That was a winnable series against the Dodgers. Poor starting pitching and not enough timely hitting. Not a good combination.

There were bright moments last night. Mark Loretta and Phil Nevin hit the first two Padre homers at Petco. Loretta and Sean Burroughs extended their hitting streaks to nine. Aki Otsuka pitched brilliantly again (I’m pretty well convinced he could close games over here if needed). The Pads put the bat on the ball against Eric Gagne again and at least gave themselves a chance.

But in the end, it was another disappointing loss. The season is early and I try to stay positive, but it’s hard not be a little frustrated right now. The Padres are 4-5 but could easily be 7-2 with a few breaks. I guess most teams can make similar claims. The Pads have scored 43 runs this year and allowed 43, so I probably shouldn’t complain. That won’t stop me, of course.

In the Good News department, reliever Rod Beck is due back in mid-May. Not only does this mean the Padres will have two excellent setup options for Trevor Hoffman, but with any luck it will also bring to an end the Eddie Oropesa era (and ERA).

Speaking of Hoffman, apparently he was out playing Wiffle ball at the Park in the Park before last night’s game. Honestly, how cool is that?

Quick run through the minors:

                     AB HR BB SO  BA OBP SLG
T. Bozied, 1B, Por   31  2  2  8 355 394 710
B. Castro, 2B, Por   28  0  4  2 393 469 464
J. Knott, OF, Por    24  0  1  6 208 269 292
X. Nady, OF, Por     30  1  3  4 400 455 600
J. Barfield, 2B, Mob 18  0  3  4 167 286 222
J. Gautreau, 3B, Mob 20  2  5  5 300 440 700
B. Johnson, OF, Mob  21  1  3  7 286 375 571
G. Sain, 1B, Mob     19  3  5  7 368 480 842
L. Cruz, SS, LkE     31  1  3  1 355 429 548
M. Johnson, 1B, LkE  26  2  5 10 115 265 346
K. Jones, OF, LkE    29  0  6  7 276 400 379
G. Kottaras, C, FtW   7  0  1  2 286 375 286
C. Morton, C, FtW    17  1  2  8 118 250 294
Valenzuela, 1B, FtW  26  0  4  1 269 406 269

                   IP  H HR BB SO  ERA
B. Neal, Por      4.1  4  0  0  4 2.08
C. Oxspring, Por 11.1  7  0  5 13 2.38
B. Sweeney, Por  12.0 11  1  3 11 4.50
Tankersley, Por  12.0 10  1  5 12 4.50
J. Germano, Mob  12.0 13  2  3  9 3.00
D. Pauley, LkE    8.2 14  1  4  7 8.31
G. Ribas, LkE    11.0 10  1  2  6 1.64
T. Stauffer, LkE  5.0  4  0  2  3 1.80
Girardeau, FtW    4.0  4  0  2  2 4.50
D. Moore, FtW     5.0  5  0  3  6 5.40
S. Thompson, FtW  5.0  5  1  2  3 3.60
J. Wells, FtW    10.1 13  1  3  9 4.35

Way too early to draw any meaningful conclusions (although it’s good to see the likes of Bozied, Nady, and Gautreau get off to a good start), but this is baseball. What else are you gonna do?

Diamondbacks are in town for the weekend. Jake Peavy squares off against Randy Johnson tonight. Channel 4 broadcast, 7 PM start.