Congratulations! You Made a Sale!

The Dodgers are Darth Vader.

Well, that's probably not accurate.

The Dodgers are The Empire. Whoever owns the Dodgers then, in effect, becomes Darth Vader. I'm looking at you crazy rich guys and Magic Johnson.

So, if you are following along with this metaphor, guess who that makes the Padres? Ok, who said Ewoks?

The rebel alliance was ultimately lead by the son of the leader of the Evil Empire. On August 16th, 2012 the sale of the Padres was completed to an ownership group that includes Kevin O'Malley, son of former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley, nephew of Peter O'Malley Peter Seilder, Phil Mickelson (more on this in a moment) and headed by Ron Fowler (and this).

Kevin O'Malley is the Luke Skywalker in this equation. Hopefully with more the Empire Strikes Back version versus the whiny A New Hope version. I suppose that makes Phil Mickelson like, I don't know, Admiral Akbar? This metaphor is exhausting. The point is, we drink your milkshake L.A. And next, we are coming for your Death Star.

Now we are mixing movies. Let's move on.

Who is Ron Fowler? I'll be honest. I don't really know. But I do know he is the CEO of Liquid Investments, a beer distributor. Among the products they help distribute:

Dogfish Head
Lagunita's
21st Amendment
Ballast Point
Anchor Brewing
New Belgium Brewing

That's some fine beer taste. Any guy who is helping get these beers out to the general public is a guy I can trust. I hope. (Editor's Note: They also distribute PBR, so there's that. A guy's got to eat. And hipsters got to be hipsters)

So far we have a beer guy and the son of Darth Vader on our side.

And then there's Lefty.

The trend in sports ownership these days is to have a face of your ownership group. No team does this better than the Brooklyn Nets and Jay-Z. At this point, I want to play for the Nets, that's how cool Jay-Z makes it seem despite having nearly no actual ownership stake. The aforementioned Magic Johnson in L.A. being only the most recent example.

And now we have Phil. Perhaps the second most famous athlete from San Diego (that may be hyperbole, don't get caught up in the semantics), Phil Mickelson has made a career out of taking high risk shots in high risk situations. He crashes and burns as much as he succeeds. But it's almost always entertaining.

But what Phil is really great at is getting up and down for par. Around the green, pitching, chipping, out of a bunker, Phil knows how to put the ball in the hole when he's close, no matter the lie.

The Padres may be in a bunker right now, but it's a greenside bunker. And hopefully this is the ownership group to get the Padres up and down for that par.

Star Wars metaphors, golf metaphors and a There Will Be Blood reference. My work here is done.

Frustrating Way to Begin a Series

I hate losing games like last night. And not because it was the Dodgers (although that adds a bit of salt to an already opened wound). But because that game was won and then giving away by shoddy defense and one misplaced fastball. The Dodgers opened up a 3 run lead by scoring 4 in the 7th. All made possible by a ball being lost in the lights by Giles and a horrendous play in left field that would have made the Bad News Bears cringe. I look forward to watching the ball drop between the left and center fielder of the Padres in future "Bloopers" reels played throughout the country. Fun times.

But all of that was merely moot as Heath Bell came in and got the first two strikes to Russell Martin with the tying run on third and 2 outs. A 95 MPH fastball that was probably either not high enough or to high and caught to much of the plate was poked into right field. You know how the story ends. Frustrating indeed.

The poll question to the right is a bit useless now as we have our answer. Wil Ledezma was DFA and Joe Thatcher was brought back up. Sadly, Chase Headley did not sneak into his luggage.

Thursday will mark the return of Jake Peavy off the DL as he responded well to his simulated 4-inning game on Saturday.

Meet the Mets, Greet the Mets, Come on Everybody and SWEEP THE METS!!!

Well, things have gotten a little bit interesting suddenly. While the Padres remain 9 games below .500, the prospect of ever even sniffing .500 suddenly does not seem laughable. Thanks in part to a 5 game winning streak that includes a 4 game sweep of the suddenly nose-diving Mets, the Padres find themselves in a spot that they have not been in since the first week of April: hopefully.

