A lot on the plate right now, so this will be very brief. We managed to make it to last night’s game and it was a good one for Padre fans. A few thoughts:

• Like Jake Peavy Monday night, Brian Lawrence went out and held the Giants in check without his best stuff. Lawrence was missing with location and still needed only 68 pitches to complete six innings of two-hit ball. Great effort.
• Sean Burroughs made a couple of spectacular plays. The first was a diving snare of a line smash to his right to end the first. The second came on a ball that Barry Bonds essentially hit back up the middle. Burroughs, playing just to the left of second base, leaped up and made the catch.
• Nobody is talking about Burroughs’ defense this morning because it was overshadowed by Khalil Greene’s. With the Pads nursing a 3-1 lead in the sixth and Michael Tucker on first base, Edgardo Alfonzo hits an absolute screamer up the middle. I mean, we’re groaning when the ball leaves the bat because that means first and second with Bonds at the plate. But Greene makes one of his description-defying stops, feeds to Mark Loretta, who somehow manages to complete the double play. It was a stunning play, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The image of Tucker just standing there out at second base as the Pads are trotting off the field is one I’ll not soon forget.
• The crowd gave Greene a standing ovation, and Greene responded with a rare curtain call. Quote from Greene in this morning’s U-T: "I’m just happy to be on this team. Even today, if my role changed, it’d be out of my hands. And if that happened, my job as a player is to respect the manager’s decision." Isn’t that refreshing?
• As a postscript, the Padres scored five in the bottom half of the sixth. One of the key decisions by Bruce Bochy was to lift Lawrence for a pinch-hitter. Lawrence hadn’t thrown very many pitches, but Bochy saw a chance to go for the jugular and made the move. Rich Aurilia drew a walk and Sean Burroughs followed with a two-run single.
• Greene also had a nice game at the plate: two singles, a walk, and a sac fly. But this is just an excuse for me to throw in another great Greene quote: "I eat for substance more than enjoyment. I am totally detached from food."
• My wife makes me so proud. After the Pads’ big inning, she turns to me and says, "With that lead, it’ll probably be [Blaine] Neal or [Ricky] Stone." It was Stone. I like to think I’ve made a difference in her life. And if it can’t be for something important, at least it can be for something fun.
• Terrence Long had a terrific night. Two doubles and a triple. Both of the doubles would have left the yard in a lot of parks.
• As good as Long’s night was, the Padres need a center fielder. Jay Payton hasn’t been getting it done, and Long isn’t a legitimate solution. Xavier Nady, who did play some center at Portland this year, would be an interesting idea, but that’s probably a little too out-of-the-box for the Padre brain trust. So the Steve Finley rumors persist. I’d be more than happy to see Finley back in San Diego (who knew Ruben Rivera would be out of the big leagues before Finley?). My favorite passage from this article: "Though getting Finley has been his top priority, Padres General Manager Kevin Towers also has trolled for left-handed hitters for his bench, and, to a lesser extent, left-handed relief." [emphasis mine] Um, is it me, or would Darren Bragg make a lot of sense on this ballclub? I still don’t really understand why he was cast aside so cavalierly. Then again, I don’t get why Nady is rotting on a big-league bench.

Home-run derby tonight: Ismael Valdez vs Brett Tomko. Usual time, usual channel. Okay, I’m out of here. You guys have been great. Drive home safely, and we’ll catch you on the flip side.