I'm blaming this one on Roy Oswalt.

I bet Jake Peavy was going crazy in the dugout. Sitting there on the bench with his ankle in a cast, he was probably itching to be out there, knowing that he should be the one on the mound pitching against his buddy. He must have been ragging on Roy all night after the game over the phone, but what Oswalt did to the Padres was no laughing matter. It was amazing.

Roy pitched the whole game, allowing two hits and one run. That run came in on a wild pitch. That just goes to show how good he was. Man, TWO hits?? Goodness. We were utterly shut down. Roy had a excellent outing.

On the Padres side, Josh Geer wasn't bad, but he wasn't good enough. He threw seven innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He didn't walk a batter though, which was great.

Greg Burke and Cla Meredith each threw a scoreless inning.

But the game ended with a 3-1 Astros score. It should be said, though, that the Padres hit some balls really well, but were robbed by some great defense. 

And so, we lost. We are now 15 games behind the Dodgers, by the way. We gained a couple games over the weekend, but those Dodgers keep winning and winning. And watch out - the Manny is coming back this weekend against the Padres. I think we may have a sold-out weekend...

Just because you wanted to know, Kouz is slightly growing out his beard right now and IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!  AHHHHH!! I love it when he does that. He doesn't look that great clean-shaven. He looks so great with a beard!! But of course, he looks great all the time :D

Well, Josh Banks is going to start against Mike Hampton. Banks hasn't started for us a while, but I'm pretty sure he started last year. I'm not sure how well he did, but he must have had some decent outings. It will be very interesting to see how he does.

GO PADRES!!!   

On Saturday, my Padres came up with a great win. Kevin Correia pitched like the ace he is. He threw seven innings, allowing three runs with nine strikeouts. He was gooood.

The offense backed him up really well, so there wasn't much pressure. In the second, we got three runs on five hits, including doubles by David Eckstein and Kyle Blanks.

 It was a great, great game. We had a season-high 16 hits. Eckstein, Blanks, Blanco, and Cabrera each had two hits. Kouz and Chase Headley each had three. Scott Hairston was the only one who didn't have a hit, but he made some spectacular catches in center field. He was robbing out there! 

Edward Mujica and Mike Adams were great out of the bullpen. It was overall just a great, well-played game.

But what a game we got on Sunday. Even better than Saturday's. It was clean, simple, quick, but boy was it good.

Chad Gaudin allowed a hit with one out in the bottom of the first...and then he didn't allow a thing for the rest of the game. He had nine strikeouts in eight innings. He was so good, it's incredible. This pitcher is not the same pitcher we saw earlier in the year. Man, what a great pitching performance by Gaudin!!

I mean, he threw a ONE hitter!! Man, that was great.

On the offensive side, it was all Scott Hairston. I bet he was pretty upset about not getting any hits on Saturday, so he got them on Sunday. He went 3-for-4 with a single, double, and home run. He drove in our only two runs.

Goodness, that is a REALLY funny picture!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Kouz: High five? Scotty: People to see, places to go... 

Anyways, Chase Headley and Kyle Blanks each had two hits. I've been really pleased with Blanks. He's really getting into a groove.

Heath Bell came in the ninth, walking a batter, but turned a 1-4-3 double play to win the game, 2-0.

It was a great, great game. The pitching was incredible. We did leave quite a few runners on, but we got just enough.

And so, we won a series for the first time since May 25-27 against the Diamonbacks. Yeah, it had been a while. And now we're done with interleague!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!! That is so exciting. We were 5-10 in interleague play. We didn't really survive, but we're done with it. Whew.

Tonight we are going to be back home. YES!!!! That's huge. Anyways, we're playing the Astros for three, then the Dodgers and the return of the Manny.

Where on earth did Mariano Rivera come from?? I mean, he got his 500th save last night. What's up with that?? Ahem, Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader, and I mean ALL-TIME. I don't think anyone should overtake him or I will be quite upset. Goodness. You'd better get pumping, Trevor, 'cause you've got a guy right on your heels!!

I would like to share a few pictures that my sister took of a baseball. Believe me, they're amazing. She has a really cheap camera, but she's really got a talent with that photography thing.

 That's Trevor Hoffman's autograph. Good job sista!!!

Well, it's Josh Geer vs. Roy Oswalt tonight. I really hope we can extend the two-game winning streak!!

Isn't it amazing what your team does when you threaten to boycott them? :)

GO PADRES!!!

Last night, Anthony "Tony" Gwynn Jr. hit his first Major League home run.

It was the top of the first, with a count of 3-2 and no outs, when Tony slammed that ball down the right field line and out of there. So cool for Tony!!

He's not known as a home run hitter (DUH!!), he's more of a small ball guy. But that's gotta be great for him to get that first major league home run finally out of the way. And I'm so glad he got it in a Padres uniform, instead of that other team who barely gave him a chance.

12 years ago to the day (yesterday), Tony Gwynn Sr. hit an inside-the-park grand slam. Very, very cool. We've been waiting for Anthony to become a Padre for a very long time, and I am so glad he's here. He's been really good for us so far this season, and I can't wait to see what else he does for us.

Tony's defense has also been great. Last night, he made an excellent sliding catch in foul territory, then threw to second to double off the runner. It was great.  

David Eckstein had two hits last night. This guy has been soooo good!! He's hitting so well, it's incredible. Great pickup, Padres!!

Ok, so right now, I am not happy with my Padres. So not happy that I'm slightly boycotting them. I refuse to listen to this junk on the radio. They're not going to play good baseball, I'm not going to listen to it. I don't need the depression. Sure, you should never let the score effect a good time at the ballpark, but this is getting ridiculous. I just can't listen to it, so I won't. 

I am so thankful that interleague is almost over, but I think we're done. I predicted before this nightmare started that if we can't get through this, our season will be done. I mean, I don't know if being done with interleague will solve all our problems. It doesn't work that way. The pitching is pathetic now, and playing NL teams is not going to fix that. 

We're 16 games behind, and the Dodgers are showing no signs of slowing down. I still think that the Dodgers will have to fall apart sometime, but I don't think my Padres could make up that distance, not with the way they're playing right now. 

Maybe being done with interleague will help them. Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't see it happening. Not when you have terrible starting pitching, and rookies who aren't hitting in the lineup. Not when you're bullpen gives up tons of runs. Not this team. These Padres are doing nothing but proving what people expected of them: that they would be a terrible losing team. 

And so, until these guys start getting their act together, I'm going to keep away from the radio. I don't want to hear this PATETIC baseball. It's not worth it. 

Well, tonight we have our ace Kevin Correia pitching, so I'm allowing myself a tiny bit of hope that we might actually play well. We'll see. 

Oh, by the way, we lost 12-2 last night. 

GO PADRES!!!! 

Let this be a lesson to us all: if you don't pitch well, you get sent down.

Wade LeBlanc had a bad outing the last time out. He only pitched three innings, giving up three runs. But the Padres gave him a second chance, and boy did he blow it. He only went 1.1 innings yesterday, giving up four runs on five hits with three walks.

Immediately after the game, he was demoted to Triple-A. Take that!

I am very glad that the Padres would not let him stay. They were swift in their judgement. The guy didn't get his job done, so he was sent back to where he came from. That's good, very good.

Josh Banks, who threw 3.1 innings yesterday, giving up two runs on three hits, is expected to take LeBlanc's spot in the rotation.

Joe Thatcher threw a scoreless 1.1 innings, but Cla Meredith gave up three huge runs in his two innings. By that time, the Padres were fighting back, only down three runs. But Cla gave the Mariners a six-run advantage.

In the top of the sixth, the Padres got a two-run homer from Chase Headley to get on the board. In the seventh, Edgar Gonzalez hit a home run to cut the lead to 6-3. The Padres then proceeded to leave the bases loaded in that inning.

Have you ever thought about how lonely/annoying it is to be a runner LOB? Let's take Kevin Kouzmanoff in the fourth. He led off the inning with a booming ground-rule double.

So Kouz is standing there, no outs, he's gotta expect to be driven in eventually (but if he knew our hitters, maybe not). He has to be fully concentrating on the plate in case someone hits the ball, but he also has to be laughing and joking with the Mariners' shortstop at the same time. He has to be sure to stand on the bag, and if there's a fly ball, he has to remember to tag up, and on top of all that, he needs to keep an eye out for his third base coach.

Chase Headley comes to the plate. Chase is batting righty, so he might hit a ball to the left side. If so, Kouz will have to stay clear of the ball, which would hinder his already-slow progress to third and possibly home.

Chase hits a few fouls and takes a ball. Then he grounds out right to shortstop. Kouz scrambles back to the bag so he doesn't get picked off, but he didn't get moved to third, which was Chase's job.

Next up is Kyle Blanks. The first pitch he gets is lined down the left field line. Kouz takes off, but it's just foul. Grrr. Kouz trots back, joking some more with the shortstop.

Two foul balls later, Kyle zinged a ball that was heading for the left field corner. Kouz took off, elated to be able to score. But then Adrian Beltre caught the ball. Kouz trots back to second, breathing heavily now.

Next up, Edgar Gonzalez. Definitely has home run power. First two pitches, foul. Next three pitches, balls. OK, with a full count and two outs, Kouz is running like mad between second and shortstop area. Back and forth, back and forth. Foul ball, running. Trotting back. Heaving ho. And then, finally, a swinging strike.

Kouz sighs, waiting for the ballboy to bring his hat and glove. He boomed a double, no outs, ran back and forth from second and third way to many times, wore himself out, but all for naught. Such is the life of a Padres baserunner.

Scary thing is, we left nine men on base yesterday. We were 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Situations like Kouz's are happening every day in Padres land. The question is, how are we going to stop it?

We need to get more timely hits. Simple as that. Once we get a runner on bases with two or less outs, he should expect to be driven in. And the hitters should expect to rack up their RBI stats. We got two home runs yesterday, but that was about it.

Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit except Scott Hairston and David Eckstein, but they were not timely hits. Henry Blanco had two hits, which was great.

Scott Hairston and Buddy Black were ejected in the third for arguing balls and strikes. Good job guys!! Too bad it didn't completely fire up the team.