Last year, I hated seeing Tony Clark coming to the plate. Hated it more when Chris Young was pitching. For some reason, I felt like Clark was a consistent Padre killer. So when they signed Clark last winter I thought "great, a big thumper off the bench." Up until Sunday that "thumping" had not materialized. Apparently he only needed to face the National League's best closer (statistically speaking of course, we know where the real best closer resides!) in a full count, down by 2 with 2 guys on situation. Tony Clark's homerun capped an improbable sweep, winning 3 games 2-1 (including beating Johan Santana) then rebounding on Sunday from down 3 in the first to immediately get those runs back in the bottom half of the 1st. Now the Dodgers come to town and the Padres have a chance to move into third. 6.5 GB and 9 from .500. If this team is at .500 by the All-Star Break and within 5 games, things will get very interesting indeed.

Headley Watch: Word is that Headley will finally and mercifully make a Padres debut when inter-league begins next week. Kevin Towers has said that the sudden change in the Padres fortune has relieved the pressure of bringing up Headley, as opposed to have him come up while the team was scuffling in May and be seen as THE SAVIOR. They still seem hesitant to let him play left though. Perhaps they see something in PMac and Huber that I don't. Hard to imagine Headley plays left worst than those two.

- Jody Gerut has turned it on in the past week and presents a legitimate speed threat at the top of the lineup who is now hitting for average. The power is still not there (although how much power were you expecting?) but getting on-base is, and that has been key to the Padres sudden winning ways.

- Jake Peavy is said to be returning from the DL this Thursday, a day game against the Dodgers, after throwing a simulated game yesterday.

- I love rooting for Edgar Gonzalez. I don't know why but I do.

- Tonight, Greg Maddux goes for the Padres. Somewhat under the radar, Maddux has quietly had a tremendous year, especially at home. The Dodgers send rookie Henshaw who, while sometimes erratic, has electric stuff and a high K/9 rating. Never good when playing the Padres.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Dodger Stadium

So, I'll take the push on my parlay. Padres did win 2 of 3 but I picked the wrong pitchers. A great sign on Friday night to get the win when Peavy didn't have his ace stuff. That's a huge win. As for Saturday, what is there to say other than "mama said they'd be days like this."

Chris Young right now cannot find the strike-zone. His 12 walks so far in 2008 is good enough (or would it be bad enough?) for the third highest walks allowed total in the Majors. It's worth mentioning he has some good company at the top of that list in Fausto Carmon, Dice K and Matt Cain. The short term problem of these walks is what happened on Saturday night. Hitters counts, base-runners on and a 3 inning outing the results in a Padres loss. The long term problems are a bigger concern. Chris Young's pitch counts have consistently been high since his been a Padre and he rarely if ever makes it into the 7th inning. This resulted last year in a DL stint in the midst of a Cy Young campaign. Needless to say, CY's next start will be viewed at closely at LCB as Young has walked more than 3 batters in his first 3 starts.

Sunday was not for the casual fan. 1-0 win for the Padres with the lone run coming on a sac fly. Hey, whatever it takes right? A win is a win. Maddux notched win number 349 for his career by throwing 5 innings of shut out ball. Maddux only threw 67 pitches in the game (42 for strikes) and likely could have gone longer if not for the need for some offense (requiring a pinch-hitter) and, I have to think, the temperature. For those not living in Southern California, high 90's were the call of the day here. Not conducive for a 42 year old pitcher.

Khalil Greene was the number 5 Web Gem tonight in Bristol and well earned. That play is why it's ok that he hits .250...well, the homeruns don't hurt either.

Padres have an off day on Monday and then the Rockies head to town for the first time since Number 163...full preview on Tuesday.

Big Thanks to Ashley and Jay for grabbing us a Padres flag at last weekends game. The flag flies proudly in North Park today!

And one final note: Scared Hitless is your inter-school softball champions. The number 3 seed pulled off the upset in come from behind fashion on Sunday. That leaves the Little Blue Pill season, who is on bye this week.

Los Dodgers Series Preview

Wanna win? Gotta play right? Well, the benefit of not playing is you can't lose either which made yesterday's off-day fairly relaxing after the frustration that was the Giants series.

But, it's back to business with a 3-game series starting tonight in Los Angeles. But first, I wanted to draw your attention to a few things:

- Gaslamp Ball (http://www.gaslampball.com/) has a great post about whether Trevor Hoffman blows more games in tie games than in save situations. He then compares those numbers to Mariano Rivera. I can't do it justice really so head over there, say hello and check it out.

