Milton Bradley to San Diego

Photo Courtesy of Associated Press

UPDATE: THIS DEAL IS OFFICIAL NOW

Milton Bradley to San Diego

As promised by Kevin Towers, the Padres continue to make small improvements to their offense. It was announced yesterday that the Padres have tentatively acquired outfielder Milton Bradley from the Oakland A's. Bradley is a career. 271 hitter who is currently batting .292 with 2 HR's in 65 at-bats. The 65-at bats is the alarming part. Bradley has been injured throughout the year, severely limiting his playing time. Just last week Kansas City had reached a deal with Oakland for Bradley only to cancel the deal when they found out that Bradley was still hurt.

Now, reports in San Diego are saying that Bradley could be in the lineup as early as Sunday. It is also worth noting that San Diego is not requiring a physical for the oft-injured outfielder. We will know by Sunday if Bradley is healthy or not.

Other Bradley Concerns:

- He is temperamental. Most memorable for me was in 2004, when Bradley missed a fly ball and had a plastic bottle thrown at him. Bradley picked up the bottle and threw it back at the fan.

- He has a history of confrontations with media and players, saying about then teammate Jeff Kent that he "doesn't know how to deal with African-American players" and calling a L.A. Times reporter an "Uncle Tom."

- A great compilation of Bradley's troubled past is at the San Diego Union Tribune: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20070629-9999-1s29bradbox.html

- Somewhat ironically, Bradley became available in Oakland because of the emergence of Jack Cust...a player the Padres essentially just gave to Oakland.


Weekend Preview:

- Brian Giles has been activated off the DL and is expected to start today in L.A. in Right Field. Giles doesn't hit for power anymore, certainly not in the way he did in Pittsburgh. But, he is patient (a rare commodity in this Padres lineup) and provides an upgrade in quality at-bats.

- Chris Young gets the start tonight after his best performance of the year against Boston. Padres get a chance to redeem themselves against Hong-Chih Kuo, who last time against the Friars gave up only 1-run and struck out 8.

- Great pitching match-up on Saturday with Jake Peavy and Brad Penny.

- Sunday features the tallest pitcher in MLB history, Chad Billingsley. Just thought you should know that.

- Last time the Padres played L.A. they swept them out of Petco with a dramatic 5-run 9th inning.

- Although they won 2 of 3 in San Francisco, the Friars only mustered 10 runs in 30 innings. The Dodgers are coming off taking 3 of 4 from Arizona to move into a tie for first...with San Diego

Two the Hard Way

Series win in the Bay

Even the cats have Padres fever!!!

Assuming the National League All-Star coaching staff isn't blind, some notable Padres will be right back in the bay in less than a month (Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Trevor Hoffman and Adrian Gonzalez should be locks, more on this in the days to come) The Padres returned to division play this week, beginning a 6-game road trip in San Francisco where Bruce Bochy and company were waiting after an emotional series against the Yankees. The quick recap is this, the Padres dropped Game 1 after taking a late lead thanks to some Mike Cameron heroics, only to have the lead loss by Scott Linebrink (a reoccurring sight this weekend...more on that.)

Game 2 went the way of the Friar, winning in the most unlikely of ways...BY THROWING OUT A RUNNER! Not just any runner either. After Kouzmanoff hit a tie breaking solo homerun in the 10th, Hoffman came on to get the save. After recording two outs, Dave Roberts singles and than attempts to steal. It's Dave Roberts, everybody in AT&T Park knew he was going...including Michael Barrett who gunned him out. A Padres catcher throwing out a would-be base stealer, an unusual sight indeed.

Game 3 went the way of the Padres thanks in large part to a masterful pitching performance by Maddox (for those of you scoring at home, thats 340 career wins). Padres win the series, snapping a two series losing streak and returning the Padres (as of this writing) to a tie for first (Arizona playing L.A. as we speak, although probably not as you read).

Some notes from the past couple days. Is it time to be concerned in Friarland? Scott Linebrink has now given up at least one earned run in his last 3 appearances. On the surface this doesn't seem that alarming. Take into account that Linebrink is the link between the lead and Hoffman and the amount of pressure on the Padres bullpen, it becomes much more concerning. Which naturally leads to this question? Is the lack of Padres offense have an adverse affect on the Padres pitching? The theory being that the Padres pitchers have such a tremendous amount of pressure on them because giving up one run is disastrous. If a starter doesn't have shut-out stuff (say, Peavy on Sunday, giving up 3 runs) then the cause looks nearly hopeless. My thought is Linebrink, as well as the rest of the bullpen staff is beginning to feel that pressure and is cracking somewhat under it. That's understandable. The solution...