So, we lost the series. I was not very happy with this team in the past two games. They were not good at all.

Tonight we are in Texas to play the Rangers. It's going to be a fascinating series. We'll probably get swept. Anyways, hope you can figure out what's going on, boys! If you can't get things together, I'm not listening. So get it going.

Walter Silva is pitching against Kevin Millwood. Silva better go more than five innings or else.

GO PADRES!!!  

Three-run homers are one of the most dreaded hits in baseball when they are hit against your team. Three runs is a lot, and to be able to get that many runs in one swing is a huge advantage for the team who hit it.

Last night, Josh Geer had a great outing, but his night was ruined by one swing: a three-run homer by Russell Branyan.

Josh threw well. He went six innings, allowing only those three runs from the homer, with three walks and three strikeouts.

Mike Adams threw a scoreless inning. But Edward Mujica took a tied game and gave it away. He allowed Franklin Gutierrez's seventh homer of the season to give the Mariners the lead. Gutierrez has hit four home runs against the Padres!! Crazy. 

In the top of the second, the Padres got on the board thanks to my boy, Kevin Kouzmanoff! He hit his tenth homer of the season, a two-run blast that went 414 feet!!

Good job, Koozie :)

That gave the Padres a 2-0 lead. But the Mariners came back with the Russell homer. 

In the fifth, Tony Gwynn drove in Will Venable to tie the game. But then Mujica gave up the home run, and that was that. We lost 4-3. 

Scott Hairston threw out a runner at home, which was really cool. All of our hitters had one hit except Chase Headley and Scotty. We played well, but we didn't get enough. 

But I am very pleased with the way the Padres have been playing in the last two games. I mean, this is more like it. This is what I'm used to; the Padres win the first game, the opposing team wins the second game, and then the Padres win the rubber game and the series. 

In 2007, that's what I could expect from the team every series. I always knew they could win two out of three, and it seemed like they followed a certain pattern. I haven't been able to expect that for a long time, so this feels really good. I just hope they can stick to the plan. 

Today Wade LeBlanc is pitching against Jarrod Washburn. LeBlanc was OK in his first start of the season last Friday, but he needs to go deeper into the game today. We really really need that from him. It's a day game, so that will be cool. Let's get this boys!!

I wanted to give a quick update on Trevor, since I haven't in a while. Trevor had 17 saves in 18 opportunities this season (Heath has 20. HA!). He's been good with the Brewers, and I really am happy for him, in a sad way. I'm glad that he's having a good season, and that he's healthy. And I still really really hope he comes back for at least a few games next season. We've got to get him back in a Padres uniform. We miss you Trevor!!

GO PADRES!!  

Oh boy. What a game.

If you love those suspensive, nail-biting, ain't-over-til-it's-over type of games, you would have loved last night's game between the Padres and the Mariniers.

Take the second inning, for instance. Starting pitcher Chad Gaudin allowed three straight singles with no outs. He walked a batter to drive in the first run of the game. And he got out of the inning with no further damage, against Ichiro for goodness sakes!!

Take the ninth innning. In the eighth, the Mariners got four runs off of Greg Burke to make a seemingly safe lead of 9-2 suddenly very close at 9-6. Heath Bell came in to save the game. He gave up a run and had the potential winning run at the plate. It was so stressing!! But he pulled it out, and he got his 20th save.

In the fourth inning, Adrian hit his 24th homer of the season to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. We got two more runs in the fifth. Henry Blanco doubled and Everth Cabrera drove him in with a single. Then, with David Eckstein batting, Everth stole second AND third. Eck drove him in with a single.

In the sixth, we got five runs. Kouz hit a single and Chase Headley ground-rule doubled. Two walks, three singles, and a sac-fly later, we had a 9-1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a homer, but Chad Gaudin was cruising. After that scary second, he really settled down. He threw seven innings, allowing four hit and two runs, striking out 11. Definitely his best outing of the year, and maybe his career. Hey, look!! Our starting pitching is getting better!!

But the bullpen was not that great last night. Greg Burke allowed four runs to get the Mariners back into the game, and Heath was this close to losing it. Man.

I was listening to the game on my Walkman and I was pretty much falling asleep. Celebrating a blog's birthday is really tiring!! I was very relaxed...until the ninth. I was still slightly sleeping during the ninth, but I was alert. Goodness. It was so crazy!! I was so relieved when we pulled it off though. I mean, I shouldn't have to worry when we have nine runs on the board!!

But it was a great game. Our hitting was great, and I think a lot of that was thanks to Scott Hairston, just off the DL. He had two hits and provided protection for Adrian. Welcome back Scott!! We missed you a lot!!

David Eckstein, who has been so solid, had three hits. Kouz, Headley, and Everth had two hits each. Kyle Blanks was DH. He got a walk, but has still to get his first major league hit.

As I mentioned, Heath got his 20th save. I think that's gotta be leading the majors!! Yeah Heath!!

Well, it was great to get that first win in an interleague series. I really hope the starting pitching can keep going as good as it has been. Hey, we're on a two-game winning streak!!

I wanted to thank you all for the great comments on my blog's birthday entry. That was so much fun to read all the comments on a very special day for my blog. You guys are amazing!! Well, here I go into my second year of blogging!!

Tonight is Josh Geer against Brandon Morrow. Geer was pretty good in his last start, so hopefully he will be able to throw a great outing tonight. We need the win!!

GO PADRES!!!! 

Looking back over the last year, a lot when on in my life. I learned many lessons, made many friends, and had a lot of fun experiences. This past year has really been a blessing. God has been so good!

Today is a big day in the life of my blog, as it's the one year anniversary of Unfinished Business. It's unbelievable that it's been a year! I've had so much fun blogging here, and the time has gone by so fast.

On June 23, 2008, my parents were talking about letting me get a blog. For a good part of the first few months of that season, I had been doing little write ups about the games. I had heard of MLBlogs, and when I showed it to my parents they gave me the go-ahead.

So, I created Unfinished Business: The San Diego Padres' 2008 Season. It was quite a mouthful! I wrote my first entry and got my first comment that day. My first entry was merely a few sentences, but it was a start. My next entry was, of course, defending Trevor Hoffman. Guess what? He blew a tied game the next night! Here I was, defending Trevor, saying that he wasn't washed up and still had it in him, and he goes and gets the loss.

I've been looking back over my blog for the last few weeks preparing for this entry. It is so cool to look back and see how much I've improved in my writing. It's pretty amazing. My first entries were very short. I didn't have a solid commenter's base like I do now. "Back then," I was pretty much just writing for myself. Now, I write good-length entries every day, and it's amazing how much better they are than they were!

When I first started, I couldn't touch type. I had tried for a long time to do the typing programs, but it just wasn't working. Now, I can touch type very well. Because I was forced to type a lot, I learned it easily. Finally being able to touch type is something I am very pleased to have accomplished.

It wasn't until the offseason that I started getting a lot of comments. It was very exciting for me to find a lot of comments on my blog every day. I started commenting more on other people's blogs, and that boost my readership a ton. For all you bloggers who keep getting told to comment and comment on other blogs, believe me, it really works.   

After the season ended, I shortened the title to Unfinished Business. Over the offseason, I kept blogging, almost every day, and it seemed to go by a lot quicker. I also "met" a lot of great bloggers, and made a lot of great friends.

I joined MLBlogs because I love to write about baseball, but this place has also given me the chance to interact with baseball fans all over the world. I do not have any friends who I can really talk Padres with. Sure, I can talk to them about it, but they aren't die-hards like me. This place has been great for me to talk baseball.

"On your front page of Unfinished Business you reference Corinthians in your header. What significance does it represent to you having it there?
I'm a Christian. I have had problems with being too obsessed with the Padres, but that verse reminds me that sports aren't everything. Winning the big championships is one of the most important things in sports. But just look at the players who have won the World Series or the Superbowl. Everyone's super excited and happy for a while, but then it just fades away. Trophies collect dust. The fans turn to the next season, wondering what the team will do next. I really want the Padres to win the World Series someday, but I know I won't be happy for the rest of my life when they do. I'll always feel like there's something more. This verse also encourages me to look ahead, to see that I am living for a huge gift, the gift of eternal life. I'm living for a crown that will last forever! " 

This was one of the questions in my Timeout (which I will mention later). I'm sure you've all seen the verse on the top of my blog, but you probably don't know the meaning. Well, I covered it pretty well in that question above. There are so many things we look forward to, and we think that we won't be happy until we have a World Series for our team, for example. But these things really don't last. They just don't. Sure, Phillies fans are super happy about their World Series win last year, but they are concentrating on this season now, wondering how the Phillies are going to do and if they will make the playoffs this year.

I love the Padres, and I love baseball, but in life, baseball just has to be a second priority sometimes. As I run this blog, I try to write God-honoring entries. I don't know if you've noticed, but even when I'm terribly frustrated, I never use PG (or higher)-rated language. That's just not the way to do it. My parents have raised me well. And though I do get very angry at my team sometimes, it's an anger of love. God's given me this gift of writing, but it's still really His. I am so thankful for this gift, and I'm trusting in Him to take me where He will.     

This past year has been so much fun. I've learned a lot, and grown tremendously as a writer and a Padres fan.

OK, here are some stats:

RANKINGS:  MLBlogs Latest Leaders Lists: 44, 30, 21, 25, 24, 31, 23, 22, 36, 29, 31, 31, 21, 19, 15, 17

MLBlogs Top 100 - #74

ENTRIES (as of today):  297

COMMENTS (as of today): 1468

Here are some of my favorite entries from the past year. I'm sorry that there's so many, but these all are pretty amazing.

·         Enough Said - 8/14/08

Enough said indeed.

·         Ping-Pong With the Padres - 9/3/08

My description of the way the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw treated the Padres in a certain game.

·         Season's End - 9/29/08

A review of a very important lesson I learned in 2008.

·         Game 163: A Fan's Perspective - 12/9/08

My experience of the most devastating game in my fanhood.

·         Music and Baseball - 12/19/08

Some of the songs that remind me of baseball whenever I hear them.