- Arizona Diamondback pitcher Doug Davis pitched his last game before undergoing treatment by having his thyroid removed. If you want to send well wishes, AZ Snake Pit is your place. http://www.azsnakepit.com/2008/4/9/391144/doug-davis-get-well-soon-t

- Through the first week and a half of games the Padres offense has looked great and terrible all at the same time. Case in point: The Padres team batting average of .282 is tops in the National League. However, that great average has only lead to 32 runs, good enough for 13th out of 16 NL teams. Getting guys on is great. Getting guys in...better. Let's hope we see more of that batting average with runners on (when the Padres team batting average drops to .244).

Padres vs Dodgers

If I have to get you pumped up for Padres/Dodgers, then you're probably reading the wrong blog. We know what this is and we know we hate the Dodgers. There's a slight bit of urgency right now as the Padres have dropped their last two series (1-2 against L.A., 1-2 against S.F.).

Game 1 will feature a rematch of the April 5th game in which Peavy spun a 2-hit complete game. This is also the first start for Peavy since the "infamous" mystery smudge pictures surfaced. Peavy vs Penny is by far the best matchup of the weekend and should be enough to draw attention away from that "other" rivalry across the country.

LCB prediction for the series: Padres take 2 of 3 behind Peavy on Friday and Young on Saturday.

One Week In, 25 to Go

If you follow me on Twitter then you may have been aware that this weekend I was in Las Vegas. Now, while it happened to be Final Four weekend, that had little to do with why I was in Vegas.

Now, I thought I would pass along the Sports Book at the Stratosphere line on the Padres winning the World Series. Vegas has them at 22-1 to win the World Series, with NL teams such as the Cubs, Mets, Dodgers, D-Backs, and Phillies with better odds. Just an FYI.

I was able to catch some of the Padres game on Saturday and boy am I glad I did. Peavy looked unbelievable on Saturday with a biting slider and from what I read 18 change-ups.

Now, am I excited that Peavy went all 9-innings? Of course. Last year coming out of the All-Star Break the bullpen got rocked and part of that I think can be attributed the amount of innings they have on their arms. That said, I'm not sure how to feel about a 116 pitch inning from the ace of the staff in the first week of April. I lived in Chicago for 3 years while Dusty Baker was the manager and I watched him overwork two of the greatest young pitchers in the NL at the time: Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. There are literally dozens of stories of pitchers that "could have been." In recent years, injury issues involving Francisco Liriano and Felix Hernandez are most notable to me.

This isn't to say that I think Peavy is going to join that group. There is a school of thought that says that pitch counts are over-rated. Supposedly, Dice-K threw 300 pitches IN BETWEEN starts in Japan. So maybe this is nothing. Let me just say that 116 pitch outing in early April on a young arm makes me nervous.

The other Peavy issue from Saturday was the mysterious "smudge" on his hand. Here is a pic of what I'm talking about:
This reminds many of the infamous Kenny Rogers World Series "smudge." Here's what Peavy had to say about it:

"I laughed, to be honest with you. Anybody that wants to check me, feel free. There’s nothing on my hands that’s not supposed to be. I thought it was funny that it was such a big deal. I’ve got no problems with anytime anybody needs to check me.

"I can’t imagine my hands being that dirty. That being said, your hand doesn’t look clean when you’re out there. Obviously I pick up rosin, pick up dirt, I do hit. I found it hard to believe my hand was that … there’s no way. I laughed.

"There’s no way you could have a foreign substance on your hand that’s black. I don’t know what you could put on your hand. My whole hand was covered, the picture I saw. Wouldn’t that come off on a ball? How could you throw a ball with pine tar on your hand?

"I’m not out there cheating, that’s the bottom line.''

Hoffman Issues

The Padres ended up dropping two of three from LA despite tremendous pitching performances by CY on Sunday. Hoffman was tagged with the loss on Sunday by giving up a lead-off walk to Russell Martin, who advanced to second on a ground out and scored on an RBI single without a run.

A lot can be said about this game. Giles costing the Padres a run on a base-running gaffe, taking advantage of runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs. But I would be lying if I said I'm not concerned about Hoffman. His stuff I have faith in. The change-up looks as filthy as it ever did and his fastball looks to have a few more MPH on it. At this point, I'm beginning to wonder how his psyche is holding up. Hoffman has always been one of if not the best closers at moving on from a blown save. However, in the last 6 games (dating back to last year's series in Milwaukee) Hoffman has blown 3 saves and was tagged with the loss on Sunday (in a non-save situation).

