first pitch: 6:40 7:10 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Darrell May (0-0, 4.24 ERA) vs Brad Halsey (3-2, 3.54 ERA)
The Friars beat Arizona in Tuesday night’s opener at the BOB. The final score was 9-5, but it shouldn’t have been that close. The Snakes’ starter, Russ Ortiz, worked behind in the count all night and was bailed out several times by inexplicably overanxious Padres hitters. (To give one example: In the third inning alone, Ortiz threw 15 balls and 4 strikes, but didn’t surrender a single run; he walked the bases loaded with two outs and then induced Khalil Greene to hit a weak foul popup to Troy Glaus on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning. Before the popup, 13 of Ortiz’ previous 14 pitches had missed the mark; why is Greene hacking?)
The good news is, the Padres got some timely hitting from Phil Nevin, Dave Roberts, and Robert Fick, and hung on to get Adam Eaton his sixth straight victory. Trevor Hoffman capped an “interesting” ninth inning by retiring Craig Counsell on a deep fly ball to right for a one-pitch save. With the win, the Friars move back into first place in the NL West, a half game ahead of Arizona.
Wednesday night features two left-handers.
AB BA OBP SLG
May vs current Diamondbacks 68 .309 .364 .485
Glaus (.545/.583/.727 in 11 AB) is the only batter who has double-digit at-bats against May. Tony Clark and Quinton McCracken have the homers. For whatever reason, the spot in the lineup giving May the most trouble so far this year is the #8 hole (.538/.571/.923 in 13 AB). That’s a real small sample, though, so it could be a fluke. Again, with limited data points, May has been very tough with RISP (.200/.250/.267 in 30 AB); those numbers are pretty far out of line with what he’s done over the past several years, so it’s probably a fluke. It’s also helps explain the respectable ERA despite weak supporting numbers. Eventually those guys May puts on base are going to start scoring. Every time he gets the start, you just hope he can keep it close until the bullpen arrives. It has the potential to be ugly sometimes, but how is that any worse than what the Pads had at #5 for much of 2004?
For the Snakes, Halsey makes his 16th big league start and second against San Diego. His first game against the Pads last month was pretty darned good, although Nevin and Ramon Hernandez did take him deep.
X Factor
Xavier Nady did not play in Tuesday night’s contest and remains well rested. He has sat out 4 games in a row, and 8 of the last 11.
G AB BA OBP SLG
thru Apr 13 8 34 .412 .459 .824
since Apr 13 24 52 .154 .279 .250
(Thanks to David Pinto’s Day by Day Database for those numbers.)
I’m beginning to think the bench may not be the best place for Nady. I wonder if anyone else could use his services.
Pizza Feed
In the comments to yesterday’s In-Game Discussion LynchMob alerted us to the Baseball Prospectus Pizza Feed that is happening at Petco Friday, June 24. Padres GM Kevin Towers will be speaking. More info is available over at Prospectus. Maybe we can get a bunch of Ducksnorters out there.
166 Comments
Hey, we didn’t have a GM at the BP Pizza Feed in the Bay Area! What gives?!
Woo hoo!!! The Pizza Feed was great last year. Towers doesn’t hold back with his thoughts, to say the least.
I’ll be there again, thanks for the info, Geoff.
So what did that one pitch save do for Trevor’s average pitch per save-o-meter? (APP-SOM)
I’d trade him to Atlanta. Send Nady and Falkenborg (they need bullpen help) for Kelly Johnson & a low-level pitching prospect…
KJ is hitting (.299/.429/.558) in his first taste of AAA (& the International Lg. is more of a pitchers’ haven). He has more BB than SO (32/22), he has hit 12 2B and 8 HR and has solid athleticism (he came up as a SS but his build and error-prone ways led to a move to the OF).
I do like Peter’s suggestion there. Anything to stop Bochy from using Falkenborg would make me happy, though.
You will be assimilated, Richard.
To answer my own question, Trevor’s current APP-SOM is as follows:
It’s taken Trevor 113 pitches in May to get those 9 saves, an average of 12.55 P/SV.
On the season, he’s currently averaging 15.93 pitches per save.
So yeah.