·         Less of a Fan - 12/30/08

Am I less of a fan because I don't have season tickets and can't be out at the ballpark all the time?

·         Why Trevor? - 1/10/09

My rant to the front office about why on earth they had to let go of Trevor. One of the best things I have ever written.

·         KOOOOOZ!!! - 1/29/09

A tribute to my favorite player in MLB. What a cutie!!

·         A Tribute to Trevor - Yes, ANOTHER One - 3/3/09

One of the last tributes I rolled out to Trevor. This is another one of the best pieces I have ever written.

·         A Letter to My Father - 3/23/09

My attempt to get my dad to let me go to the Padres' Fanfest - and it worked!!

·         I ♥ San Diego - 4/3/09

My expression of love for my beautiful city J

·         From Death into Life - 4/10/09

My Easter entry in the wake of Nick Adenhart's death.

·         Me and My Gang - 4/15/09

My boys J

·         An Ode to Kouz - 4/16/09

Hahaha, a funny little tribute to my baby!

·         Live Together, Die Alone - 5/13/09

With the team falling apart (and the season finale of LOST just around the corner), I tried to help the guys out a bit.

·         You Guys Need Help - 5/14/09

One of my all-time favorite entries, Bob the psychiatrist tries to help the Padres break out of their losing streak.

There are some other special entries that involve my blog. I was interviewed in the second installment of Tom's Timeout at the Plate series. I had so much fun doing it, and it was great to see my blog get some publicity.

There was also a support group meeting for me after the horror of Trevor Hoffman's departure from the Padres. It was so funny, and it definitely helped. It was great!

The third feature I wanted to mention was when my blog got a spot on the front page of MLBlogs with this amazing recognition. It was so much fun for me to see my blog featured like that, and it was a great picture too!

Without further ado, I would like to thank some of the people in the blogosphere.

First of all, of course Mark. This guy does so much for the blogging community, and if he wasn't at the helm, I think the blogosphere would be in chaos. Thanks so much for featuring my blog in the featured blog section, the front page of mlblogs.com, and in MLBlogs' spot on mlb.com and helping it grow!

Big thanks to Amy, who is not longer blogging with us, but was my first commenter on that day one year ago. Her blog was always a great read, and I definitely miss having her in the community.

I would also like the thank Dean, who is also no longer blogging with us. He was a Padres fan and author who was my sole commenter for a while.  He was pretty cool, but then I think I scared him off. Oh well. But I really appreciate his support for my blog over the 2008 summer.

Thanks to my parents, who let me get this blog. It has been so much fun! If I didn't have this blog to rant on, I would drive my sister crazy and she would probably move out into the backyard. Thanks so much for everything!

Thank you to Julia, who has probably commented on every entry I've written since she joined the blogosphere. She's been a huge part of the blogosphere, and it wouldn't be the same without her.

Thanks to Tom, who gave me the chance to get the word out on my blog with the Timeout, and for giving me some great therapy with the support group. Also, he graciously endures a lot of ragging from me because of the Rockies (about that guy who didn't touch the plate...), so I'm thankful for that J  

Thanks to Hyun Young, my Padres buddy J I loooove reading her blog, and it's so much fun to have a Padres fan in the blogosphere who practically has the same thoughts as me. It was a lot of fun meeting her at the Fan Fest, and I can't wait for the game we're going to!!

I would also like to thank Jen. I was the first commenter on her blog, so she's probably eternally grateful to me for that J It's always great to read her blog, and it was really nice of her to let me take control at the Fan Fest and drag her all over the place and make her sit and wait for Jake Peavy for about an hour. At least things worked out though J

Thanks to Elizabeth. Both of us struggled through chemistry, and I think she came out better than I did. This girl is going to be an amazing journalist, and I look forward to "working" with her in the business someday.

Also, thanks to Jane. I remember the first time she commented on my blog, I was so excited because a real author, a lady who had published a book about baseball, commented on my blog!!  She always leaves a great comment, and her entries are so funny!

Thanks to my Heavenly Father, who has blessed me with this incredible gift and given me the chance to minister to baseball fans all over the world. I am eternally grateful to Him for every breath that I take. He is in complete control of everything that happens in my life, and I'm trusting in Him. He alone is AWESOME!! 

Thanks also to Happy, Bob, Jeremy, Russ, Jimmy, Ben, Darion, Melissa, Kylie, King of Cali, Jenn, Sue, Emma, Cat, and all my other commenters and readers. You guys have been so amazing to me, and I really appreciate the support. Like I've said so many times, this blog had no purpose without you guys. So thank you!!

Since this is a "birthday" party, we have to "eat" some cake.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Unfinished Business

Happy birthday to you!!

 Again, thank you guys so much. This year has been so much fun, and I hope there are many more to come!!

Feel free to leave "memories" (haha) about this blog of the past year as we celebrate!!

GO PADRES!!

On Saturday night, the Padres dropped a miserable game to the Oakland A's. We had the lead a few times, but Oakland took that game 6-3. Needless to say, I was not happy. My Padres needed a win and a series, but the A's took that from us.

Our biggest gripe about the Padres in the last week or so has been the starting pitching. It's been terrible! The starters aren't going that deep into ballgames, and they are giving up way to many runs.

Yesterday, on Father's Day, the Padres went out there and got a superb pitching performance from our new ace, Kevin Correia. He was amazing. He had a no-hitter going until the fifth inning with two outs. He was so good!!

He only allowed one run, that coming in the top of the seventh. He threw 6.2 innings total, with one walk allowed and seven strikeouts. He's our new ace, there's no doubt about it. He's pitched the best of any of the guy who have started for us this year. Yeah Kevin!!

Not like he needed it, but Correia's offense backed him up pretty well. Edgar Gonzalez had an RBI double to drive in Kyle Blanks, who had walked, in th second.

In the fifth, we got our second run on Henry Blanco's 500th hit, a solo homer. Way to go Henry!!

And in the eighth, we got two more insurance runs.

But we have to go back to Saturday's game first. 

I was sitting there at the computer, watching Gameday on Saturday night. I think we were losing by a few by then, and I was not happy. Kouz was batting, so I called a homer. He struck out, in fact, Oakland struck out the side that inning. But I still called a homer, so I was waiting for it.

Guess what?

Yep, he hit one for me yesterday!

It was just what we needed. Then Heath took the ninth with a three-run lead and went 1-2-3 to get his 19th save in 20 chances. Take that, Trevor!!

Man, it was a great, great game. Tony Gwynn had two hits, David Eckstein had three, Kouz had one. We were good. The pitching took care of it.

We also had some great defense. Kyle Blanks just came up, and he's been playing the outfield for about three months. THREE MONTHS!!!! And not even every day. But the Padres want this guy up here, and so he's in the outfield. It's just amazing to me. Anyways, he made an amazing catch in left field in the first inning, barrelling into the wall. I hope the wall's OK. This guy is six-foot-six, and he's 285 pounds!! The "S.S. Blanks," we like to call him. He's huge. He got his first walk yesterday and his first run scored. Still has to get that first major league hit, though...

I am so glad we took the last game. It would not have been good if we had been swept. Not good at all.

Well, we've got an off-day before facing the Mariners again, this time in Seattle. Oh joy. Maybe we can take two out of three from them like they took two out of three from us!! Or...maybe even three out of three! Point is, these Padres need a series win. They need to get out there, pitch extremely well, and hit like crazy. We're 14.5 games behind, man, and we need to get it going.

Don't forget, I've got a huge special entry tomorrow. It's going to be amazing. So make sure to stop by tomorrow!!

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credits: Union-Tribune, espn.com)   

Last night was not a great night for the Padres. Or their fans.

Last night, we played well. But of course, the reliever who has been so solid fell apart, just when you needed him the most. One of the most reliable hitters in the lineup who seems to get it done every time, grounded into a double play, just when you needed him the most. That's baseball for you. This game was made to drive you nuts and break your heart.

We got a run each in the second, third, and fourth. Chase Headley hit his 6th homer of the season in the second. In the third, Tony Gywnn tripled and David Eckstein gounded-out him in. In the fourth, we added on with a David Eckstein single.  

Wade LeBlanc, rookie, started for the Padres. He threw three innings, giving up three runs. He looked pretty good for the first three innings, but then gave up three runs in the top of the fourth. He loaded the bases with a single and two walks, then hit Jason Giambi to force in Oakland's first run.

After replacing LeBlanc with Josh Banks, the A's hit two consecutive sac-flies to tie the game. That inning could have been a lot worse, since it was bases loaded with no outs. Good job Josh!

In the bottom of the sixth, we had two runners on with one out when the A's intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez to get to, you guessed it, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Ha! When will these people learn? You can't mess with the Kouz!

I really don't see the logic. Not really. Sure, Kouz isn't as great of a hitter as Adrian, but he's been really hot lately. Hello?? You don't want to pitch to Kouz, either, man.

As I watched the Gameday, I was silently begging my boy to make them pay for that. Hey, bases loaded, one out, why not?

So, he hit a two-run single!! Good for my boy. That broke the tie and gave us a 5-3 lead.

Josh Banks threw three innings, giving up two hits. That was really cool. Mike Adams also threw a scoreless inning, which was great.

But then in the eighth, Edward Mujica came in, and had a terrible 0.2 innings. I was feeling really good about this game so far. I mean, we had a two run lead, and with this Padres bullpen, I was pretty confident that we would pull out with this.

Spoke too soon.

In the eighth, the A's scored three runs to take the lead. It was not good. Mujica has been so solid, but he had a bad outing at a bad time.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tony Gwynn started the inning with a single, but Eck grounded into a double play. That was that. Kouz got a single, but we were done.

In the top of the ninth, Joe Thatcher allowed a run. Just what the A's needed.

In the bottom of the ninth, Will Venable walked, but that was that. The game went to the A's, 7-5.

Very frustrating. We should have won that. The offense could have been better, and the pitching could have been a lot better.

Tony Gwynn had three hits. This guy has been amazing! Kouz had two hits, and newly called up catcher Eliezar Alfonso had two hits. Adrian had one hit, but he got walked FOUR times. Yikes.  

