first pitch: 5:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Brian Lawrence (5-7, 4.34 ERA) vs Jason Jennings (4-8, 5.59 ERA)
previews: ESPN | CBS | Padres.com

Rookie Tim Stauffer bounced back strong after a 34-pitch first inning Friday night. Spotting the Rockies to a 2-0 lead courtesy of a blast off the bat of about-to-be-traded Preston Wilson, Stauffer settled down and didn’t allow a single run over the next six innings. As Iced Coffee noted in the IGD comments, Stauffer has worked into the sixth in each of his 11 big-league starts. Granted, he has failed to record an out in the sixth in three of those games, but that’s still pretty darned impressive.

IC also broke down Stauffer’s performance Friday night:

          IP H R ER HR BB SO Pit %Strk
Inn 1    1.0 3 2  2  1  2  0  34  50.0
Inn 2-7  6.0 2 0  0  0  0  5  74  74.3

As he noted, “Stauffer ever learns to get through the first two frames in 25-30 pitches with no walks and a couple of singles allowed, and things could get downright nasty.” Good call, IC.

Ryan Klesko was the offensive star of Friday night’s contest, hitting a grand slam into the Colorado bullpen in the sixth to put the Friars up 10-2. That was the first slam by a Padre since Phil Nevin hit one on Opening Day 2004. Isn’t it weird that Klesko’s OPS this year (840) is actually lower than last year (847)? Not complaining; it’s great to have his power back. That’s just a little weird, is all.

Saturday’s matchup features two right-handers who average fewer than six strikeouts per nine innings. Both serve up a ton of grounders when they’re going well. Lawrence has better control, which should work to his advantage in Denver. (Side note: How a team that plays half its games at the best hitters’ park in MLB can lead the league in walks issued two years running is quite beyond me. Thankfully, it’s not my problem.)

                              AB   BA  OBP  SLG
Lawrence vs current Rockies  101 .287 .339 .485
Jennings vs current Padres   237 .308 .387 .515

Todd Helton (.344/.450/.594 in 32 AB) is doing the big damage. Everyone else has been pretty quiet or else is a rookie and hasn’t faced Lawrence much. So the strategy, as always, is to pitch around Helton and concentrate on the other eight guys. Yeah, you already knew that.

For the Padres, oh my: Klesko (.382/.500/.882 in 34 AB, with 5 HRs), Dave Roberts (.417/.462/.750 in 12 AB), Brian Giles (.321/.472/.679 in 28 AB), Khalil Greene (.300/.300/.650 in 20 AB), Sean Burroughs (.406/.457/.469 in 32 AB), and Ramon Hernandez (.333/.357/.583 in 12 AB) all have Jennings’ number. So his strategy, I guess, would be to pitch around everybody. In other words, status quo.

Oh, and the D’backs and Dodgers both snatched defeat from the jaws of victory Friday night, so the Padres now have a 5 1/2 game lead in the NL West. Be nice to see ‘em extend that a little more before the break. Go get ‘em, boys!