BP’s calling Eaton LUCKy …
STAT OF THE DAY
Top 5 Luckiest NL Starters, by LUCK
Player, Team, W, L, E(W), E(L), LUCK
Brandon Webb, ARI, 6, 0, 3.4, 2.9, 5.5
Mark Mulder, SLN, 6, 1, 3.1, 3.3, 5.2
Chris Carpenter, SLN, 7, 2, 4.0, 3.6, 4.6
Adam Eaton, SDN, 6, 1, 3.3, 2.8, 4.6
Livan Hernandez, WAS, 7, 2, 4.5, 3.1, 3.6
Eh, it’s nice to be lucky AND good
He has been lucky.
This from the Tribune: Towers again shot down rumors that the Padres are looking to trade for Mets center fielder Mike Cameron. Phil Nevin’s name has surfaced in trade rumors – but Nevin can veto a trade to the Mets.
Also, from CBS SportsLine: Padres GM Kevin Towers isn’t going to make a panic move to replace all-star 2B Mark Loretta, who is on the DL for two months, but if he wants to make a deal, Philadelphia’s Placido Polanco or Kaz Matsui would be readily available, says the San Diego Union Tribune.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050525/news_6s25sullivan.html
This is the link to the Tim Sullivan article about possible trades to replace Loretta. This is the upshot from Towers: “There have been a lot of rumors out there that we’re talking to clubs. We’re not. We’re going to go with Blum and Damian (Jackson).”
Geoff-
If the Padres were looking to deal Nady, shouldn’t they showcase him a little by giving him an at-bat more than once a month?
This goes back to an in-game discussion we had during one of the weekend games: Do you think the A’s would deal Zito straight up for Nady? If not, what else would it take? By the by, Zito’s 2005 contract is for $5.6MM, with a club option for 2006. I know you had reservations about Kevin Millwood, what other ideas did you have about a Nady deal when you said “I wonder if anyone else could use his services”?
PS: Stat du jour – Padre pitching has allowed 2.85 runs/game at home, 5.46 runs/game on the road.
An interesting article about lack of HRs in big leagues … http://tinyurl.com/cxrsl … which starts off with this line …
What in the name of Enzo Hernandez is going on this season?
Brian, I don’t have any specific ideas about what Nady might fetch. I haven’t thought it through real carefully because I still think the better option is to find him a place in the Padres lineup. I guess I wish they would play him or trade him, and I’d rather they play him.
If the Pads are set on not giving Nady a shot, Millwood isn’t the worst option. We’d at least get draft picks if he chose not to re-sign.
I heard Bochy on the radio a while back talking about Nady being someone that they weren’t willing to trade..for whatever that is worth
Is Nady a FA next year or is he only eligible for arbitration?
Free agency requires 6 years in the bigs. Arbitration requires three, if I’m not mistaken. I don’t think Nady’s approaching either.
I think Zito may be a hired gun this year…and he love Ramon Hernandez
Pads score first!
That was the first time I saw that HR from Phil last night…we’ll see if he can step it up…usually a good thing when he starts going there…
Hey Rich, good to see you here.
Regarding Nady: I believe he signed a Major League contract straight out of college so I also believe that makes him arbitration-eligible at the end of this year. I think.
I could hedge more on that statement if you like.
May’s Dilemma: Can’t afford to miss, can’t afford to throw too many strikes.
Nady went straight to the show as a condition of his contract.
thx for the welcome Geoff
bye bye lead
Miguel Ojeda is the emergency pitcher, right? I have a feeling we may see him tonight.
What the hell is wrong with Darrell May? How do you throw a guy a pitch like that when you have him 0-2?
I think Rich is a jinx.
Yuck. Defense has to be absolutely perfect behind a guy like May.
I think May is a jinx.
I think May is a flyball pitcher in the second highest elevation in baseball…
If being buried at the end of the bench is bothering Nady, he sure isn’t letting it show.
Giants post four in the first.
They will tie LA, be a game over .500 and get back to four games out of first with a win tonight.
Hey everyone what have a I missed if anything?
May is a bum…I say designate him…I’d rather see Germano out there than him. He’s absolutely horrible and fools no one.
no one except Counsel
Clank. Thank you, Royce Clayton.
They’re calling it a hit. Hilarious.
that could be big! …but it is not a hit!
damn it Phil!
Nevin strikes out. So much for that.
Great Job by Mark Grant…catches a foul in the booth, finds a kid to throw it to, then chews out a guy who tries to take it instead of giving it to the kid! “Hey you clown!”