...is to make a trade. Lots of rumors circling and lots of wish list players on the fans minds, this one included. Most recently is the rumor of Jermaine Dye, the one-time World Series MVP from the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox are a disaster right now and they have made it clear that Mark Buerhle and Jermaine Dye are on the block. Clearly, the White Sox will want prospects back and presumably some pitching. As always, I throw out the Clay Hensley prospect, although with Wells likely retiring at the end of this year and Maddox only signed to one year, Hensley may be more valuable to San Diego.

Other Padres trade bait options are: Royce Ring (Padres are limited on left-handed relievers and this kid has ridiculous stuff), Chase Headley (the number one rated prospect in the Padres system, which is somewhat thin. He does play 3rd which hopefully is occupied for some time with Kouzmanoff), Scott Linebrink (the guy always mentioned, is it worth blowing up the best bullpen in baseball to bring in a slumping bat?). Dye is currently batting .230 with 11 HR's in the middle of a $7 million year.

Other notable trade rumors: Alex Rios of Toronto (a true leadoff hitter, which Marcus Giles is not), Adam Dunn (plays leftfield like a 9-year old, hits like Casey at the bat), Ken Griffey Jr. (my personal wish list player...)

The fact is the Padres need offense. Barrett is a nice pick up but that won't do it. Gonzalez has been slumping and some of that can be chalked up to him swinging at bad pitches because all he is thrown is bad pitches. The Padres in the last two years have gone 1 and done in the playoffs. This year's team pitches better than them. Let's not waste that talent on the inability to score runs. The offenses are better in October and the Padres can't rely on 2 hit wins then. KT MAKE A MOVE!!!
Which leads to our question of the day?
- Is a power hitting left fielder worth sacrificing any of the bullpen pitchers? If so, what left fielder would it have to be and who is expendable?

Up Next:

Huge series this weekend in Chavez Ravine. The Padres travel north to take on L.A. (Beat L.A., Beat L.A.). San Diego, Arizona, and L.A. are basically tied atop the West and that doesn't look to change anytime soon. Last year's division crown was won thanks to head-to-head record. Huge boost to San Diego to take 2 of 3 from L.A. this weekend and the pitching lines up perfectly, with Young, Peavy and Germano.

P.S. A little thing that made me smile...No Barry Bonds HR's this past three games, and no record breaking hit to happen against San Diego.

Meet Us in October

If this was a World Series preview then we are in for some competitive games come October. Boston took the rubber match at Petco Park today 4-2 with Josh Beckett out dueling Jake Peavy and becoming MLB's first 11-game winner in front of 44,000 plus. The much anticipated series with Boston provided three well played, competitive games with the unfortunate sidebar that San Diego came up short in 2 of the 3 games. I was lucky enough to be down at the game this afternoon and the atmosphere was unbelievable. Playoff atmosphere is the only way to describe it. And the Red Sox fans were out in full force, doing what they do best...being loud. There was a time, not to long ago, that the Red Sox were treated to taunts of "how many rings?" and other World Series "curse" taunts. It seems winning one World Series in the past 100 years gives a teams fan base carte blanch to repay the favor. Full disclosure here now. Today I was sitting next to two Red Sox fan's and both very pleasant, knowledgeable and genuinely fun to be around. That being said, the Red Sox fans were everything you would think they would be but now with cockiness. The line between Sox and Yankees blurs even further.

Enough of that. A great series, great atmosphere, and, although losing 2 of 3, showed the Padres belong in the World Series conversation. The Padres were never blown out and were in every game.

