I am so fired up about this team right now. The Union Tribune had an excellent article today, and it made me sooo excited about my boys. We’re not going anywhere this season, but we’re winning, and we’ve got a job to do.

Last night, we won again. We had amazing defense and pitching again. We got just enough runs to win again. Heath Bell saved the game again. Things are going great!!

Clayton Richard pitched one great game last night. He went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks. He didn’t allow that run until the seventh, when Josh Bard hit a homer against him.

I love Bardo. He was the first Padres autograph I got, and he’s a catcher. I adore catchers, and he was a great one. Well, not really. But I still love him. So I really don’t mind that he hit that homer off us last night. It was only his fourth of the year for goodness sakes!! Miss you, Bardo!!

In the bottom of the second, Kouz doubled and Will Venable singled to get our first run on the board. Yay Kouz!!

In the fifth, Kouz hit a sac-fly to drive in Everth with our second run. Yay Kouz!!

In the seventh, Oscar Salazar hit a pitch-hit solo homer. He has hit three pinch-hit homers this season. Our pinch hitters have been doing extremely well in the last few games.

In the bottom of the eighth, Drew Macias drove in our last insurance run.

Heath Bell went 1-2-3 to close the game and get his 33rd save of the season.

And so, we have now won three series in a row. They will finish up the series with a 2-for-1 day today.

Now, about our mission. We’re 21.5 games behind in the NL West right now, but we’re going to help determine who comes out on top. We’re going to play spoiler.

After an off-day tomorrow, we’ll be playing the Dodgers in LA, the Giants in San Fran, and the Rockies and Diamondbacks at homer. After going to Pittsburgh, we’ll be playing the Rockies at Coors, Arizona, and then back home to play the Dodgers and Giants. How ’bout that? We are playing our division rivals a ton this month.

Since we’ve started on this winning trend, we have hurt the playoff chances of Atlanta, Florida, Chicago, and Milwaukee. These guys are fired up, and they don’t want to just finish out this season. They want to use the opportunity they’ve been given to determine who’s going to win this West.

“We’ve talked, everyone is on the same page,” said second baseman David Eckstein. “We want to make some lives miserable. We’re looking forward to those games against the West.”

I love that. “We want to make some lives miserable.” They’ve got a huge chance to do some damage here. I think the Padres are going to be the deciding factor in who wins this division. I really do.

“We’re not just playing it out,” said Heath Bell. “We get to fight. It feels good when we beat contending teams. Last year at this time, I felt like we cashed it in – let’s not lose 100 games. This year, it’s been ‘let’s win.’ “

I think it’s going to be a great month. Unlike last year, when we were trying to stay away from 100 losses, we’re looking to win this year. It’s a different mentality, and different atmosphere in this clubhouse. I’m excited. 

So, game three today against the Nationals. K-Cor is pitching. He’d better do well.

GO PADRES!!

(thanks to the Union Tribune for quotes)