Grant catches a foul ball in the booth. Vasgersian is going nuts. Grant throws the ball to a fan but someone else grabs it; Grant starts yelling at the guy, who finally gives it to a little girl Grant was trying to throw it to. Beautiful.
Khalil is just hot, hot, hot!
How’s May looked, I got pulled away from the game right after I sat down to watch?
He wants Nevin, not Ryan.
May has settled some…Ump got fooled by the way the foot flailed…then Nevin lucks out…tie ball game
This is goofy. Umpire blows the call on Klesko’s grounder and calls him safe. Nevin hits a weak popup on the first pitch with bases loaded but gets bailed out when Cruz drops the ball. Tie game.
Why did Nevin and Giles both swing at the first pitch with the bases full?
What was with both Nevin and Giles swinging at the first pitch?
That inning was like a death by papercuts. But I will take the runs any way you can get ‘em.
That was a “give-back”…ump can call interference when you hook a foot like that…Clayton’s foot got in between nady and second and when Clayton fell back he pulled X up & off…
What a weird inning. But it’s 6-3; we’ll take it.
Hrbek-like…great comparison. like I said…
Insult to injury: They charged Halsey with an error on the Klesko grounder. Halsey actually made a nice play to get to the bag and get the out. Harsh.
Not the call you would expect from the home town scorer.
May is reaching the end of his effectiveness…they had him on a 75 pitch watch. They will try to qualify him for the W.
Double switch – Dj to center
Nady’s night is done. Home run Tony Clark. You can’t really expect to win the games May starts.
There is no way that we should be letting the likes of Tony Clark and Royce Clayton beating us.
Geoff, we had won them both…May is no worse than Tank or Germano or Hitch was…and he was gassed, remember he had adapted to bullpen work…May hasn’t given them the lead, Rudy has…
Welcome to batting practice.
That lead was nice while it lasted.
Sure, Seanez coughed up the lead. But you’re not going to win many when the starter gives up six.
All of those homers were crushed, especially Torrero’s.
On the bright side, DJ is in the lineup to help mount a comeback. Sigh.
Beware that third time through the lineup when May pitches.
Bochy just wanted to strategically place Seanez in the order so he could get a couple innings out of him *sarcasm off*.
Damn. Can’t blame DJ for that. Nice play by Glaus.
” But you’re not going to win many when the starter gives up six.”
granted, no doubt about that…
DJ could have just pitch here anyway if Bochy wanted the speedster to get on base. Either that or Bochy all of a sudden decided he needed a “superior” defender in center.
Anybody wanna tell me why we haven’t locked him up yet?
And thank you, Bob Melvin, for having Lopez pitch to Ramon right there. Tied up again.
Has Burroughs hit a ball out of the infield yet (besides the one that trickled out there after the error)?
SAN DIEGO CATCHER RAMON HERNANDEZ DOUBLED IN THE SEVENTH INNING TO EXTEND HIS HITTING STREAK TO 12 GAMES.
I wonder what our record is when not trailing after 7 full innings … I gotta like our chances this evening! We know one thing … May won’t pitch any more this game
I’m interested in any opinions on how Valverde is looking … I’ve got him on my roto team … thanks … but haven’t seen him yet this season.
Valverde on your roto team? Come on Lynch! Drop it like its hot!
That’s why I’m in an AL only roto team. I don’t have to root against the Padres to win.
It looks like our hope that Nevin had broken out of his slump was a bit premature.
Rich Campbell at the plate…
Hey Peter … AL roto? What is the AL? Why do you think they call it the “junior circuit”?
I just make sure that I have a good enough roto team that I don’t have to root against the Padres
BTW, in general, I don’t acquire Padres … I can’t stand the double-whammy when they lose
Aki and Seanez both are struggling in this series.
Aki’s in trouble again … 2 on, 0 out …
LOL – touche’ AL works better for Roto anyway, you don’t have to worry about pitchers hitting…
Padres vs. LynchMob Propellerheads
It’s a lose-lose situation. Either you’re upset about your roto team, or upset about our Padres…
OMG, it’s Reyes.
If they get out of this with only giving up the tying run, it will be a miracle. Nevermind, Reyes is coming in. I give up all hope.