Game 1: Dice-K returns to the spot of his WBC MVP and championship and simply baffled the Padres batters. Greg Maddox was the tough luck loser in this game, giving up only 2 runs. Red Sox 2, Padres 1

Game 2: Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield didn't fool Padres batters as they put of a 6 spot. Most notably from this game, and most enjoyable, was the reception Doug Mirabelli received. As posted before, Mirabelli is not so liked here and Padres fans let him know it on Saturday night. His first time up the boo's were so loud he tried to call time. It wasn't granted and Young grooved a strike right down the heart of the plate. Two pitches later, Mirabelli was down on strikes. Maybe the most enjoyable moment of the weekend. Padres 6, Red Sox 1

Game 3: Marquee matchup of Peavy vs. Beckett (a pitching matchup you may see in a few weeks in San Francisco). Beckett got the best of Peavy today, going 8IP and giving up 2 runs. The Padres had chances, most notably in the 5th when they scored 2 runs but had the 3 (and at the time, tying run) on 3rd with 1 out but couldn't bring him home. Kouzmanoff missed tying the game in the 7th by about 3 feet, Varitek hit a BOMB and Papelbon did what Papelbon does. Red Sox 4, Padres 2

Some things to take away from this series:

-Royce Ring has been outstanding since being called up. In 4 games, Ring has giving up only 2 hits while striking out 8. Ring is a left hander, almost submarine pitcher with a killer curve that starts behind left-handed hitters. As the Padres are low on left handers, here's hoping Ring is up with the big club for awhile.

-The Padres pitching staff rose to the challenge of facing the best offense in baseball, holding the Red Sox to 7 runs in 3 games, but...

-The Padres offense was stifled, making 2 run deficits seem insurmountable.

-Brian Giles begins a Minor League rehab assingment Monday and if all things go well, Giles should be back for the Dodger series next weekend in L.A.

-Trevor Hoffman didn't get much work, finally coming into the 9th inning today in a non-save situation. Facing the Red Sox 2,3,4 hitters Hoffman recorded a 1,2,3 inning.

-Russell Branyon cannot be the starting left fielder much longer. He is a situational pinch-hitter.

-Adrian Gonzalez had a tough homestand, going 0 for 4 again today.

-Chris Young's first start since "the fight" was stellar, striking out 11 while only giving up 1 run, lowering his league leading home ERA to 0.98.

-Padres end interleague this year going 6-9.

Up Next:
The Padres return to the National League and return to Division play. Starting tomorrow the Padres are in San Francisco to visit with Bochy, Klesko and Roberts as the Padres take on the Giants. Next weekend San Diego goes up I-5 to L.A. to face the Dodgers

Not in My Town

Wasn't planning to post until after the Sunday game but came across a story that I thought was worth mentioning. Buster Olney writes the MLB Blog for ESPN.com and if you don't already I highly recommend his blog (you have to be an ESPN Insider however). Today's blog was an interesting story about Tony Gwynn and the current Red Sox series. For those who aren't an ESPN Insider, here is the jest:

Apparently, Tony was on a flight from St. Louis to San Diego. He hates flying, anyway, and from his perspective, this ride must've been particularly awful, because half the plane was filled with Boston Red Sox fans, who travel to follow the team, en masse, the way that the fans of the University of Tennessee football team travel.

The plane was all red and all Red Sox and after the flight landed, the pilot -- maybe part of the traveling band of Red Sox Nation -- got onto the p.a. system and said, "Go Sox."

And that was enough, apparently, for the future Hall of Famer. Gwynn stopped by the cockpit on his way off the plane, looked at the pilot and said, "Not in my town."

Tony Gwynn is Mr. Padre and Mr. San Diego and this is just another story proving exactly that. You the man Tony. More on Gwynn in the upcoming weeks with Cooperstown now right around the corner.

My Enemies Enemy is My Friend

A big weekend in Petco and a ton to get to so let's get right to it. First things first, the Padres are going into the Boston series on a small slide, losing two in a row to the Orioles. Yesterday, Orioles ace Erik Bedard shut down the Padres, recording 9 strikeouts. Bedard is a money pitcher with a unique side-arm, nearly slingshot left handed delivery. Very tough. The biggest story from yesterday's game though may have been the money ball (pictured, Padres ball girl picking up dollar bills). Supposedly, a fan in the third base suite threw money on the field, brining a strip club feel momentarily to the game. The fan was thrown out and all in all, a bizarre moment. (No word on whether Jose Cruz Jr. kept the couple bucks he picked up in left field).