So, the Padres lost yet another interleague game. There were only 20,000 or so fans out there last night. This team has got to get it going, or else the fans are going to drift away.

I was pretty upset about this game because a close friend of mine is cheering for the A's. Now, I'm not entirely sure why he's cheering for the A's (he's a Padres fan most of the time), but I think it's because he played for the A's in Little League. So naturally, when a close friend is cheering for the opposing team, you pull a little harder for your team to win. I was feeling pretty good about the game, thinking of the bragging rights I would have, but then the Padres went and ruined it for me.

We're having fun with it though, and guess what my friend? You may have had victory last night, but you'd better enjoy it while you can. These Padres are going to come roaring right back!! GAME ON!!

The Padres made a ton of moves yesterday. I'd say the biggest was the major-league debut of Kyle Blanks. Padres fans have been waiting for this guy for a very long time. He's going to be good with us.

Everth Cabrera was activated off the DL. He played shortstop and did extremely well. He also batted ninth. Yep, you heard that right. The Padres had never batted a pitcher eighth before, but they did it last night. Very cool.

We got rid of Josh Wilson and Arturo Lopez. Nick Hundley and Cliff Floyd went on the DL.  

Tonight the Padres are playing the A's again. Walter Silva will be pitching against a rookie who has not been very good lately. Yay!! Just makes it all the easier for the Padres to WIN!!

GO PADRES!!! BEAT A's!!!!!!!! 

THAT'S MY BOY!!! THAT'S MY BABY!!! Yes, the hero of yesterday's game was no other than my beautiful Macedonian, KOOOOOOOOOOZ!!

Aw man, it was a great, great game. We played so well! We played like I know we're capable of playing.

Josh Geer threw six innings, allowing three runs with no walks and six strikeouts. He was pretty sharp.

He allowed one run in the top of the first, but his boys picked him right up in the bottom of the inning.

Tony Gwynn singled and David Eckstein doubled him home to tie the game. Brian Giles flew out and sent Eck to third. Then Adrian Gonzalez singled him in. Yay!

In the fourth, Franklin Guiterrez homered, tying the game. In the top of the sixth, he homered again, giving Seattle the lead. 

But in the bottom of the sixth, Adrian finally broke out of his homerless slump to hit his 23rd home run of the season. It was a blast, man. Dead center, gone. 

The game stayed tied. Greg Burke and Edward Mujica threw a scoreless inning each. Then Heath Bell threw two innings, the ninth and the 10th. 

On to the tenth. David Eckstein grounded out and Brian Giles flew out. But then Adrian doubled for my boy Kouz. 

Two outs, tenth inning, Kouz was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts so far in the game. He worked the count to 3-1 before breaking his bat and sending a pitch to left field. Adrian chugged around third and home, and scored the winning run. 

It was an incredible game. We played so well! The pitching was amazing, and the hitters never gave up. We had nine hits.

Adrian went 4-for-4, which was huge for him. He's been struggling a lot lately because guys just won't pitch to him. But yesterday he had a home run, a double, and two singles. He drove in two runs, and scored two, including the winning run. What a great day for Adrian!!

David Eckstein had three hits and an RBI, which was great.

Kouz had that one hit, and that was the one that really mattered. He's been incrediblely hot lately. What a great way to end the series! I can't tell you how excited I am for my boy. Man, I love this guy!!!  

Great great great game. That's all I can say. We played hard, we didn't give up, and we pulled out with a win. Great effort by my boys, and hopefully that momentum can carry into the next series.

We are playing the A's for three this weekend. It's going to be very interesting to see if we can play like we did yesterday. Wade LeBlanc will be starting tonight. I remember his starts from last year. Let's just say that they weren't the greatest starts ever. He just needs to keep us in the ballgame, and the offense will take care of the rest.   

GO PADRES!!!!

Hmmmm. I wonder what's going on with my Padres. Oh wait, I know! The American League is a ton better than the National League, and they are sure better than the San Diego Padres. If you're a fan of an AL team, I congratulate you. The AL is obviously the superior division in MLB. My Padres have yet to win a game against an AL team this season; in fact, we are on a 13-game interleague losing streak.

Last night, Chad Gaudin pitched OK. He threw six innings, allowing four runs, two walks, and striking out eight. His outing was better than past ones have been, but he gave up too many runs for the Padres' offense to catch up to.

Kevin Kouzmanoff hit his 8th homer of the season in the second inning, a solo shot. My boy has just been on FIRE!!

Good job, baby!!!

Chase Headley tied the game at three in the fourth with a two-run homer, but the Mariners got a run in the top of the fifth and that was that. They won the series, 4-3.

We only had four hits, and that's not going to win us any games. Our team batting average right now is not even worth mentioning. It's bad.

The bullpen was solid once again, Burke, Mujica, and Meredith threw scoreless innings. It's just the starters, mostly. They are giving up too many runs. The offense can't catch up.

So, Chris Young went on the DL yesterday. The list of guys on the DL is getting depressing. Baek, Gregerson, Hill, Peavy, Perdomo, Worrell, Cabrera, Hairston...man. Not good at all.

Now our rotation is totally messed up. We don't have our two "aces" (Peavy and Young). Today Josh Geer will start, followed by Wade LeBlanc, Walter Silva, Kevin Correia, and Chad Gaudin. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure. But these guys really need to step it up and get those strikes going. 

We got a new pitcher yesterday, Michael O' Connor, from the Nationals. We got him for a player to be named later. He had no more options with the Nationals, so they needed to get rid of him. He may be in the starting rotation sometime soon.

Also, Everth is going to be coming up soon, and he might start tomorrow's night game.

Well, today is a 2-for-1 day game. Josh Geer will start as the Padres try to avoid the sweep. Ha.

GO PADRES!!

Last night was a pitcher's duel.

Correia vs. Hernandez.

Hernandez you can understand. He's the Mariner's ace, so you expected a good outing from him.

But Correia has been a surprise. He hasn't had that many really bad outings this season. He's actually been the most consistent pitcher on the Padres staff.

Both of these guys were great from the very beginning. Correia threw eight innings, allowing only two hits, but both of those hits were solo homers. He didn't walk anyone while striking out five.

Hernandez didn't give up anything. He gave up a single to Kouz, a single to Tony Gwynn, and four walks, but that was it. He was very sharp, and he was mowing, getting six strikeouts. He ended up throwing a complete-game shutout.

In the top of the ninth, Mike Adams came in to try to shut down the Mariners and keep the game 2-0. Well, he didn't. He gave up three runs on one hit and two walks. Not good! Eckstrom came in to get the last out in the inning, but the damage was done. The Mariners took the first game of the series, 5-0.

I mean, Correia pitched excellently. But his offense couldn't do anything against Hernandez, and that was that.

I'd say that on the offensive side, Kouz had the best night. He got a hit, and he got HBP, and he got walked. And he played very well defensively, as always :)

Haha, he looks like a penguin!!

The Padres signed Brian Lawrence yesterday to a Minor League contract. This guy was with us a long time ago, and it would be really interesting if he comes up to pitch with the big-league team, which he most likely will do. Pretty cool...

There were also some moves made yesterday. The second part of the Khalil Greene trade, Luke Gregerson, was put on the DL to join the first part. Not good. We called up pitchers Josh Banks and Mike Eckstrom. Hopefully they will be able to pitch well for us.

Also, sounds like Chris Young is having some shoulder problems. That would definitely explain his bad starts lately. I hope he will get better soon!!

I think we're going to call up some guys to make a few starts here. Banks might sometime in the next week, but we might need one more guy. Maybe Mat Latos...

Well, tonight Chad Gaudin is pitching against Garrett Olson. We need this win, boys!! Let's get it!!

GO PADRES!!! 

There are currently two shortstops on the Padres' roster: Luis Rodriguez and Josh Wilson. Josh was picked up by the Padres to replace Luis Rodriguez. Soon, Josh is going to be replaced with Everth Cabrera.

At the beginning of the season, Rodriguez and Cabrera were the two shortstops on the Opening Day roster. Within a month, though, both of them were out with injuries. In came Shortstop #3 (Chris Burke) and later, Shortstop #4 (Wilson).

Burke was sent down to Triple-A in anticipation of Rodriguez's return. Wilson is most likely going to be the odd man out when Cabrera is eligible to come off the DL on Friday.

Now, once #1 and #2 are back up here, what to do with them?

Both are extremely good players, defensively and offensively. I would think that both of them need a lot of playing time to suceed. Still, they just went through injuries, so for the first few weeks Buddy might platoon them so that they can fully recover.

But after that? Well, Luis has been very good for us. He took Khalil's spot and did an excellent job when Khalil had his little meltdown last year. He's got talent, that's for sure.

But Everth might be our future at shortstop. This guy is only 22 years old, and this is his first season above Single-A. He's got a great glove, and he can flat-out hit. This guy could develop into an excellent ballplayer. So, I think he needs a lot of playing time too.

Both of them are going to play. I don't think Buddy has a choice but to play them both, so that would mean a platoon situation. Both of them could play second also, but we've got Eck there. It will be very interesting to see how all that plays out.

Speaking of Khalil, this guy is getting weirder every day. Once he gets off the DL (social anxiety disorder), he's going to be playing third base for the Cardinals. This guy is having some major problems, man, and I don't see how this is going to help him. Well, it's not supposed to. It's supposed to help the team because the Cards have found a couple stellar shortstops who they apparently like better than Khalil. What a strange dude.

Well, the Padres are playing the Mariners for three starting today. Kevin Correia is starting against Felix Hernandez. Correia needs to have a solid outing, giving his team a chance to win and the bullpen a break. Especially since we're at home. We really really really need this series.

I just wanted to mention that there's going to be a very special entry here next Tuesday. I know, I'm really mean telling you a whole week before, but thus the anticipation :) 

GO PADRES!!  

You know what I did this weekend?

I didn't listen to the three miserable Padres games against the Angels.

Of course, I did listen to parts of it, and followed it a little on Gameday, but overall, I stayed away from listening to the whole game and feel so much better for it.

