first pitch: 4:10 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Brian Lawrence (2-3, 5.19 ERA) vs Brandon Claussen (1-3, 5.60 ERA)
game preview: CBS
The Padres, fielding their projected Opening Day starting lineup for the first time all year, mounted an improbable comeback victory in the series opener at Cincy. And although he went 0 for 3 in his return from the DL, Khalil Greene was a welcome sight out on the diamond Monday night. Pads have closed the gap on LA and are now just two games out of first place. With the Dodgers battling in St. Louis, the Friars have a good opportunity to gain even more ground.
Tonight’s matchup:
AB BA OBP SLG
Lawrence vs current Reds 98 .296 .355 .469
Claussen vs everybody 372 .304 .378 .481
The only Reds who have faced Lawrence much are Adam Dunn (.267/.389/.600 in 15 AB) and former Padre Rich Aurilia (.333/.333/.458 in 24 AB). Each has a homer against Lawrence, as do Wily Mo Pena (3 AB) and Jacob Cruz (2 AB).
Claussen is making his 20th big-league start. No current Padre has ever faced him, so I’ve listed Claussen’s career numbers. Although he’s a southpaw, lefties (.367/.466/.617) have had much better success than righties (.281/.343/.434) in his limited time in the Show.
Lawrence has been two entirely different pitchers so far in 2005. He’s made three starts each at home and on the road:
IP H HR BB SO ERA AB BA OBP SLG
Home 23.0 15 0 4 14 1.57 83 .181 .227 .229
Road 11.2 23 3 8 6 12.34 54 .426 .500 .722
His road starts have been at Wrigley, the BOB, and Busch, so we can’t even blame Coors Field. Here’s hoping this is nothing more than a small sample anomaly and Lawrence can buck the trend in Cincy.
For the Pads, over the past 7 days it’s been all Brian Giles (.370/.485/.741 in 27 AB) and Ryan Klesko (.290/.353/.774 in 31 AB), with a dash of Ramon Hernandez (.348/.348/.565 in 23 AB) thrown in for good measure. The bullpen has worked 31 innings over that span, so now would be a good time to have the starter go deep into the game.
Other Stuff
These don’t really belong here, but there wasn’t enough to justify a separate post, so here they shall be:
- Thompson promoted to Double-A (NC Times). Sean Thompson is headed to Mobile. Southpaw has fanned 10.22 batters per 9 over 284 1/3 pro innings. On Monday, in the Love Boat thread, I said it would be “interesting to see how well his success translates to higher levels once he’s deemed ready.” Well, he’s been deemed ready. Go get ‘em, kid! Also of note: Michael Johnson is on the DL with “inflammation in his right hand.” He expects to be back later in the week.
- Also, as Dave mentioned in the comments to Monday’s In-Game Discussion, Rickey Henderson will be playing for the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the independent Golden Baseball League. The Surf Dawgs play their home games at Tony Gwynn Stadium, and the opener is Thursday, May 26, against the Long Beach Armada. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty psyched at the prospect of seeing Rickey here in San Diego again.
50% (3 of 6) hits against Lawrence have gone for extra bases.
.353 BABIP v. Lawrence (.412, or 7 of 17 reached base)
Home Run for DJ!!!
3-1 Cincinnati.
Get Coffey out of there. I can’t take the “coffee” jokes.
Loretta lined that ball into left field.
“Coffey break.” Goodness…
Ricky Stone is up in the Reds bullpen!!!
“coffee break” LOL
DJ hadn’t had a home run since May 9 of last year.
He hit me a HR on my birthday..
Coffey is being awfully careful with Giles.
Why test Junior Griffey’s arm?
What a throw… oh my
Dogs up 1-0 on Cards thru 2 …
Risking .98 expected runs to gain .25 expected runs is not a good gamble.
We need to get some runs this inning..
Braves bat around in top of 1st as Jason Jennings gets Coors’d … Braves up on Rox 6-0 … still just 2 outs …
Nicely done by Phil.
Are the Rockies in our division? Not the same league, though…
Just don’t GIDP, Ramon…
I’d really like to see X get a PA.
don’t mention that..
Respectfully disagree, Richard. On a ball hit to right-center (taking the CF away from the throw), you make it from 1st to 3rd 99% of the time, even with Griffey out there.
No DP, Ramon!
you jinxed us..
Ramon’s OPS is back over .800 … he’s having a good year!
Stupid Ramon…
He did the same thing when I told my sister he’d hit into a triple play this past weekend (I was joking then, though)…
BG, 99%?
I just don’t think it’s worth potentially running yourself out of a big inning.
Thru the top of the 6th …
Pitches-strikes – B Lawrence 77-48; B Claussen 65-41; T Coffey 22-14; R Stone 13-9.
Ground balls-fly balls – B Lawrence 8-5; B Claussen 3-5; T Coffey 2-2; R Stone 2-0.
Batters faced – B Lawrence 22; B Claussen 14; T Coffey 7; R Stone 2.
I would agree Richard… although it took a perfect throw to get him out..
Ramon leads NL catchers in VORP.
Yeah. Loretta’s not Carl Lewis but he’s fast enough and a good enough baserunner that you can’t put that one down as a bad play. Took a ridiculous play to throw him out.
It would take a perfect throw – well, they got one.
(H-XBH+ROE) / (BIP-XBH)
(6-3+1) / (20-3)
4/17 = .235
Lawrence’s 3 ER allowed haven’t been cheap
Thru 6 full …
Pitches-strikes – B Lawrence 86-54; B Claussen 65-41; T Coffey 22-14; R Stone 13-9.
Ground balls-fly balls – B Lawrence 10-6; B Claussen 3-5; T Coffey 2-2; R Stone 2-0.
Batters faced – B Lawrence 25; B Claussen 14; T Coffey 7; R Stone 2.
I’ll put forward that it is not unreasonable to suggest that I am quite wrong. That being said, I stand by my assessment.
The Padres have made 3 bad pitchers look good … enter Dave Weathers and his 5.89 ERA … let’s see what happens … first up = X …
Question: If we get to Lawrence (he’s due up 4th), pinch hit? I say YES (unless we have a lead) … what say ye?
Lawrence, likely has only one more inning left in him.
Id say no…the bullpen is going to need rest after the 13 inning game
I wouldn’t pinch hit for B-Law unless KG is in scoring position.
Bochy disagrees. Mark Sweeney will hit for Lawrence.
if he hits a HR I’ll agree with the move
Good call, Mark.
How come the Reds bullpen hasn’t needed to rest?
1st & 3rd, 2 away.
.5 Expected Runs.
.286 Probability of 1 or more runs.
They’re bringing in the gas can.
So far, so good (M. Sweeney singled to right, K. Greene to third) … now DJ needs to close the deal!
I’ll be surprised if DJ comes through. Here’s hoping, though.
how about a wild pitch to get one run in here?
I decided to show up for the 7th inning since that’s when we do our damage.
Wagner’ll probably punch him out.
The Padres raised Wagner’s ERA from 3.12 to 5.19 yesterday … let’s pile it on today!