Now, the Red Sox series. The Red Sox are an interesting team as far as fandom goes. Three years ago everybody was a Red Sox fan, helped mostly because of their unbelievable comeback against the Yankees (down 3 games to 0, yada yada yada). Since "my enemies enemy is my friend" and the Yankees are everybody's enemy (sorry Gabe!) everybody jumped on board. Cut to the 2004 off-season. Books, appearances, endless "I can die now" stories, and of course a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore. Frankly, I was done with the Red Sox and the backlash was on. Then the Red Sox became the Yankees North in terms of payroll, culminating in $52 million to TALK to Dice-K's Japanese team (note: no idea how to spell his name, so Dice-K it is). Hard to be a feel-good story when your spending more than most countries gross national product.

Boston fans, while emphatic, are unbelievably annoying. Sitting in Qualcomm this January when the Patriots came to town to play the Chargers hammered this point home. They are cocky and lack respect. Now they are "taking over Petco" and nothing beats an annoying Red Sox fan (well...maybe an annoying Yankee fan, but frankly, who can tell the difference these days). So, what does this series mean? It's a regular season series in June, interleague at that. That said, its a benchmark series. The Padres carry the best record in the National League thanks in large part to their pitching staff. But this staff has not dealt with an offense like this. Manny, Ortiz, Youklis. This team can hit. This weekend, in the large picture, means very little. But with San Diego relatively healthy, its a great chance to see how good the Padres really are.

Now to the games. Pound for pound you cannot beat these pitching matchups.

Game 1: Dice K vs. Maddox - 300 game future Hall of Famer against the "future" of pitching and the perhaps fictional gyro ball. Interesting side not, Petco is the park in which Dice K pitched Japan to a World Baseball Classic championship and earned MVP honors. In watching Dice K, his era is not great and he leaves a lot of balls up in the zone but he does strike out a ton of batters. He has 7 different pitches, all of which he can throw for strikes, and for teams facing him for the first time it has been a long day.

Game 2: Tim Wakefield vs. Chris Young - Chris Young is quietly having an All-Star season (6-3, 2.26 ERA) and will be pitching for the first time since his boxing match against Derrek Lee. Most notably, this will be first time the Padres have faced a prominent knuckleballer. As the National League does not have a starter that throws primarily knuckleballs, it will be interesting to see how the Padres hitters deal with that. Most notably of course, this game will mark the return of "ex-Padres" Doug Mirabelli. Doug Mirabelli infamously came to San Diego from Boston in the Mark Loretta trade and supposedly was upset when later that winter the Padres signed Mike Piazza. Mirabelli famously said to Padres GM Kevin Towers to take him out of a game against the Dodgers “because I'm not focused on the game . . . ” Towers replied, “I said, 'What?' ” Towers continued. “He said, 'My boys, the (Red) Sox have been calling me. I got to tell you, it's all I watch on TV; all I think about is the Red Sox. Do me a favor and you guys a favor (and make a deal).' ”

KT made the deal and brought Cla Meredith and Josh Bard here. No one here misses Mirabelli and should be an interesting reception he receives this weekend. By the way, Mirabelli is hitting south of .200 right now.

Game 3: Jose Beckett vs. Jake Peavy - The jewel of the weekend for pitching matchups between what could be both leagues Cy Young winners. Josh Beckett (10-1, 3.14) has the most wins in the Majors, certainly helped by the Boston offense as evidenced by his ERA. Jake Peavy is having a career year, earning his 9th win on Tuesday to move to 9-1 with a 1.98 ERA. Jake has giving up 3 earned runs in 3 of his last 4 games, although that stat is off-set by errors (2 runs on Tuesday scored on a scoring error but were credited to Peavy). This game could be a 1-0 game before it's all over.

Is this series a World Series preview? To early to tell. It's only 3 games in June, so why does it feel like 3 games in October?

Overall Breakdown

Starting Pitching: Edge - Padres
Numbers don't lie, the Padres ERA is superior to Boston, even if the records are not.

Offense: Edge - Boston
It's a video game lineup in Boston, scoring more than 50 more runs this year compared to San Diego.

Bullpen: Edge - Push
Boston's other Japanese import, Hideki Okajima may also be the better of the two, setting up for Papelbon who has been as good as anybody in the last season and a half. San Diego carries the best bullpen in baseball in ERA but has been hit a bit the last two days with Bell giving up 2 runs yesterday and Meredith being scored on again. If San Diego can get to the 9th though, they do have the only 500 save closer in baseball waiting for Boston

Defense: Edge - Padres
The unspoken hero to the Padres ERA is the outstanding defense they play, anchored by Khalil Greene at short and Cameron in center. The Padres are 6th in the majors in fielding percentage while Manny is cutting off balls in Left Field.