And very detached from my Padres.

It's not like these three games were worth listening to anyways. We got swept, and we were overmatch, outhit, and outpitched. The Angels won the first game 11-6, the second 9-1, and the third 6-0. We caught them at a bad, bad time. Or else we were the ones who turned them on.

Let's take a look at the starting pitching, which was horrible. Atrocious. On Friday, Chad Gaudin threw three innings, giving up 10 hits and eight runs. THREE INNINGS!!!

On Saturday, it should have been Jake Peavy out there throwing a gem. Instead, it was Josh Geer out there throwing away the game. He went 5.2 innings, but gave up seven runs on nine hits.

On Sunday, Chris Young did not have it. And when I say did not have it, he did not have it. He looked like an 8-year-old out there. Of course, a 6-foot-10 8-year-old, but seriously. He could not find the plate. He just could not find it. He was done after 2.1 innings. He gave up five runs and five walks. At one point he gave up four walks in a row...with two outs!! AHHHHHH!!!

Now, the bullpen wasn't that great either. And so, in this weekend of miserablities, we must find some things to be positive about. Like Kouz :)

My boy is really, really hot. He had four hits in the series, including two home runs. He also made some beautiful defensive plays.

And Adrian got three hits yesterday. That was very, very good. Sure, it didn't help any, since we got five hits total, but I know it was great for him to get that chance to swing the bat and get on base.

We were simply outmatched, man. The Angels' pitching was overpowering, and we could barely dent it. I hate it when teams get really hot right when we play them, but that's baseball. Now, we're heading for the cellar. Colorado and their 11-game winning streak has overtaken us by a lot, and now we're in fourth place, 13 games behind. Groan.

I think we will still be able to make a run, but we have got to get winning. Interleague absolutely kills us, man. This team and these fans need some big interleague wins. We need this. We have never been good in it, so we need to change that right here right now.

We've got an off-day today. That's good. The pitchers need to rest, take care of their arms, and think "strikes". The batters need to rest for a while, but then hit the batting cages and study the pitchers ahead very, very closely. We're going to be home for the next six games, so take advantage of that. Get out there, fight, and win. I know you can do that. I know this team can win!! I've seen it so many times this year. But you have to get it going. 

So, like I said, off-day today, and then we face the Mariners for three and the A's for three. Oh joy. Then we go on the road to face Seattle and Texas. Oh joy oh joy oh joy. Then we can be done with interleague!!

And boys, please, stay away from here. 

GO PADRES!!!! 

Just found out that Jake's going on the DL today. His ankle wasn't healing up, so they got an MRI and it's tendonitis. He hurt it running the bases about four starts ago, and apparently the three starts he made after that didn't make it worse, though he was in a lot of pain. He's going to be out for at least a month, probably plus some rehab starts.

This is a huge blow to the Padres and their fans. I mean HUGE. I haven't really wrapped my mind about it, but all I can think about was last year when he got hurt. This is going to be devastating to our season. AHHHHHHHHH!! I just hope it's not fatal to this team.

It's going to be very hard without him, for the team and the fans. But thankfully they were able to catch it and he'll be headed towards recovery.

Last night's game was pretty terrible. The boys were battling, they were playing hard, but the pitching really fell apart.

Chad Gaudin had a miserable start. He went three innings, allowing 10 hits and eight runs. Edwin Moreno allowed two more, and later, Mike Adams gave them the icing on the cake.

We had 12 hits, which was great. Kouz, who is really really hot, had three hits, including a two-run homer. Cliff Floyd had a hit and a walk, which was great. Brian Giles had two hits to raise his average to .200. Tony Gwynn had a hit and two walks. Overall, great night for the offense, but like I said, the pitching just had a really bad night. It was not good.

Now we're in fourth place in the NL West. The Rockies and their nine-game winning streak have overcome us. We're 11 games behind with the Dodgers' loss (WHOOHOOO!!). But we need to get winning if we expect to go anywhere.

Tonight is Josh Geer against Joe Saunders. We need to get this, boys. We NEED it!!!  

GET WELL SOON JAKE!! GO PADRES!! 

I haven't had a chance to fit this in all week, but I wanted to mention that my brother's Pirates lost last Saturday and were eliminated. It was a very sad game, as the pitchers were struggling mightily. They lost 9-4.

They made a great run, and they really played well most of the season. It was so sad to just hear how quiet it was on our side of the dugout after the game. Sure, the parents were talking a little, congratulating the boys for a good season. But it was quiet. Sad.

I wasn't that bummed out right after we lost, not until I saw my 10-year-old brother with tears in his eyes. That's when it really hit me. We didn't tease him, we were just quiet as we helped him with his stuff and started the long trek to the car. We passed the winning side, all the pround parents and players of the team that won as the coach made his victory speech. "I can't say enough about the effort of these players this season, and now we're going to the World Series..." (This team went on to win the World Series.) 

We slowly trudged by, burdened by loss as the other dugout was covered in smiles. They were going to the World Series. They were going to get to play another game. They were still running. We had hit the dust.

It was so sad, because we were just in that position the Tuesday before. We were the ones who won the game, we were the ones who were moving up. But then we got to experience the other side, the pain of losing, the sadness of being eliminated.

My brother later said that he kind of wanted to play more. That touched me, man. I guess he figured that they came so far, why not go all the way? If they had won that game, they would have gone to the World Series. They were so close.

I don't know if my brother will ever play baseball again. Right now, it's not looking very likely that he'll play next year. I really hope he gets back into it, but we'll have to see. But this season was very good for him. He learned a lot and he played fairly well. I'm just glad he had the experience of playing baseball, and who knows? He might get back into it eventually.

Well, there's pretty much no Padres news today. I think that we had a very good draft this year, though. From what I've heard, we got some excellent players. That's really exciting since I expect this team to get back into winning consistently in the next five years. Who knows, some of these guys might be ready in five years.

I would expect that the Padres will make a move soon, possibly before tonight's game, to activate Luis Rodriguez. He's been playing well for Lake Elsinore. He hit a homer in Wednesday's game. I think he's ready to come back, and I think us fans are ready for Josh Wilson to go bye-bye.

Tonight we are playing the Angels in our first interleague game of the season. I don't really like interleague since the Padres have not done well with it in the past few years. I just hope we survive this.

Chad Gaudin will be starting tonight against Matt Palmer. Jake Peavy will go tomorrow, and Chris Young on Sunday, so you like your chances with the starting pitching. But will the hitters be able to hit? That is the question. I sure hope they do.

GO PADRES!!!!!

...but it might have been Henry Blanco. I don't know how my Padres escaped the Curse of the Sand, but they were able to pull out a great win last night against the Dodgers.

My dear boy Kouz drove in our first run in the first on an infield single. We got another run in the inning on an Edgar Gonzalez groundout.

We got our third run in the third on a Chase Headley single.

Kevin Correia quickly gave back a run to the Dodgers, but after a single in the second, he did not allow a baserunner for the rest of his outing of six innings. Going out on three day's rest, he was spectacular. He only threw 81 pitches in the six innings, but Buddy decided to give it to the bullpen, who have been amazing.

Greg Burke and Edward Mujica combined for two scoreless innings. Heath Bell made it interesting as usual, but he got a double play and a fly-out to close his major-league leading 18th save.

XX 1090 intereviewed Heath after the game, and it was pretty funny. Heath LOVES to talk, so if you get him going, he doesn't stop. He said that the guys in the bullpen had planned to put runners on to make it more entertaining because people were saying the Padres were boring. LOL!! Here we are, pulling out our hair when the bullpen gets a few runners on in a close game, and Heath's telling us that that's intentional. What a funny guy!

It was a great, great game. My boys got just enough runs, and the pitching took care of the rest.

Clayton Kershaw threw his shortest outing of the season, going only 2.2 innings and throwing 83 pitches. That's the way to do it boys!

Nick Hundley got hit on the wrist the other night. His x-ray was negative, but he's probably going to be out for a few games. So, last night Henry Blanco caught. And I'm wondering if having Henry back there helped Correia throw as well as he did.

Don't get me wrong, Nick is a great catcher, and he's going to be very good. But that's just the thing. He's growing, he's learning, and maybe the pitchers aren't entirely comfortable with him. Henry has done great things with Jake this season. They haven't come out and said that Henry is Jake's personal catcher, but Jake hasn't been caught by anyone besides him.

Henry has a lot of experience catching and mentoring. He's done wonders to catchers like the rookie from the Cubs last year. I think our pitchers feel a lot better with him than Nick.

I am a huge admirer of catchers. I adore them :) They are soo amazing, and I would say that catcher is the hardest position to play in Major League Baseball. A pitcher's performance has a lot to do with his catcher. If the pitcher has a catcher who doesn't know how he likes to throw and what he like to do, it's going to be distracting. I think that Correia was really comfortable with Blanco last night.

I think that catchers should get wins with their pitchers. Catchers don't get much credit at all, since they don't hit that much. If you think about it, catchers should hit really well because of their knowedge of pitchers and the strike zone. Interesting.

OK, I just had to share this. Pretty amazing, huh?

Like father like son. It's great to have both the Gwynns here in San Diego :)

Well, we've got an off-day today, which will be good. With the series split, we are now 28-31, 11 games behind the Dodgers. We're just going to hang in there, and when the Dodgers fall apart, we will pounce and take over the NL West. I think we're going to the playoffs this year.

GO PADRES!!

(photo credits: homerunderby.com, Stephen Dunn/Getty Images, AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

...and those four homers hit off Chris Young, I guess. But mostly the sand. How many times do I have to tell the boys that those automatically make us LOSE?? Do you not understand the concept of burning them??

Ugh. It drives me nuts!! In the first inning, my boy Kouz hit a two-run single to give us the early lead.

But Chris Young gave up five runs, including four home runs. I'm telling you, CY has been struggling a lot lately, giving up like 10 home runs in his last six starts. It's terrible. 

We got a couple more runs later in the game, including a RBI single by David Eckstein, but thanks to the sand, things weren't really clicking for us. The bullpen was OK. Edwin Moreno, Mike Adams, and Cla Meredith pitched, allowing five hits and a run. 

