits and a walk), had retired the heart of the Houston order in the seventh, and had retired 7 of the last 8 hitters (he walked Keppinger to start the seventh, then retired him on a double play off the bat of Carlos Lee) he faced.

Eighty-three pitches is the fewest Garland has thrown in a game this season.  Why take him out?  Adams came in and gave up a run in the eighth, which further irked me.  Thankfully Bell slammed the door in the ninth.

I don't understand the 'setup man/closer' mentality when the starter is rolling along.  You never know when you might need to tax the bullpen in the future, so if you can rest everybody behind a dominating performance by the starter, I think you should.  Sadly the Padres had to go with an emergency starter on Sunday (Correia missed his start due to a family tragedy), which meant they needed all hands on deck.

Granted, Adams/Bell pitching on Saturday didn't figure into why the team lost on Sunday (see Mujica and Hairston, who we discussed above), but the next time it might not work out that way.  It just seemed foolish to me.

Padres start a 3-game set in San Francisco tonight.  First place is on the line.  I hope we can still say that when the Padres/Giants hook up in August - that'd be really cool.

Pitching Pitching and More Pitching (and lots of links!)

First, if haven't seen this team play (and judging by the attendance, you haven't), the Padres have managed to win a few games here and there.  With last night's 3-2 win, they sit 1.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West.

How are they doing it?  Not so much with the bat (19th overall in team AVG, 19th in wOBA, 19th in OPS), although they are 13th in BABIP.

Nope, it's been all about the pitching (4th in FIP, 1st in xFIP, 3rd in ERA).  In this series, they've had to have the pitching, because they've scored only 5 runs against the Colorado Rockies (while allowing 7), and yet have split the first two games of the series.

Kevin Correia pitched well Monday, but Ubaldo Jimenez was flat-out better.  That happens.

Speaking of Jimenez, Ubaldo Jimenez is one of the great names in baseball today, along with Yorvit Torrealba.  As such, they are now charter members of the Juan Eichelberger All-Stars, dedicated to recognizing great MLB player names.  Have a nominee?  Leave it in the comments.  Needs to be a current player, unless it's one of such superior quality it transcends time. 

Wade LeBlanc - 6 innings, 2 ER, 4 K?  Slacker.  Actually, he continues to strengthen his case for staying in the rotation long-term.  Had the Padres cashed in on any of the numerous chances Greg Smith created for them, Wade could have been the winning pitcher in this one.  Wade is second only to Correia in xFIP among the starters; in fact, the two of them are the only starters with xFIP's under 4.00.

We've talked a lot about LeBlanc vs Latos in the rotation; the original post on the subject generated discussion at at least three different Padres websites.  One of the Ducksnorts commenters suggested, should CY be activated, the odd man out be Sean Gallagher.  Based on his numbers, that makes a lot of sense.  As far as who would go to the pen in his place, I'd think I'd keep riding the hot hand in the rotation and send Latos there.  That, of course, is subject to change based on how the season progresses.

Speaking of Chris Young...

Mow them down

Our season ticket package included tonight's game, and needless to say it portended to be a doozy.  Ubaldo Jimenez, you may have read, is pretty good; something about 5-0, 0.79 ERA, and a no-hitter coming into the game.  Kevin Correia has won his last 4 starts after losing his first in Colorado.  AND, I have both on my NL-only Rotisserie team.  Oh, goody.  Except that life intervened, and we couldn't make the game.  Luckily I had an inkling this might happen, and set the TIVO to record it, which I watched on fast forward (always an interesting way to watch a game).

It's one thing to watch Yovani Gallardo strike out 11 Padres with a large assist from the home plate Umpire.  It's quite another to watch someone strikeout 13 by completely overpowering the Padres.  Ubaldo overpowered the Padres.  Joe Posnanski famously predicted Ubaldo Jimenez would win the NL Cy Young.  Seeing as he's started 6-0 this season, it's easy to see why, and agree with him.

As dominant at Jimenez was, the Padres had their chances.  First and third, two out in the first (Venable strikes out swinging - albeit strike 2 and 3 were check-swing strikes courtesy of the appeal to third)  Hairston left at third in the second (he made it there with one out).  Torrealba left at second in the third.  Gwynn Jr left at third in the fourth.  After Gwynn was stranded, however, Rockie pitchers retired 12 in a row; by then, there were two out in the ninth and the Padres trailed 5-1.

You can't win them all.  Had we been there, we would have seen the Padres lose for the second time this season; they've lost 4 times at home all year.  So apparently, I should be allowed in the building for all Home Openers (having seen the Padres score 10 or more runs in an inning on Opening Day twice), and not for any other game (I'm 1-2 in the other 3 games, the Padres are 9-4 at home since the Opening Day blowout).

Today's interesting tidbit (and thanks for reading this far).  Last night marked the 84th time at least 14 Padres have struck out in a game.  They've also struck out 29 times combined in two separate games over a span of three days or less several times in their history (courtesy of the team batting game finder feature at Baseball Reference):

• June 17 and 19, 2008 (Yankees)
• May 23 and 25, 2008 (Reds - San Diego actually won the game on the 25th, 12-9, although they struck out 19 times in that game)
• 14/15 May, 2008 (Cubs) (BOY that 2008 team struck out a lot)
• 21/22 Apr 2006 (Mets - won the 21 Apr game 2-1)
• 6 and 8 July, 1995 (Astros)

Hoffman Saves win for Rob Drake - home plate umpire

Yovani Gallardo pitched a great game - 1 ER, 121 pitches, 11K.  Interestingly, 7 of those strikeouts were looking.  Having watched most of the game, I thought home plate umpire Rob Drake called a generous left corner (as I looked at it through the CF camera).  Pitches off the plate, from belt high to a baseball width below the knees, on that corner were called strikes. 

As a result, fourteen Padres were punched out, along with eight Brewers.  Of the 54 outs recorded, 22 were by strikeout.  And they say umpires can't have an effect on the game.

We also learned what it takes to wake up the normally sedate Padre crowd:  Adrian Gonzalez getting ejected.  Jerry Hairston Jr's reaction after being called out to end the sixth didn't to it, but Adrian arguing about his second called strike three did.  All the strike 3 pitches were off the plate, at least, based on the excellent view I had from my couch.


Why is it umpires today feel the need to return fire when a player questions a ball/strike call?  Did Drake really need to point at Gonzo while Headley was shepherding Adrian to the dugout?  Gonzo's an All-Star and one of the best players in the NL, so you decide to take issue with HIS arguing, as opposed to Hairston Jr who has a little less notoriety?

At any rate, the fans really got on Drake after that.  At least until Hoffman came in.  It's tough for me to watch Trevor pitch against the Padres, given how many games he saved for the Padres during his career.  Hoffman has struggled on the mound this season, blowing at least 4 saves I can remember.  But he was able to retire the Padres in order tonight for the win.

There's been a lot of bad umpiring behind the plate in this series, and tomorrow we get Joe West.  Yee Ha.