Overall: Padres take 2 of 3, winning Saturday and Sunday and dropping to Dice K on Friday.

NOTE: Here's hoping for a sweep though! =)

P.S. Big thanks to Gabe (who, as a Yankee fan becomes a honorary Padres fan this weekend) for the promotion of the site. Big thanks to Greg as well, whose F1 podcast (http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheRampageRacingReport)
inspired this blog and he continues to help me spread the blog across the web.

Trade Winds are Blowing

Ding! Ding!

Welcome to San Diego Michael Barrett. The much maligned Chicago Cub catcher has been traded to the San Diego Padres today for Rob Bowen and a minor leaguer (Kyler Burker from Single A). Many know Michael Barrett more for his punches then his catching, having been in the infamous fight with A.J. Pierzynski (pictured) and of course his fight with Carlos Zambrano eariler this year. He was also in a supposed shouting match with Cubs starter Rich Hill earlier this year.

Now, what does this do for the Padres? Well, obviously Josh Bard is not performing up to the .333 avg he had last year, currently batting .253. Worst of course, is that Josh Bard has more often than not found himself in the number 5 hole with that .253 avg. Certainly, if you want to look at an entire body of work, Barrett is an upgrade offensively, batting .287 for a career at Wrigley with a home run every 21 at-bats. Petco is no Wrigley. No short fences, no wind to help push the ball out, just deep alleys. So, are the Padres getting the hitting for avg and power Barrett or the 5-33 slumping Barrett that shoved the Cubs starting pitcher? One hopes for the former and perhaps a change of scenary will do the trick.

The next issue of course is Josh Bard. Who is the Padres starting catcher? Finanicially speaking, the Padres are only paying $700,000 for Barrett with the Cubs picking up the rest of Barrett's salary ($2.2 million still due) so it's not a slam dunk that Barrett steps into the starters role. What's more, how will Barrett and his hot head match with the Padres pitchers such as Jake Peavy. Certainly, anything that disrupts this rotation is devasting. At the same time Josh Bard has not been hitting as hoped and is not performing stellar behind the plate (dropped ball at the plate last night is only one of many examples). But, he is catching the best pitching staff in the majors so he must be doing something right.

Overall, the Barrett trade is an upgrade in offense, a draw on defense and a very large question mark on temper. Maybe Barrett just needed a change of venue. Maybe playing for a winning team will do him good. Maybe not. But if the Padres pitchers don't match well with him, Barrett has to go.

Finally, let's hope this is not the move Kevin Towers had planned to protect Adrian Gonzalez. I don't think it is as the talks had just begun a few days ago (presumably when San Diego was in Chicago). My bet is Kevin Towers is still mulling ideas over. The Padres catching core offensively has been dismal and this looks like an inexpensive way to potentially fix it...hopefully, not at the expense of the pitching staff. I give Towers the benefit of the doubt, after all, he brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Bard, and Cla Meredith here for next to nothing.

Coming Up:

Boston Series Preview Tomorrow. How Big Is a Series in June Really?

The Red Sox are Coming, The Red Sox are Coming

Quick post today. Heading down to Petco for tonight's game with Peavy going against the now manager-less Orioles. A few quick notes from the weekend.

- Chris Young and Derrek Lee were suspended 5 games each for their part in the fight at Wrigley. In all likelihood Young will appeal and rightfully so. Unless something was wrong with my t.v., Lee came at Young and swung first. Not sure what MLB would like Young to have done in that situation. Now, Lee is a classy player and one I personally like a lot. This was out of character for him. But he was the aggressor and should be punished accordingly, or, more to the point, Young should not be punished as severely. Either way, it would appear that this will not affect Young's availability this weekend when Boston comes to town.

- Congrats to Chase Headley on his first major league hit. Forgot to give him props when he got called up on Friday. Must have been quite a thrill to get your first MLB start in Wrigley Field. Congrats Headley.

- Mike Cameron is ridiculous hot right now, letting us all forget the terrible April he had. Interesting article in the U-T today about the Padres pitching and offense. Let me say this, the offense is not as bad as you think. Avg is low yes, but the Padres rank 9th out of 16 in runs scored and, when adjusted for ballparks, their slugging pct. plus on base pct. is fifth in the National League.