Without good pitching, you can't win. So true. CY only went five innings. These starters have got to go deeper into ballgames. I'm sorry, but it's gotta happen. We need that depth from our starters!

Tony Gwynn and Eck at the top of the lineup had great nights. Tony is really hot right now. He got three hits and a walk last night to raise his average to .352. Eck had three hits as well. 

Adrian got walked twice again. He's not getting a chance at all. 

Nick Hundley got hit-by-pitch in the wrist and had to leave the game. Not good! It's just day-to-day right now, so hopefully he will be OK.

The big first round of the draft was last night. Not surprisingly, Stephen Strasburg was drafted first by the Natinals. San Diegans are definitely excited about Stephen, and hopefully he will get traded to the Padres in the near future. Congrats, Stephen!

The Padres went third and picked Donavan Tate, a high-school outfielder who is apparently a five-tool player. He probably won't make the majors for a long time, since he hasn't had time in college, but hopefully he will be a future star for us. Congrats to Donavan!

Well, the finale of this two-game series against the Dodgers is tonight. Kevin Correia will be pitching against Clayton Kershaw. Good luck with that. But hey, our bats and arms might come out and we can get a win. 

GO PADRES!!! BEAT LA!!!    

I've learned a lot about this team in the last week. It's been a learning experience all season, I guess, with all the unknown players who joined us in Spring Training and made the roster. Sure, some of last year's players were still here, but this was a different team. One of the themes that keeps coming up over and over with these guys is that they never give up. They are always battling, and they do not go down without a fight. Especially when their ace is out there pitching his heart out on a bum ankle and they need to win the game.

Talk about not getting discouraged, using every asset they have to win. Adrian Gonzalez has been walked 20 times in his last 10 games because 1), guys don't want to pitch to him, and 2), because Adrian doesn't have a threat batting behind him. Until last night.

Down 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Padres got four runs. Tony Gwynn singled one in, and David Eckstein hit a sacrifice fly. After Adrian intentionally walked, with two on and two outs, Kevin "Slumping" Kouzmanoff came to the plate.

Now, I don't know about you, but if opposing pitchers were walking Adrian Gonzalez so they could get to me, I wouldn't be very happy, slump or not. I would want to show them that they made a mistake. Kouz didn't let it bother him too much, as he hit a two-run single to take the lead. 

The Diamondbacks got one more in the sixth. Jake 's night ended after the seventh. He allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He wasn't 100%, but he threw a great game, and he gave the bullpen what it needed. I am so proud of him for getting through it! His ankle is still worriesome, though he said that he will be out there on Saturday. Heal up soon, Jake!!

In the bottom of the seventh, the Padres put away the game for good. Here's the situation: there's a runner on with two outs, and the Diamondbacks intentionally walk you guessed it, Adrian Gonzalez, to get to Kouz!! Talk about deja vu, man! And it keeps getting better, becasue my Kouz hits a two-run double to extend the lead to 6-3!! BWABWABWABWA!! So much for the walk-Adrian-to-get-Kouz strategy. It was foiled twice!!

What a beautiful swing. Hey, I think that elbow guard is new. I guess he was tired of getting hit all the time :)

Heath Bell made it interesting in the ninth, as usual, but he got his major-league best 17th save. Yeah Heath!!

And so, Kouzmanoff and Peavy got the job done. As did a lot of other guys, like Tony Gwynn with his two hits and Greg Burke with his scoreless inning. Last night, we were a team.

Yesterday before the game the Padres made some roster moves. They activated pitcher Mike Adams from the 60-day DL. I haven't heard anything about this guy in soooo long, it's crazy. He wasn't in Spring Training, and he only pitched eight rehab games. But he was one of our most solid relievers last year, so hopefully he will be able to pick up where he left off.

Edwin Moreno and Wade LeBlanc were also called up. Moreno was with us earlier, but he got sent down because he couldn't pitch. LeBlanc was with us a little at the end of the season last year, and he was OK. This guy is a big prospect, and he's still growing. 

JOE THATCHER WAS SENT DOWN!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!! Ok, he wasn't that bad up here, but I cannot forget what he has done to hurt this club. Sorry. 

Luis Perdomo was put on the DL, and shortstop Chris Burke was sent to Triple-A. Which means that Josh Wilson is the only shortstop on our roster. Which means that the Padres are getting ready to activate Shortstop #1 or Shortstop #2 soon. (Burke was #3, and Wilson is #4) Sounds like Luis Rodriguez is going to be activated this week! YES!! This is very exciting. I can't wait to get #2 back, Everth Cabrera. He's going to be a good player in the future. 

So, interesting moves. Hopefully they will help us. 

Today's the big draft, huh? Well, I just hope the Padres get some good players that won't be busts like so many of our picks have been.

Tonight we are in LA for a two-game series. I expect the Padres to play very well, though it's going to be an intense series. We'll have to battle, but that's something we're good at. 

Chris Young will start today against Chad Billingsley, and Chad Gaudin will pitch against Clayton Kershaw tomorrow. I wouldn't be suprised if Gaudin was scratched, though. He pitched on Friday and Sunday, so I don't know if he'll be ready to go tomorrow. 

GO PADRES!!! BEAT LA!!!    

Well, it only took five hours and 45 minutes.

What a loooong day for my Padres. First, it was Padres Photo Day, so all the players had to stand on the field before the game, in the sun, while hundreds of fans took pictures of them, while the players really wanted to be doing something more productive, like watching video on the opposing pitcher or stretching.

Then, they played two games.

Dan Haren was amazing. He didn't give us anything except a solo homer to my baby Kouz in the 7th.

By then, the Diamondbacks already had a 6-0 lead thanks to Josh Geer's five innings of work and Joe Thatcher's one inning. I say we send him to Triple-A. 

It all came down the the ninth inning. Arizona had a comfortable 6-1 lead, but as we've learned, these Padres don't go down easily. They are going to put up a fight.

Adrian doubled, Chase singled him in, and Brian Giles walked. An out later, Arizona's closer came in and Nick Hundley drove in Chase. An out later, David Eckstein came to the plate as a pinch-hitter. On the first pitch he saw, he hit a three-run homer to tie the game!! It was soooo exciting!! I mean, where did that come from? That was Eck's first homer of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

But now here comes the sad part. We went to the 18th inning, and the Padres did not get ONE measly hit for all nine extra innings. Terrible. We lost the wind in our sails. Sure, we got a few walks, but not one hit. Miserable.

Meanwhile, the bullpen was very solid. We used every guy in the book: Burke, Meredith, Perdomo, Bell, Mujica, Gregerson, even Friday night's starter Chad Gaudin. Even shortstop Josh Wilson.

I had heard that Josh could pitch, and I thought it would be pretty likely that we would need him. And we did. He came in to pitch the 18th, with catcher Henry Blanco playing third.

Josh had some really good stuff. He was relying mostly on the 4-seam fastball, and he got up to 88 mph. He got a couple outs, and was one strike away from getting out of the inning when he tried a pitch he hadn't thrown the whole time. Big mistake. Mark Reynolds hit it out of here to right field, a three-run homer. Talk about sucking the air out of a ballpark.

He was very close, and he did throw very well. But he gave up the game. We went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 18th, like we did so many other times during the game.

I'm worried about this team. Last year, after we lost the 22-inning game, our season deflated. This year, we've had some highs and some lows. There was an extra inning game in Philly that we lost. After that, we didn't win very much. But then when we won the 16-inning game at home, we continued a 10-game winning streak.

I'm worried about Jake, about the bullpen. Jake's going to be pitching tonight in the fourth game of the series with a bad ankle and a slight cold. He's not 100%, but he understands that the bullpen needs any slack he can give them, so he's going to be out there fighting. We could probably go to a few of the guys in the bullpen like Thatcher, Burke, Meredith, and Perdomo because they pitched only one inning each. 

I'm worried about our hitters. We didn't get much yesterday, that's for sure. In a sense, we were "no-hit" through nine innings. Well, we learned that we can never give up on this team, cause they seem to hit bullpens really well. But sometimes it's not enough.

I just hope they get a ton of sleep today and are ready to go tonight. I said before the series that I hoped we could at least get a split. Well, we have to get this game tonight to do that. I do not want to lose this to Arizona. Not a bit.

Were all those extra innings worth it? In my mind, they really weren't. We could have ended the thing in the ninth with the same results. It wasn't worth draining the bullpen, making the guys play essentially an extra game. Nothing is ever worth it when you lose. 

By the way, we won on Saturday night. It was a great game!

Alright, Jake. It's your turn.

GO PADRES!!

(photo credit: Sean M. Haffey/Union-Tribune)   

OK.

Will the real San Diego Padres please stand up??

I don't know my team anymore. Who are you? Where's the team that went 9-4 at the beginning of the season? Where's the team who had a ten-game winning streak going only two weeks ago?

I don't know who my team is anymore. Are they the ones who get swept, who can't hit and can't pitch, or are they the ones that went 9-4 and had a ten-game winning streak? I don't know. I have no idea what's going on.

In the first three months of the season, all the Padres have been doing is going up and down. They'll win four series in a row and then lose a series and get swept in the next. They're bats will be working like crazy, matched with excellent pitching, and then the next week they can't pitch and they can't hit. It drives a fan nuts, and something's gotta give eventually.

We're only into the third month of the season, but this team needs to figure out who they are. Are they going to be a winning team, or a losing team? It's as simple as that. We've seen a lot of both so far. One week we'll be riding a high with this team, but the next they've sent us crashing into the waves.

Right now, we're 11.5 games behind those pesky Dodgers, and we're on a four-game losing streak. The Dodgers are showing no signs of slowing, yet. I still believe that they'll going to cool down and we will be able to get all the way up there and ever overtake LA. But we have to keep the distance as close as possible so that we can be in a good position to strike when the Dodgers do fall apart.

So, are we going to give up and sink farther, or are we going to fight and wait to stay in this thing? It's not over til it's over; we've got a ton of baseball left. But at some point, a team's gotta say what they want to do, determine what they are going to do, and they have to do it. I don't know when my team will do that. But they need to do it soon.

