Okay, I’m back for a bit. The gig went well Sunday night. We actually broke out the Green Day song. Not bad for our first stab at it.

Justin Germano continued his fine pitching in his first start at Elsinore last week. Six innings, a run, two walks, six strikeouts. Different league, same results. The Pads could have another Brian Lawrence on their hands.

I didn’t get to see Germano but I did catch Adam Eaton’s most recent rehab start. He allowed four runs in five innings but he struck out nine. His command was shaky in the first two innings (all four runs came in those innings). And Khalil Greene muffed a routine grounder in the first that led to two unearned runs. But Eaton appeared to be throwing pretty hard and his trademark curveball was working for him.

My folks came down for the weekend, so I thought I was going to miss the game. But I managed to talk them into joining us and they ended up having a great time. My mom took me to my first minor league game back in 1987. Opening Day, Columbus Clippers at Maine Guides. Jay Buhner was the big name on the Clippers back then but the big star of that game was Phillie prospect Ron Jones, who swatted two homers into the forest beyond the outfield fence.

My stepdad Jim isn’t much of a baseball fan. On arriving at the ballpark, he told my mom to keep an eye on center field because that’s where the grass grows the fastest. But once we arrived at our seats and he saw how close we were to the action, he got into the game.

Being a former high school track and football star, Jim found the mechanics of the game fascinating. He remarked early on at how well Eaton appeared to hide the ball from the hitter during his delivery. Pretty astute observation from somebody who might watch one baseball game a year.

Also, in that game, it looked to me like Greene’s long season was finally catching up to him. Of course, he promptly knocked homers in each of the next two games. So much for that theory.

Mark Phillips reached double digits in strikeouts last night against Modesto. Second start in a row he’s fanned 10. He walked only one batter. Last three starts: 19 IP, 17 H, 5 BB, 24 SO, 2.37 ERA.

Tom Lipari, recently recalled to Ft. Wayne, threw a gem in his second start there. Seven innings, one hit, no walks, nine punchouts. That was good enough for a 5 PQS, and a 1-1 Qmax score. Here’s a list of all such starts made this year by Padre minor leaguers in full season leagues:

Name      Date     Matchup  IP H R ER BB SO HR
----------------------------------------------
J.Peavy   04/22/02 Mob@Orl 8.0 4 0  0  0 10  0
C.Stewart 06/06/02 Wis@FtW 8.0 3 0  0  0  6  0
J.Germano 06/10/02 CR@FtW  8.0 4 1  1  0  8  0
J.Germano 06/23/02 Peo@FtW 8.0 4 1  1  1 10  0
C.Rojas   06/25/02 Gre@Mob 7.0 3 3  1  0  6  1
M.Bynum   07/08/02 Mob@Bir 8.0 1 0  0  1  9  0
N.Yoshida 08/02/02 FtW@Mch 7.3 2 0  0  0  7  0
D.McAdoo  08/03/02 LkE@RC  7.0 3 1  1  0 11  0
T.Lipari  08/20/02 SBn@FtW 7.0 1 0  0  0  9  0

Pretty geeky, but there it is. Enjoy…