- That said, would still love to see Griffey Jr. in the outfield. Jose Cruz and Terrmel Sledge are good players, but not everyday players. Griffey Jr. has the power and speed to play into Petco and can protect Gonzalez. What is he worth? Clay Hensely perhaps? Mike Thompson? Wouldn't blow up the bullpen, but might be worth looking into. Pure speculation on my part though.

Full Boston Preview ahead on Thursday. For now, the Padres look to increase their lead in the West and build on what is now the best record in the National League.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE PADRES IN THE ALL-STAR GAME. 10 DAYS LEFT!!!

Rumble in Wrigley; Another 2 Hit day

Sorry for the delay in post. Got ill a bit and wasn't able to post. I'm back now and to the look of things just in time. Last we left the Padres had just come off a sweep of the Dodgers and couldn't be looking better. The jubilation of that was quickly erased by the Mariners who came into Petco and swept the Padres. Most concerning about the sweep though was the amount of games the Padres lead and then gave up in the late innings. The bullpen was due for a hiccup and if today's game in Chicago was any indication, it would appear they are back on track. The most concerning is Cla Meredith.

Now, Cla Meredith last year was nearly unhittable, setting the franchise record for scoreless innings streak. This year, not the same pitcher, who in his last 10 outings has given up at least 1 run 5 times. As mentioned in this space before, Heath Bell is, and deserves, to be getting the 7th inning. Look, the Padres offensive woes are well documented, which means a lot of close games. Right now, Cla Meredith cannot be trusted with a 1 or 2 run lead. Do I think it will be like this all year? No. But for now, Cla needs some outings with little pressure do get his rhythm back. When you only pitch one inning every few days, you need a rhythm. Right now, Cla can't find his. For now, Bud Black should go Bell, Linebrink, and Hoffman.

As for today's game in Chicago, by no doubt you have seen the highlight (or lowlight) of today's game. A lot has been said about Soriano on Friday showing up David Wells and no doubt he did. That said, it seems unlikely that Young threw at Lee on purpose. For one, it was a 1-2 count. Why waste 3 pitches if your going to plunk a guy? Why do it when your ahead of the count in a scoreless game? And why Lee? Now, I don't know what Young said to Lee and Lee is certainly not known for being a hot headed player, but what Lee did today was inexcusable. Certainly a suspension is in order for Lee. As for Young, it wouldn't surprise me but in reality he shouldn't be.

As for the baseball game, it was another 2 hit win for the Padres and one has to wonder how long the Padres can dance with fire and win. Eventually one would think the National League's lowest Batting Average will catch up with them. The answer is less clear. The Padres farm system is not great with a limited amount of prospects to trade. With the Reds falling out of it, I like the idea of bringing Griffey Jr. here. Kevin Towers has tried in the past to bring Griffey to San Diego, most notably in a blocked trade for Adam Dunn. And to just throw it out there, perhaps Clay Hensely can be a trading piece. Wtih Justin Germano seeming to supplant his place in the rotation, he may be expendable. Griffey can play right field as well and with Giles injury and the unknown length that he will be out, Griffey could make a lot of sense. One thing is for sure, Adrian Gonzalez is going to see less and less to hit and Padres fans will see more BB's next to his name unless the Padres get him some protection...or players start producing.

Short post today, we'll be back on Monday to review the finale of the Cubs series and get ready for the first visit of the Orioles into Petco.

Sweep LA! Sweep LA!; 500 Saves

What a week! A ton to get to from the past three days so let's break it down, game-by-game:

Tuesday:

Classic Petco game here. Chris Young was dealing, lowering his ERA at home to 0.52 and an opponents batting average of .164. Not bad Young, not bad. As for the offense, it was more of the same unfortunately, unable to scratch across a run for most of the game and only compiling 2 hits in the game. One of those hits though...Marcus Giles RBI single to bring in Branyon in the 8th. Russell Branyon (who had quite the series!) pinch hit in the 8th for Linebrink, got hit, STOLE A BASE, and scored the winning run. Padres 1 Dodgers 0

Wednesday:

A bit more comfortable than on Tuesday and frankly, not much to talk about here...oh yeah, except for a little thing such as the 500th save by Trevor Hoffman!!! It may be superfluous to say that Hoffman is the first closer to reach 500, seeing as he is the all-time saves leader. However, 500 must be put into perspective. As 40 saves are considered a tremendous accomplishment for a season (think .300 for a hitter) a pitcher would have to average 40 saves for 15 years...to be 10 shy of 500. Unbelievable consistency by Hoffman. Now, there is consistently a lot of talk over the saves stat. Is it overrated? Ask teams who have attempted the "bullpen by committee" (looking at you pre-Papelbon Red Sox) how important a closer is. More, as the mid to late 90's Yankees how many of those World Series would have happened without Rivera. Hoffman may not have the post-season resume (thank a poor team throughout much of his career in San Diego) but when he is called upon, he delivers. Big time night at Petco and a huge congratulations to Trevor Hoffman. It may be sometime before any closer catches Hoffman.

As for the game, the Padres won 5-2 thanks to a 4 RBI game from Geoff Blum. Bats came alive a bit, giving Greg Maddox the win. Padres 5 Dodgers 2

Thursday:

Coming into this game, Padres fans were excited for the chance at a sweep and who better to send out there to sweep the Dodgers than Jake Peavy. Peavy pitched well, if not outstanding, and would have left the game only giving up 1 run had it not been for a bit of bad luck in the 7th. On a fly ball to left field, Jose Cruz Jr. had the Dodger runner picked off of first to double up and end the inning. Cruz's throw however knocks his foot, saving the inning. A borderline strike called a ball and two doubles later, Peavy was knocked out. The Padres offensively looked lost for much of the night. Then the 9th...As mentioned above regarding the importance of closers, ask the Dodgers Thursday night how important Saito is. With Saito out, and in a non-save situation, Johnathon Braxton came in. It started innocently enough...Blum infield single, then a misplayed ball by Garciparra to put two men on. Then a base hit to left to load the bases. Paul McAnulty, with a hit he will remember forever, hits a chopper off the plate and wins the race to the bag by MAYBE half a step. Gonzalez then steps up, slams a double to the gap, Cameron with a single up the middle. And then with the bases loaded, Russell Branyon, in only his third at-bat of the series, draws a 1 out, bases loaded walk off walk. Padres win, Padres Sweep, and with the Arizona loss, Padres take over first...by themselves. Padres 6 Dodgers

East Coast Love!!!!

The boys in Bristol have finally recognized the scorching Padres, placing them first in the latest Power Rankings. Red Sox Nation must be up in arms!!!

Padres Notes:

Khalil Greene is expected to make his start tonight, returning from his sore arm...The MLB draft was held yesterday and Vanderbilt left hander David Price was selected number 1 overall by the Devil Rays. The Padres selected Nick Schmidt, a left hander out of Arkansas with about an 88-92 fastball, good changeup and curveball. He sounds like a left handed Justin Germano.

Up Next:

Padres welcome in their American League "rivals" the Seattle Mariners into Petco with Germano taking the mound. The Mariners have hit a hot streak, moving into second in the AL West.

Give My Regards to RFK; NL Worst No More

- The Padres began June in the same fashion they ended May, by dropping the first game of a series only to come back and win the series. This weekend the Padres made there final visit to RFK (assuming they don't play there in October...I'll let the laughter die down...) and dropped their first game in extra innings. It was a game in which the Padres had come back from 3 down to tie this game only to have Cla Meredith give it up in extras. Now, I have not heard any panic in the struggles of Cla Meredith but one only needs to look into how Bud Black is using him. Meredith no longer is the 7th inning guy as that job, for the time being, appears to belong to Heath Bell. Meredith has not been demoted to mop up guy and certainly he is still an excellent pitcher but his struggles cannot be ignored (further reason why Scott Linebrink CANNOT BE ON THE TRADE BLOCK!!!)

- The Padres came back to score 18 runs in two games in RFK having a rare power outburst in a stadium that doesn't give up many homeruns. Josh Bard appears to be reacting to his impending suspension at the plate, including a 4 RBI game on Sunday. Bard is getting hot...just in time for the Padres to lose him.

- More good news from the trip to the D.C. was another outstanding performance by Justin Germano who appears to be going no where (Clay Hensley, your Germano voodoo doll is available at window 1).

