Blue Jays released Joey Hamilton yesterday. They have nothing to show for Woody Williams. Pads have Ray Lankford. More about him in a bit. Braves designated Quilvio Veras for assignment a few days ago. They have nothing to show for Ryan Klesko. Padres have, well, Klesko. Gotta like that.

Frustrating game last night. Padres wasted numerous opportunities. A few comments. On the Reds’ side:

• Jim Brower, the starting pitcher, showed much better stuff than I’d expected based on the numbers. Fastball in the 91-93 MPH range, changed speeds well. Spotty command but managed to work his way out of bases-loaded jams in the third and fifth without allowing a single run. Hit and ran the bases well, too.
• Catcher Jason LaRue reminds me of Brad Ausmus behind the plate. Good footwork, smothers balls in the dirt. Didn’t get to see him throw. But when you’ve nailed 16 of the last 19 guys trying to steal, I guess teams don’t test you.
• Right fielder Adam Dunn had trouble with anything off-speed or with movement. This is a similar problem J.D. Drew faced when he first arrived, and it’s very correctable, especially in a player so young. But right now, he should never see a fastball in the strike zone.
• How is Dmitri Young not hitting 25-30 homers a year? The guy has a quick bat, and he looks pretty strong. He sure turned on a Kevin Jarvis pitch that was down and in, yanking it just inside the right-field foul pole. Something tells me we haven’t seen the best from him yet.

On the Pads’ side:

• Ben Davis made a terrible baserunning blunder in the sixth to thwart a potentially big inning. With the Pads down 6-1, Bubba Trammell scored after being hit on the head by a LaRue throw while caught in a rundown. Unfortunately, Davis mistook third-base coach Tim Flannery’s “go” sign to Trammell as being for him and took a wide turn around the bag. Todd Walker alertly fired to Aaron Boone to nail him. It was an admittedly bizarre play but boy, that took the wind out of their sails.
• Damian Jackson is completely miscast as a leadoff hitter. He had a couple nice at-bats where he worked the count and fouled some tough pitches off, but he consistently expands the strike zone way too much for a guy at the top of the order. He should really be in the #7 or #8 hole. Sure is fun to watch on defense, though. How many times have I said that?
• Tough night for Phil Nevin. Bases loaded, two outs in the third, after a walk to Ryan Klekso, Nevin lines the first pitch right at Dunn to end the inning. Next at-bat, one out in the fifth, after Brower has walked the bases loaded, Nevin hammers an 0-1 offering down the right field line, just foul. Strike two. He ends up whiffing on a breaking ball way out of the strike zone, down and away.
• Mixed bag for newcomer Ray Lankford. Made a nice running catch in left early in the game. Launched a towering shot to right leading off the fourth for his first homer as a Padre. Nice reception from the fans. Struck out after Nevin in the fifth to kill another potential rally. Looked like was moving pretty well in the outfield. Bat seemed a shade slow on pitches up in the zone, but he sure hammered Brower’s fastball down and in. Tony Gwynn has been studying videotape and is convinced he can fix whatever ails Lankford. This could end up being a sweet deal. We’ll see.
• Kevin Jarvis surrendered consecutive homers to Dmitri Young, Jason LaRue, and Pokey Reese to start the sixth. That immediately followed Nevin’s foul blast in the bottom of the fifth. What could have been a 5-3 Padre lead quickly became a 6-1 Cincy lead.
• Wascar Serrano had his slider working, which proved to be a double-edged sword. He made LaRue and Reese look silly but in the process plated two runs on wild pitches. Real live arm, though. I have a feeling he is going to be a significant part of the 2002 bullpen. Could be a Jose Paniagua type.

Finally, it was good to see the Tigers pick up Bryce Florie. I’m really pulling for that guy to make it back.