Next to Tony Gwynn, Hoffman is my favorite All-Time Padre and I refuse to lose faith. That being the case, it is very hard as a fan to watch one of your favorite players struggle like this. If Hoffman's psyche can stay in tack, I firmly believe that Hoffy will still save 40 games and be the closer by the end of the season. But right now, you have to wonder what his head space is like right now.

Upcoming:

For those who aren't aware, San Francisco was awarded a Double-A team and they are called the Giants. The Padres go to visit them for three games starting Monday and then, mercifully, the Padres will get a day off on Thursday.

Only So Many 5 Run 9ths; Padres Forgotton for All-Star Game

Padres vs Dodgers

It is sometimes hard to say following a shutout loss to your rival, but, this was a pretty good weekend for the Friars. The Padres took 2 of 3 against Los Angeles this weekend, moving into sole possession of first place in the National League West with a 1 game lead over L.A. and a 1.5 game lead over Arizona. As for the series, is was what one would expect. Ultra-competitive with just a hint of September baseball in the air. The marquee matchup was Saturday night where Dodger ace Brad Penny went up against our man, Jake Peavy. The two pitched outstanding ballgames, both getting strikeouts when they had to have them. Notably, in the 7th and last inning for Peavy, with the bases loaded, Peavy struck out Saenz with a 94 mph to end the threat. In the end, neither pitcher would factor in the decision, both pitching 7 innings while giving up 1-run. Jose Cruz and Geoff Blum hit back-to-back doubles in the 12th to secure a 3-1 Padres win. Hoffman got the save, his 23 of the year. Peavy lowered his ERA to 2.09, behind only Brad Penny, and regained the National League in strikeouts with 119. Royce Ring picked up his first MLB win in this game.

While Saturday was the highlight matchup, the Padres also won on Friday, scoring 7 runs to take a 7-2 lead in a huge 6 run 4th inning. As it turned out, all 7 were needed, as the Padres gave 3 runs back in the 8th and another in the 9th.

As for Sunday, Germano suffered his second loss of the year while Billingsley pitched 3 hit ball over 7 innings, blanking the Friars.

Padres return home, alone in first, to take on Florida and Atlanta before the All-Star Break.

All-Star Game

And speaking of that All-Star Game, the teams were announced today and predictably (and deservedly), Jake Peavy was named to the team. Now, seeing as the Padres are a first place team with the best record in the National League, one would imagine that Peavy would be followed to San Fran with a bevy of Friars. But, as is often the case in San Diego, the Padres were snubbed, as the only other Padres other than Peavy going to San Fran is Trevor Hoffman (at 23 saves already, a deserved spot). Which means that:

Chris Young with his 8-3 record and 2.14 ERA will not be attending. Instead, LaRussa took Cole Hamels who, while striking out many, is 9-4 with a 3.87 ERA. Nearly 2 full points above Chris Young.

Adrian Gonzalez with his .275 BA and 14 Home Runs and Gold Glove play will once again be watching from home. Instead, taking Derek Lee, who although hitting .346, has only 6 HR's and is 10 RBI's behind Adrian Gonzalez.

The downside to playing on the Left Coast. The upside? Rest, much needed for many players.

Look, I know the All-Star Game starters are picked by fans and to that end, its hard to get fans outside of San Diego to vote. Bigger markets, more people, more votes. But for reserves. That's picked by coaches, and coaches know better. They know how good this Padres team because they remember watching the Padres when the rolled in and took 2 of 3 from most of these coaches. Luckily, by October, the All-Star Game is a distant memory. Looking forward to it.

Notes

Milton Bradley was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to June 21st, the last time he played. This is a somewhat expected move as Kevin Towers eluded to this weekend when discussing the trade with the A's.

Brian Giles was moved to the leadoff spot, a move I have said since last winter the Padres should make. No hitter on the Padres has better plate discipline, consistently makes contact, and is a smart (if not fast) base runner. The other plus is it moves Marcus to the more comfortable 2-hole for him. The Padres scored 7 runs in the first game with this configuration.

BEACH TOWEL DAY ON SATURDAY!!!

Some NL East teams come into Petco to close the first half of the season. Florida followed by Atlanta. Full reports on those series when they conclude.

Don't forget to subscribe to LCB using the link in the upper right hand corner. Thanks to Feedburner.

One month in for LCB and it's already building. Thanks for the continued reading. Much More to Come!!!

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.

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