Bruce, what’s amazing is that we’re even in this one at all. It’s the exact reverse of last night’s game: they’ve had numerous chances to put us away but haven’t been able to do it.
I agree. Without those gifts in the fifth we are done.
Ironic if Denny’s Reyes bails Aki out with a couple K’s
I want to punch Bochy in his enormous face.
This is gonna get ugly real quick.
Council should pay me & I should have turned the TV off. When I watch him, he hits.
How do you put Aki in to pitch the 8th after what he did last night? How do you not put Hammond in after what he did last night?
Arizona and the umps tried to give this one to us, but Bochy wasn’t having it. Managers don’t win games, but they do lose them for you.
I don’t know why Hernandez didn’t go down on his knees for that one.
Why didn’t Hammond open the 8th? Why?
If Hoffy were really a lights-out closer, wouldn’t/shouldn’t he have been brought in instead of Reyes?
Hey, we got an out.
Who wouldn’t you bring in over Reyes?
Much less I don’t know how you put in Reyes after his last two outings into such a high leverage situation. If your best relief pitcher can only pitch three outs, are these three outs no more important than those in the ninth? Of course they aren’t, but that is what happens when most managers manage their bullpen by rote.
Pathetic. Out ‘pen has really let us down this series. I thought for sure that with a lead of 6-3 and then 9-8 that we were going to win with the way they have pitched.
What does a manager do? Fills out the lineup, makes pinch-hitting/running decisions, makes pitching changes. Am I missing anything? Bochy is terrible at #’s 1 & 3.
I agree, Richard. Assuming Hammond was available, he probably was the better option. Aki isn’t right.
It was the right decision. You don’t make decisions based on what happened last night. Aki is our setup guy. He just didn’t do the job.
That’s just stupid. Aki couldn’t find the plate. It wasn’t that he was making good pitches and they were getting hits. He had nothing and couldn’t locate at all. You just don’t throw him out there because it’s “his inning.”
Did Faulk just hit 95?
exactly. Gotta blame Aki, not Bochy.
Hammond must be unable to pitch on consecutive days at the moment. At least that is why I hope Reyes was brought in before him. I would have rather have seen Falkenborg pitch to Clayton than Reyes.
Do you suppose Bochy has gotten so used to losing over the years that he lacks the capacity to manage for the win every night?
Hammond does have a tender hamstring lately.
No, Eric. You do have to blame Bochy. He watched Aki pitch last night. He should know better.
Don’t tell me you would have brought in Falkenborg if you were Bochy.
Aki just hasn’t really had it much at all this year. He looked good there for a while, but generally has not been sharp with his command all year imo. I really wouldn’t be opposed to trading him in the right deal on general return on your investment terms. I also reserve the right to not bring him back next year if it costs too much. And I really really like the guy.
Hammond only threw ten pitches yesterday.
Why is Ramon hacking 1-0 at that pitch?
Geez, he should be on first by now. He does understand that a homer doesn’t tie it?
I’m all FOR flexibility with reliever’s roles, depending on their performance, but not to the extreme of shifting every day, based on what they did yesterday.
“Rich Campbell at the plate…”
I saw that…
Hammond has a nagging injury suffered the same day Chipper Jones went down in batting practice…don’t remember what muscle it was…hammy maybe?
Players win games, managers lose them.
Managers have to put the players in positions to win the games… I love Aki, but he seems to have Hung One Kim’s propensity for losing self-confidence. The BOB is Coors-Lite, so losing confidense here doesn’t take a huge stretch of imagination.
Bochy shouldn’t have had him in there…
“Hammond does have a tender hamstring lately.”
oops, sorry Eric…right, that is where I was going…
How about based on what they’ve done all year long, Eric? Aki has not had good stuff. Also, when a guy is as erratic as Aki was in his last appearance, you just can’t throw him back out there in the 8th with a one-run lead. Again, Bochy just doesn’t manage as though he intends to win.
I just think it is a shame that we didn’t use out best guy out of the pen. With no one out and the bases full, what makes things easiest to get out of the situation, the strikeout. We all know that Hoffy can get those.
Guys, in case you haven’t met Rich, he’s about 5″ shorter and red-(as opposed to brown)-bearded; but spot-on for Chad Tracy.
Bochy is more worried about getting all of his guys playing time and not upsetting guys than he is about winning.