Listening to the games is getting old. This week, we've lost four games badly. I don't want to listen to it. I just don't. Nobody likes losing. Last night we were down 5-0 by the fifth inning and you could just tell that our hitters weren't going to get anything. They are dead in the water right now.

Adrian is getting walked almost every at-bat. The numbers are ridiculous. People are getting smarter, and they don't want anything to do with Adrian. So they Unintentionally Intentionally walk him. He doesn't have a legitimate threat batting behind him. Sorry Kouz, but he really doesn't. Kouz doesn't scare the opposing pitchers. Not many of our guys do.

We got four hits last night. Two from Eck and two from Chase. Good job, guys, you were able to figure out Doug Davis, who we've faced how many times? We face this guy ALL the time...why haven't you figured him out yet???

Our pitching was pretty terrible. They gave up runs, and we lost 8-0. Ouch. Not what we needed at all.

I don't know what's wrong with this team. I don't know who they are. I don't know what they're going to be. I don't know how many fans are going to stick with this team.

One thing I do know, though, is that Adrian will be voted into the All-Star game tonight, and a huge crowd will get Adrian action figures, but he won't get the chance to hit.

Last night I got to watch my close friend play his last games of volleyball this season. His team actually won the championship - against their own school! That was pretty funny. It was a lot of fun to see my friend play (he's REALLY good), and to see them win! They were undefeated the whole season, losing only a exhibition game to some girls (haha). It was very exciting, and I am so happy that they won!

Today is some more championships, with my brother's team looking to get to the World Series. I really really really hope they can make it!! I'm really looking forward to eating seeds again, and watching some good baseball (unlike the Padres). Hopefully my brother's team will play hard and come out with a win!! GO PIRATES!!

To make me feel better about the Padres, here's a picture of my baby that was in the newspaper yesterday:

Hahaha, he's really cute :)

Well. Kevin Correia will give up many runs for the Padres and the lineup will hopefully get a few more hits. HA! No, maybe Correia will be able to hold the Diamondbacks down and we can win a game this week.

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credits: mlb.com, Union Tribune/Macys)                                                    

What a sloooooow off-day. Nothing happened at all in the Padres world, except more talking about how amazing Adrian is. He's seriously the most underrated player in baseball, but we know how good he is. We know that he needs to get to the All-Star game.

This Saturday is a big Adrian night. It's called "Swing the Vote" night, and I think you can get a discounted ticket and sit there voting for the whole game. Something like that. The giveaway is going to be Adrian Gonzalez figurines, which Adrian says is a bit of the whole team. Kouz's body shape, Edgar's leg guard, Eck's batting, Adrian's goatee. I would be very interested in getting my hands on one of these figurines. Hmmm...maybe the thrift store in a few weeks!

Adrian is now fifth in the top five for first basemen, but he's still woefully behind in the amount of votes. I've voted as much as I possibly can, and it's driving me nuts that I can't do more. Hey, maybe I can convince my sister to let me use her email address to get more votes for Adrian!

I really want this guy to get into the All-Star game by votes from the fans. Sure, he's going to be in the game, but I don't want him to be a bench player who comes into the game near the end. He deserves to be the starting first baseman. We really do need to swing the vote! This guy has been so amazing for us this season. Plus, he's leading the majors in home runs. Ahem!! This guy needs to be voted into the game!!

OK, well first things first. The Padres have a huge four game series this weekend against the Diamondbacks. Chad Gaudin is starting tonight against Doug Davis. Good luck with that. HA! Well, maybe our bats will wake up and we can have a great game. 

Continue to get well soon, Jake and Scotty!!

GO PADRES!! 

(photo credits: padres.com, Donald Miralle/Getty Images North America)  

Yesterday, San Diego got thunder and lightning and rain. It was very exciting. We haven't had that in so long! I don't think we've had in since 2007 at least.

I love thunder. I love the rain. It's been cloudy for about a week, and we've barely had any rain. But yesterday it finally rained and rained in broad daylight. It is so much fun to be stuck inside listening to the thunder and the rain.

To me, thunder is a work of God. I don't really care about a scientific explanation for it; to me, the thunder is a display of God's incredible power. I just love it. I love the low rumble, and then the loud BOOM! It's amazing.

We get it here so rarely that it's a really big thing. I wish San Diego had more thunderstorms, though it does drive the neighbors' dogs crazy.

Well, there is one thing I can tell you: the Padres do not have any thuder. Nor do they strike like lightning. Rather, they are the ones getting zapped by lightning. They are dead in the water right now.

Don't ask me how it happened. I'm a Padres expert, but I can't explain how they came home with a nine-game winning streak there and got swept by the Phillies. I can try to explain it, but I don't know what's going on in the clubhouse. I don't know what's going through these guys' heads.

Maybe it's just that the Phillies were way too good for us. They were out-hitting us and out-pitching us, so that might be an explanation.

Maybe they just have lost their bats. Maybe they are tired. Maybe they...I don't know. I have no idea what is wrong with this team right now.

Chris Young gave up three runs in six innings. I guess that's a good start, but with the way we've been hitting, that's not good enough. Greg Burke gave up two runs, but Gregerson and Mujica were good.

David Eckstein drove in our first and last run in the bottom of the eighth. We only had six hits in the entire game and lost, 5-1. 

Before the game, Scott Hairston was put on the 15-day DL. Will Venable was called up from Triple-A. I bet he wasn't too excited after the game. He went 0-for-4 with an error. Poor guy.

And Jake is still sick. And thankfully, we have an off-day today. We need it. We need to step back and get our heads together!!

Well, they do.

I haven't been able to listen to the games because of other commitments, and I don't really mind. I don't want to listen to this pathetic baseball. Not at all. They had better get it together SOON.

We're going to be playing the Diamonbacks for four starting tomorrow. We'll just have to see how we do. We're 25-28 right now, 11 games behind. Hmmm...

So I participated in the chat with Heath Bell yesterday. It was really cool because it was raining and thundering while I was doing it. He only answered two of my questions, but the rest of the questions were great. You can read the whole chat transcript here, but I'll share a few of my favorites:

sabathia23: Is this actually you or is it the computer?

Heath_Bell: Yeah this is actually me. I'm not a computer. I'm sitting here in my "That's How I Roll" shirt.

s4rwg3: Heath, would you consider doing a Taco Bell commercial? Do you even like the food there?

Heath_Bell: I would love to do Taco Bell commercials. I'd like to throw a couple of fastball burritos at the Taco Bell chihuahua.

mohammed92: What was your favorite moment in a Padres uniform?

Heath_Bell: My favorite moment as a Padre is when Trevor Hoffman got his 500th save. I was able to set him up for that. When we went out to congratulate him, me and David Wells carried him around on our shoulders.

Hahaha, Heath is a crazy crack-up. He's hilarious!! All through the chat, he kept throwing in hints to vote for Adrian. I thought that was really cool of him. One question was about his nicknames, and he threw in that Adrian's nickname is "Gonzo" and Scott Hairston's is "Scotty" and that we should vote for them. So, I finished my voting during the chat and I wish I had more email addresses to vote with. I want to get Adrian to the All-Star game so badly!!

As a closing to this entry, I wanted to share a picture of last night's sunset. Though we didn't see the sun for most of the day, it did come out near the end.

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credit: me)

The Padres, huh? Well, let's just say that I am not happy with them right now. Not happy at all. First of all, Jake only went one inning, giving up four runs and two walks. Turns out he has the flu, and he really did look sick out there.

I feel so bad for him. Plus, he got the loss! That's terrible. Yes, we lost. 10-5. It was so nasty.

Once Jake left, it was bullpen-imploding galore. Buddy put Josh Geer, who usually starts in the game in the hope that he would be a long reliever. No such luck. He only went one inning, giving up two runs.

Next was Luis Perdomo, who hadn't pitching in forever! I forgot that he was in the bullpen, because seriously, he hadn't pitched since May 16th!! He threw four innings, but gave up two runs. Joe Thatcher finally gave up two runs (NOOOO!! Sent him to Single-Single-A right now!!!). Cla Meredith threw two scoreless innings though.

Scott Hairston strained his left bicep. That sounds really weird. Like he was busy flexing in the outfield and suddenly strained his arm from looking at those beefy muscles. Hahaha. But it's not really that funny. Scotty's been incredible for us lately, and it always seems that he gets hurt when he's really going. I feel so sad for him!!

Adrian hit his 22nd homer of the season, Edgar got a couple hits, Chase had a two-RBI single. And...Blanco had two hits.

Well, that's enough of that. On to the more important stuff!

Last night, I watched one of the most incredible baseball games I have ever seen.

It was my brother's second game of the playoffs - they won the first one on Saturday. It's sudden death, so the Pirates already sent one team home. They played the Cardinals last night, the #1 seed.

In the top of the first, the Pirates got three runs with two outs on four hits and a walk. The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the inning, but nobody scored again until the fourth inning, where the Pirates got one.

In the top of the fifth, my brother got hit-by-pitch. It was kind of scary, because it got him pretty bad on the arm and he's my brother! He's been hit three times this season, and that was definitely the worst. But he was fine and went to first. The next two batters struck out, then the one after that hit a ball right in beween first and second. My brother was running to second, and he ran into the ball. Oh well...

In the bottom of the fifth, things got hairy. The Cardinals got two runs to make the score 4-3 Pirates. For the first time that night, I thought we might actually lose. I didn't want to lose!

So naturally, we needed more insurance. How's 11 runs? Enough? Yeah, I thought so too. We got six hits and six walks in the top of the sixth, plus two hit batters. We batted way around the order. Oh - and we got nine of the runs with two outs. It just kept going on and on. The pitcher was all over the place, walking a lot of runs in.

My brother got a two-run single with two outs. I was so proud!! I was really nervous because I thought he might be backing out of the box because of what happened the last time he was up there. I was silently begging him to, "Just stay in the box. Don't be scared!!" I was also worried because I didn't want him to be the one who killed the inning. But he came through big time. That was so great!! 

