first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Tim Stauffer (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs John Thomson (3-2, 3.55 ERA)
previews: ESPN | CBS | SI | Padres.com
After a weekend sweep of the Marlins, the Padres turn now to the Braves. Tim Stauffer makes his debut in front of the home crowd at Petco. The Pads have won 8 of their last 10, and 13 of their last 16. Following Sunday’s seventh inning outburst, the Friars are now outscoring the opposition 80-37 from the seventh on; they are hitting .281/.379/.437 during those innings, while holding the other guys to just .198/.278/.310. No team in the big leagues has scored more runs after the sixth inning this year than the Padres; no team has allowed fewer.
AB BA OBP SLG
Thomson vs current Padres 93 .301 .359 .570
Ryan Klesko (.348/.464/.652 in 23 AB) has seen Thomson the most, and has had the most success against him. Klesko has one of four homers surrendered by the Braves right-hander. Brian Giles, Ramon Hernandez, and Mark Sweeney also have taken Thomson deep.
hah.
i’d be content just to get one more.
man, the Padres are making some very good staffs look shaky.
Oh yeah. Keep the runs coming.
it’s called discipline boys. Hard to learn but man can it pay off!
What a terrific at-bat by Roberts. Down 0-2, works it full, drives in the run with a single.
Now they have a lefty pitching to Loretta.
you know, the Braves made good pitches to Sweeney and Roberts, too.
DONG DONG
inning over, but now we have a cushion against the solo shot.
Well that was stupid. I know he’s supposed to steal bases but why take the bat out of Loretta’s hands?
Oh well, 2-run lead going to the ninth.
oh, and the Fish have LA down 6-2 in the eighth…
Hoffy should have no problems with these three. Knock on wood. One down as I type.
Is Kevin around?
Two down.
I don’t see him. Well, that’s death & taxes.
I think he left a while ago.
Anybody still have the urge to chant “D.U.I.” at Mondesi?
Ballgame. Another great comeback. I think they are finally comfortable at home. First place tie, at least for a day.
lol
Hoffman. Game over. Sweet.
LA now has three outs to get four runs and bottom of the order coming up. that is promising…
They just had Stauffer on the post-game interview. That is one poised kid.
Geoff, Did he say anything of note?
Linebrink and Hoffy both only threw 8 pitches … I’ll bet we need & use ‘em both again in this series
Here’s a comment about the Padres from Ryno Sandberg’s column @ Yahoo that’s sure to get a rise out of Peter Friberg
They just swept the Marlins and they’ve won 13 of their last 16 games. It seems that things turned around shortly after the hiring of CEO Sandy Alderson, who’s been brought in to turn the Padres into a force in their new ballpark.
That’s the kind of half-hearted analysis I expect from someone who can’t stay up past his bedtime to actually watch the Padres.
Grant noted that Stauffer started busting out the changeup late in the game and asked him about that. Stauffer said he wasn’t the kind of pitcher who blew the ball past hitters and that he always tried to give guys a different look. I got the impression that he has a good idea of what he needs to do to be successful. He also gave big props to Ramon Hernandez for his game calling.
Reflecting on Stauffer’s 1st 2 starts in MLB, I remember a friend of mine who felt that good pitchers do better in the big leagues because of better umps … in other words, the big league umps (relative to minor league umps) are more consistent & predictable … and a good pitcher can use that to his advantage. Tim did pretty good in the minors, but he’s doing ever better than I expected so far in the bigs!
One other thing about Stauffer tonight that impressed me: He looks like a good athlete. He made a real nice play in the field – I think it was on the base hit by Mondesi in the fourth, came off the mound quick but couldn’t get him at first. And he even took some decent hacks up at the plate.
It’s only one game, but the first impression is a good one.
Very nice analysis. Wish I could have contributed tonight. My girlfriend will agree to watch the games with me, but has some sort of issue with the laptop being part of the experience. Tomorrow night I’ll be at the game (section 105).
Stauffer had a BABIP much closer to (but still below) league average tonight and was still successful. I’m not sure what that does for the rest of you, but I’m somewhat relieved in spite of the small sample size.
Great game. Again, too much information, but the agreement between my girlfriend and I that I get to watch the games as long as I give her a back massage during the game, is working well. Since I started tracking, 8-8 or something.
Stauffer looked great, especially in the last few innings. Decent fastball with movement, curve and, from the posts above, a change.
Good discliplined comeback. A few gripes. Like Roberts hitting against a LHP (it worked though) and poor X stuck on the bench.
But they are playing tight baseball.
I enjoyed reading the comments after the fact tonight. I was at work and will be for the next two nights also.
Death, taxes, Hoffman,
Kevin