That is Bochy’s problem, he like so many other managers runs the pen by rote, he has his 7th inning guy, his 8th inning guy and so on. He seldom seems to adjust those roles on performance.
I think that if Burroughs rolls over on one to ground into a DP here, I might just put my fist through my monitor.
Way to go Sean! Take one for the team. Hope he’s okay…
Alright Sean, way to take one for the team! Bring on Bob Fick for the magic three run homer!
Let’s go, Bob!
I agree with Bruce…after Aki struggled, I’d have brought in Hoffy to clean up the mess. But we all know why that’s not happening, whether we agree with it or not.
Where did that hit Burroughs? Geez, that was scary. Fick batting for Jackson. Man, am I glad Nady isn’t in the lineup.
In Bochy’s defense, psychologically it’s easier if you can be prepared. Having defined roles makes things easier on the bullpen members. A lot of us stat-heads forget that we are dealing with humans here w/ human emotions, concerns, frailities, etc. Ankiel still has all the pitching ability in the world, his mind just won’t let him perform.
I like Arizona’s closer. Can’t find the plate.
If Ramon had gone up there with a plan to lead off the inning we’d have bases juiced no out.
Sean got hit in the right hand I think.
All of a sudden this umps giving the kid the calls. Please.
I agree wholeheartedly Peter, but we can always hope for a better future. Supposedly.
Khalil Greene hit that ball a ton.
I thought Khalil hit that out.
Now, it falls to Blummer.
Dammit, Ramon. If he’s on base, it’s a tie game.
Here comes the man of the hour, Blum, with the opportunity to tie the game. BIG hit from Khalil. 12-11. This game is wild.
How’s this for irony?
If Blum makes an out, it hurts our 1-run record…
Thanks to Greene’s heroics
C’mon Blummer. Get Klesko up there.
if I’m a Zonie I want no part of Ryno here…
They must want a piece of Ryno. I say bring it on.
Nasty pitch 3-1.
argh!
Damn. I almost thought they would tie it.
I can’t believe he threw that pitch 3-1. Guy earned that one.
As ugly and wild as that game was, I can’t help but think that we let it get away.
Disappointing finish, but I’m even more ticked if I’m an Arizona fan. They should have put us away a long time ago.
That was a gutsy slider on that 3-1 count. It could have just as easily ended up in the dirt.
Fick should have kept his cool…Umps are human, they will react to being barked at..agree with the point about Ramon…Blum couldn’t buy a fastball there…oh well. Wild Game.
Did anyone see Khalil’s 3B? where did it hit?
Arizona played bad baseball. The umps called a bad game. Bochy outdid them both.
Nevin and Giles left 10 men on between the two of them. Granted they were the same 5 guys, but still we could have used a few of those.
Khalil’s triple hit up the monster wall to the right of center, at least that was all i could see on the tiny mlb.com feed. It could have bounced on the track first
Peavy needs to bring his A-game tomorrow. So far this year the Pads have had their troubles with sinker-ball pitchers, Webb included.
See you later, I am off to bed.
Boch didn’t throw thigh high heat to fastball hitters…I’d have thrown Aki back out there too.
Ugly loss. We shouldn’t have been in it, anyway, though.
Generally speaking, I don’t mind having Peavy pitch the rubber game of a road series.
Taking 2 out of 3 would be just fine and realistically is the best we could have hoped for with May pitching tonight.
And Burroughs 0-fer’d to get 3 LOBs … btw, I’m DONE hoping that guy gets better … just ’tain’t gonna happen as far as I can tell … and I’m done wasting my hopes on him! Sorry, Sean
Hey, Peter … a W for the LynchMob Propellerheads tonight
Am I happy? NO! NO! NO! But will enjoy woof’ing for my roto team … I do well at “compartmentalizing”, don’t you? I think if you play roto, you just HAVE to
BTW, the last championship for the LynchMob was ‘98 … and a good season for the Padres as well 
BTW, CLEVELAND PITCHER KEVIN MILLWOOD LEFT THE GAME IN THE TOP OF THE FIFTH INNING DUE TO A STRAINED RIGHT GROIN.
… and I’d prefer we hang on the Nady also … but I understand the value of and our need for one more “good” starting pitcher … we gotta get May outta our rotation!
Brian Giles for Kyle Davies