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.
Padres have nine hits, but only one run.
D. Jackson struck out swinging
sigh …
“sigh” wasn’t the word that I used when he struck out..
Dogs go up 2-0 on Cards …
Falkenborg starts out by walking Valentin … that’s not a good sign … who’s warming up in the pen?
If he loses Freel, you have to make a move.
Hey..he got an out..
Nice play by Ojeda in foul territory.
What is Mud’s problem with DJimenez?
I hate those PetCo commercials. They should show ‘em cleaning out the trash can they keep the crickets in. ack
Bochy’s working … Reyes in for Falk with 2-on and 2-outs in bottom of 7th …
Way to go, Reyes.
I don’t know if this has been covered recently. But the Padres are 18-15. But they have scored 152 runs and given up 154. That is related to their record in 1-run games, of course.
But check out Arizona. They are 18-15, with 143 runs scored and 160 given up. Wow.
Cards tie-up Dogs 3-3 on HRs by Rolen & Sanders
How do you throw a 1-2 pitch over the heart of the plate?
Sean Casey is a very good hitter …
S. Casey doubled to deep right center, J. Valentin and R. Freel scored
… 5-1 Reds
5-1 last night…5-1 tonight..maybe this is a good sign…
Reyes knows how to do that … you should ask him next time he’s on the call-in radio show!
Casey is a very good hitter. That’s just one of the reasons you don’t throw him a 1-2 pitch over the heart of the damned plate.
Potentially last time thru the heart of the line up … due up = Loretta, Giles, Nevin … go! Go! GO!
Good sign? heh
Good AB by Loretta ends in an out. Poor PA by Giles ends in an out. No point, just typing…
Nady, Ojeda, Greene in the 9th.
P. Nevin singled to center
Those were some hard-hit outs.
1-2-3 8th… Where was Darrell May with 2 out in the 7th?
Where he should have been … watching Reyes pitch!
Closer in with a four run lead…
I know, Lynch. I was kidding…
Roberts looks so bad when he misses.
- D. Roberts hit for X. Nady
- D. Roberts struck out swinging
… that’s not good
‘Natti fans are nervous. It’s kinda funny.
Dave Roberts should NEVER pinch-hit for Xavier Nady. EVER. EVER.
Ryan Klesko should hit for Jackson.
Richard, what do you think Bochy was thinking? Was it strictly a right/left thing?
Jackson should not be allowed to take his turn at bat.
BTW, I agree with you … just wondering what you think Bochy was thinking …
It had to be a R/L thing.
Roberts for Nady? Ugh.
I hate these games back east. I get home just in time to see the last three outs.
Bochy did some really poor managing in the 9th. Nady should have hit for himself and Jackson should not have.
DJ has 2 hits in the game, 1 a HR … why PH for him? Let him hit … if the game gets tied up, then we still have a card to play later …
Oh Well…get them tomorrow
It could have been worse, Geoff. You could have watched the whole thing like I did.
Let’s see. Down four in the ninth: Roberts and Jackson, or Nady and Klesko?
D. Jackson flied out to center
… so it ends … ug.
Lynch, why? He isn’t a good hitter.
Fick is on fire!
Those aren’t difficult decisions and yet Bochy botched them.
The Padres have been outscored by 3 runs against the Reds.
I agree that Nady/Klesko would have been better than Roberts/Jackson … but once you’ve done Roberts and gotten to Jackson, it seemed OK to me to let him hit … ie. play the hot hand … he was put in the lead-off spot for a reason … he did already have 2 hits …
Eh, this is sounding like I’m trying to argue that 2 (or 3 or 4 or …) wrongs make a right … it’s a weak argument, I know …
We’re agree’d that having Roberts PH for Nady was a mistake … and not getting Klesko (assuming he’s healthy) was a mistake …
Cards go up 7-3 on Dogs … another Reggie Sanders HR …