- In 2005 the Padres won the division by playing .500 baseball (finishing 2 games over .500). They were the only team that year to finish above .500 in the NL West and were predictably sweep in the playoffs. That year, the NL West took over the name NL "Worst" and perhaps rightfully so. Those days, my friends, are long gone. The NL West currently holds the best overall winning percentage of any division in the Majors with three teams in a virtual tie for first, all 10 games over .500. The Padres team ERA is 2.94 and they are scoring enough to win. Although, when your holding teams to under 3 runs, not much offense is needed. The best race is in the NL West and the Padres are set for another division run.


Padres Notes:

Jake Peavy was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for May with a 4-0 record and .079 ERA. That's right, .079 ERA...The U-T is reporting that Brian Giles does not feel like he is close to coming back. This is a substantial blow to the lineup as evidenced by the amount of juggling Bud Black has been doing. Right now there is no clear #2 hitter with Jose Cruz Jr., Termel Sledge, and Mike Cameron all trying to fill the void (Note: Jose Cruz Jr. sore back kept him out again on Sunday). Brian Giles may not hit for power but he may be the most patient batter in a lineup full of free swingers...Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to thrive since being moved to the #5 spot as he continues to hit the ball hard with hits in 3 of his last 5 games...The Padres waiver wire pick up Hiram Bocachica made his presence felt on Sunday, hitting his first homerun as a Padres. The pickup doesn't light the world on fire but gives Bud Black a right handed option in the outfield.


What's Next:

The Padres return home for three games against division rival and co-leader of the West Dodgers with the expected return of Jason Schmidt on Tuesday night. The Padres entertain more interleague action when the Mariners come in this weekend. Obviously, the Dodger series is huge and we'll have a full series wrap up on Friday.


All-Star Voting:

No Padres is in the Top Five in any position! Let's get out there and make Adrian Gonzalez, Marcus Giles and the rest of the deserving Padres a trip to San Francisco. http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2007/index.jsp

Inaugural Post - I Miss May Gray!

Welcome to the inaugural post. The idea here is to provide some much needed attention to the San Diego Padres, a team routinely ignored by the mainstream (read: east coast) media. So enough of that, let's get to some Padres talk!

It's June 1st which has unofficially become somewhat of a melancholy day for Padres fans. The reason? It marks the end of the month of May which in the past two seasons has been the month that has propelled the Padres to the National League Western Division Championship. This year's 18-9 month of May record is second best in franchise history, second only to the 22-6 May in 2005. What's more? The Padres posted a 2.17 ERA in the month in May, a franchise record that was far and away the best in the majors this year. And it's a good thing as the Padres are only averaging 4 runs per game.

Now, local media here in San Diego are calling for a trade citing the 4 runs per game and the countless pitching performances that go for naught because of a lack of run support. The names that have been mentioned, in rumor only mind you, have been Alex Rios and Aaron Rowand. This is all well and good except for what the Padres would have to give up which, by all accounts, would be Scott Linebrink. Currently the Padres are 31-22 and Trevor Hoffman has the third most saves in the National League. A big reason for this is the Padres ability to shorten the game. Essentially, teams have until the 7th inning to get the Padres and if not it's the Meredith or Bell, Linebrink and Hoffman show. Good luck with that! Look, the offense struggles, especially at home, no one denies this but the team was not built to hit the cover off the ball. What wins games, at home and on the road, is pitching. What's more, pitching wins in the post-season. More offense would be great, but Scott Linebrink is not worth Aaron Rowand. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Mike Cameron are starting to heat up, Adrian Gonzalez is an All-Star and the Giles brothers, when healthy, are on-base machines. The offense will figure itself out, as long as the team is in first and 9-games over .500, I say don't mess with the formula.

Padres Notes:

Much maligned first round draft pick Matt Bush has lost his position at shortstop and will move to the mound. Matt Bush has not panned out as hoped after being made the first overall pick in the 2004 draft due to under performance and injuries. The solution, the mound, where Development Officials hope his electric arm translates. A certain #51 might be the template for this move... (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20070601-9999-1s1bush.html)...

As expected, Josh Bard was suspended three games for his run in with Umpire Ed Rapuano after last nights game in Pittsburgh. After an apparent home run was called back (correctly it should be added) Josh Bard did his best George Brett impression and has now been suspended. Bard has appealed the suspension, allowing him to play until his hearing.

Up Next:

The Padres play 3 against the Nationals with Peavy on the mound to open it up tonight. Then the Padres head home for the rival Dodgers and interleague action against the Mariners. Both those series at Petco.