The Long Road Home

The logical part of my brain knew that this day would happen.

Mat Latos wasn't going to go winless for the rest of his career.




But boy, it kind of started to feel that way. I don't know that I have ever seen someone with more pure, raw talent struggle as much as Latos did in these past 12 starts. Sure, not all of these losses were his fault. Poor run support or defense would foil him more times than I'm sure he wants to remember.

But something seemed off. His velocity was down, his location was off and his confidence seemed to be shrinking with every passing start without a win. I had originally planned a whole post about "What Was Wrong With Latos" in which I was going to bring up the workload increase and the loss time during Spring Training. I was going to write (and did via Twitter) how I thought Latos should go to Tucson and build up his arm and make up the loss time from Spring. Well, we can shelve all that for now.

Colorado is hardly a place to go to right the ship as a pitcher. But the Padres 8-2 win over Colorado to move to .500 on this road trip marks the first win for Mat Latos since 09/07/10 (a win that, at the time, put San Diego 1 game ahead of SF for the NL West division title) seems bigger somehow, more than a regular season win in May over a division foe.

"It s a struggle no one wants to go through. It's good to get it out of the way." - Mat Latos

Whether this is a turning point of the season remains to be seen. Perhaps that's reading too much into one win. But for Latos I have to think this was more than just some win in May. This exercised demons. The 0-10 monkey is officially off his back.

The pitching has been suspect on this road trip; the defense not much better. The offense is clearly showing signs of life after a month of futility that defied any statistical measure you could come up with. It helps when you play games in Miller Park and Coors against teams with leaky bullpens.

The Mat Latos losing streak had become symbolic of the struggles of the 2011 Padres. At least for me. It encapsulated everything that was going wrong with the Padres. Yes, the offense was going to struggle with the absence of Adrian, but it would be ok because the pitching and defense should be as stellar as the 2010 version. But the offense was worst than anyone could had expected, the defense mediocre and now the ace of the staff couldn't win a game.

But this game is as much about confidence as anything. You can see that in Hawpe, who has been one of the hottest hitters in the NL since the end of April.

And now, hopefully, we will see it in Mat Latos.

Rocky Mountain Highs

The Padres salvaged what has been a miserable June by exacting, if only for a day, some revenge on the Colorado Rockies.

Last night, the Padres recorded season highs in hits (22) and runs (15). The runs total last night was more than the Padres have had in the past week. And while 1 game does not erase an 8 game losing streak or a 3-15 interleague schedule, it underscores the odd situation the Padres and the rest of the NL West find themselves in. It will only take one team, getting hot for 10 days, to take over the NL West. As Adrian Gonzalez put it last night:

"I've got a good feeling," Adrian Gonzalez said. "Giles and I were talking about this tonight. Counting tonight, we have 12 games going into the All-Star break.
"We're here and at Arizona on this trip, then return home to play the Marlins and Braves.
"If we go 8-4 to the break and get to within six out on Arizona ... we're not too far out. It doesn't sound great, but it's been done before. I think everything rides on these next 12 games.
"Six-and-six, we're done. Seven-and-five, though. But 8-4. It's something to shoot for. We've created the start."

8-4 in this stretch. Possible, certainly considering the struggles that Colorado and Arizona have been going through. But one thing is certain. This week is THE week to get back in the race. If the Padres are double digit games back by the All-Star Break, let the selling begin. For now, a 7-run 9th inning seems to have given the Padres a small reprieve.

As you know, LCB is a fan of Edgar Gonzalez. Last night, big brother had a big night, hitting two homeruns and ending the night with 4 hits. It does raise the question: what do the Padres do when Iguchi gets back? More on that later. For now, let's enjoy a rare offensive outburst by the Padres.