At one point I thought the inning was over because a batter had hit a ball and got "thrown out". But the umpire called it foul. "Doesn't anyone listen to me?" he exclaimed.

The energy in this inning was so amazing (that might have been the AMP. More on that later...). We had the best crowd of families that we've had all season. We were all into every pitch, cheering on our boys. It was amazing! We've never been that loud!

In the bottom of the inning, Pirates pitchers gave up four runs, but they finally closed it out. Everyone was extremely excited. They won 15-7!!! 

My brother got a game ball! I was so excited when he came out of the dugout!! This team has had an incredible season. They went 7-7 in the regular season, but they're on fire right now. Next they'll play on Saturday to see who goes to the World Series. That's going to be an amazing game. I would say it would be great to just get there, but that would be a sight lie. I want to win it all!!

My brother was so cute. After the game, he said that he was cheering so hard that he was crying! I know exactly what he means since I do that regularly at Padres games. Ahem. Anyways, he's got a beautiful game ball and a beautiful bruise. If he never plays baseball again, I think this season has been incredible for him. And it's not over yet :)

Before the game, I tried sunflower seeds for the first time. Well, it actually wasn't my first time. On Saturday, my sister had some and shared a couple with me. I mostly just chewed them up, and I couldn't find any seed in it. So I tried again last night, and I am so hooked, man!

The seeds are amazing. You can just stick them in your mouth and almost unconciously work on them. I see now why a lot of baseball players love them. And seriously, the only proper place to eat them is at a baseball game. It's just weird to be spitting anywhere else. And I love spitting. It's kind of cool.

My 7-year old brother was really funny. He saw my sister with her seeds on Saturday, and he really really really wanted to try it. So we got a big bag yesterday before the game. During the game, he would sit there on the bleachers with his seeds, and when he would spit, he would spit the shells and a lot of saliva with it. The ground in front of him was very wet and covered it seeds. He'll just have to work of that... 

I think I've finally found a baseball game food. Licorice is slightly weird. Peanuts...no way. But sunflower seeds, yes! I don't know if I'll do it at the game in July, though. I don't know if I should be doing such a thing around all the rich people, haha!

Also, I had an energy drink for the first time last night. Yes, there were a lot of firsts last night! I had an AMP, and it was soooo good! It definitely gave me a lot of energy. I wonder if they sell energy drinks at the ballpark. That would be extremely useful. It's not easy screaming your voice out and clapping your hands to blisters!!

It gave me so much energy that I couldn't fall asleep until midnight. Hehehe...

This was the first song that my brother listened to when he got home. It's on.

Some people call me an overacheiver
But I'm always a believer
It's my time to shine
Here we go

CHORUS
It's on, it's on, it's on, it's on
It's on, it's on, it's on, it's on
C'mon, let's roll
Everybody, yeah, here we go (here we go)
It's on, it's on, it's on, it's on
It's on, it's on, it's on, it's on
Right here and now
Everybody, it's going down

I've been waiting for this moment
It's time to throw down
I've been dreaming this dream forever
Now I know the time is right (It's on)
Better make some room for me (It's on)
Now I know it's time to be
Better than I ever was
I don't do it for the money
I do it for the love

Chorus

I've got the answer
It's beating in my heart
I'm gonna make it happen
There's no way
I won't tear this apart
I'm gonna show 'em what I got
I'm gonna give it everything
This is no joke I wrote
This is my destiny

One shot
One shot, you got
And if you don't take it then
You're always not - no!
It's on
So let's go
It's on
Here we go

One chance
One chance to rise
You go get yours
And I'll go get mine
It's on, it's on

Chorus

Show 'em what you're worth
It's been on since your date of birth
Why you here
Why you on this earth
If you can't live your dream
Man, it's gotta hurt

Chorus x2

It's going down
It's going down
Trust me from the depths of my soul (it's going down)
I'm tellin' you, it's going down (it's going down)
The moment now, it's on (it's going down)
I'm tellin' you it's going down (it's going down)
The moment now, it's on (it's going down)

Tonight is Chris Young as the Padres try to salvage the last game of this series.

GO PADRES AND GO PIRATES!!

(photo credits: energyfanatics.com, utxmart.com Lyrics: "It's On" Corbin Bleu, lyricstime.com)       

San Diego got a few hours on sunshine yesterday, the first since Wednesday, but the sky quickly clouded over again.

Same thing happened with the Padres.

From the very beginning of the game, you could tell it was going to be a long one. Kevin Correia struggled, only throwing 4.1 innings while giving up four runs on 10 hits. He stuck out five but only walked one. He was just not on his game. That or the Phillies were really on their game. I can never figure that out. I think this time it was a combination of both.

The bullpen was fairly solid. Meredith, Thatcher, Gregerson and Burke pitched. Gregerson ran into a little trouble, giving the Phillies an insurance run.

The offense was OK. We had six hits. Adrian hit his major-league leading 21st home run. Scott Hairston hit his eighth. Adrian is on track to hit 65 this year! There's not possible way he could do that at Petco, but that's what he's on track to hit! Wow.

The ninth was the worst part of the game. The score was 5-3 Phillies going into the bottom of the inning. As we've found out lately, these Padres don't give up. They're fighting back, picking away, and they just won't go down easily. 

Adrian walked to start the inning. Scott Hairston flew out, just missing it.

Then Brian Giles came to the plate. With a count of 1-0, a pitch got away from the catcher. Adrian, who is not the fleetest of foot, went for second. He slid in, the throw came in, and the umpire called him out. The look on Adrian's face was just heartbreaking. Oh man. I have never seen him look like that. It could have been interepreted as "Do you know who I am? You just called the home run leader out!" But he was really thinking, "My team needs this run. How could you call me out and ruin our chances for winning??" 

This picture doesn't fully show the look on Adrian's face, but if you want to see it, watch the video .

Buddy came out to argue, and as the guys on the radio watched the replay, they realized that Adrian was slightly pushed off the bag by Jimmy Rollins and the umpire didn't see it and thus was in no position to call it. Absolutely terrible. That was an essential run we needed on the bases, especially with only one out. I just put my head in my hands, like I'm sure many Padres fans did. I knew we were done. Sure enough, Brian popped out and that was it.

We lost pretty miserably. It was a long, long loss. Just terrible. This was one of those games you just want to forget.

Hopefully Jake will be able to help us erase those memories as he starts the second game against the Phillies tonight. Jake will be our sunshine after these dark cloudy days. I will probably miss the beginning of the game since I'll be at my brother's baseball game, but that's OK. Maybe my boys can score some runs for Jake without me! Haha.

 Oh, the dude who is pitching for the Phillies is going to be making his major league debut. How 'bout we, uh, welcome him to the big leagues, boys?

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credits: Sean M. Haffey/San Diego Union-Tribune, farm3.static.flickr.com, me)   

It's been overcast in San Diego for four straight days now, but yesterday Padres fans got a beam of sunlight as the club won the series finale in Colorado.

On Saturday, the Rockies won 8-7. It was a crazy back-and-forth game. The Padres had leads of 3-0, 6-4, and 7-6, but Heath Bell blew his first save of the season and handed Colorado the series win. The ninth inning was eerily like Game 163: Scott Hairston hit a tie-breaking home run in the top of the inning, but the closer blew the save, allowing three hits and just like Trevor did that night. This time, though, the winning run did touch the plate.

But on Sunday, the Padres went out to get the win and they got it. Adrian Gonzalez hit his 20th homer of the season in the fourth, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead. He had done the same thing the night before.

Chad Gaudin threw 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. He was so sharp! We really needed that outing from him, and I think he needed it for himself. Solid outing for Chad, and he got the win.

I LOVE KOUZ'S SHADOW!!!! 

Anyways, Kouz got his first two hits of the series and drove in a run. Scott Hairston hit his second homer in as many games. A lot of the guys had two hits yesterday: Scotty, Kouz, Adrian, Gwynn, and Josh Wilson.

It was an amazing 5-2 win, and it was Jake Peavy's 28th birthday too! Happy birthday to Jake, keep icing up that ankle.

Heath got his 15th save in 16 chances. Now we can't just say he got save #15 anymore. We have to add that unslightly "in 16 chances". How could you Heath?!?!? But it was great for him to get right back on track right away.

Though we lost the series, I am still very confident in this team. They were so close to getting the second game, and they put out a great effort yesterday. We're coming home now for six, and I think that's going to be huge. It's going to be great for the guys to get home, where we're currently on a nine-game winning streak.

I just wanted to mention that my brother played in his first playoff game on Saturday. The game was delayed by rain for about an hour, but they won 3-1! It was very exciting. Next they'll play tomorrow night. Hopefully they will be able to win and move towards the championship!

I have to share this letter to the editor that was in the Union-Tribune yesterday about Stephen Strasburg. It was hilarious!

"Haven't Padres fans learned the virtue of patience? OK, so the Nationals take Stephen Strasburg first in the MLB draft and pay him $50 million. From your (Union Tribune's) Friday story 'Padres get Strasburg in dreams,' you'd think the SDSU phenom would never don a San Diego uniform.

Perhaps the headline should have read: 'Padres get Strasburg in future.' Fast forward to 2027 spring training. The press release might read:

'The San Diego Padres announced today that they have signed former All-Star and Cy Young Award winner Stephen Strasburg, coming off major elbow reconstructive surgery, to a minor league contract. Strasburg, who missed the entire 2026 season, is a candidate for the open fifth starting position in the Padres' rotation.

'I'm hoping, through intense rehabilitation, to get my fastball back to the mid-80s,' Strasburg said. At 38, Strasburg would be the youngest starter on the Padres' staff. 'This guy was a steal,' said Kevin Towers, MLB's oldest general manager. 'I envision the same sort of success with Stephen that we had with Mark Prior years ago.' Patience, fans, patience!"

HAHAHAHAHA!! That was pretty good, and it could very well happen. I love the part about "at 38...the youngest starter on the Padres' staff"!!

Kevin Correia will be pitching today instead of Jake. Jake will hopefully pitch on Tuesday, as that ankle is still bothering him a little. I have a good feeling about this series against the Phillies.

GO PADRES!!  

(photo credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)