first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Jake Peavy (10-4, 3.11 ERA) vs Jon Lieber (10-10, 5.00 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
Padres took the Mets series with a 2-1 victory at Pecto Park Thursday afternoon. Woody Williams worked seven strong innings, and Joe Randa paced the offense with three hits, including a game-winning RBI single to score David Ross in the seventh. Ross, batting for Williams, tripled earlier in the inning on a ball that resulted in a collision between Mets outfielders Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron.
ESPN reports that Cameron has been placed on the DL due to a broken nose, multiple fractures of both cheekbones, and concussion. Geez, that must’ve been one heckuva crash. Here’s wishing Cameron a speedy recovery.
Next in town, the Phillies. Friday night’s starter, Lieber, is second among all big-league pitchers to the Reds’ Eric Milton in homers served. Although Lieber pitches in one of the better hitters’ parks around, he’s equally adept at giving up bombs on the road.
We covered this in the podcast, but the Phillies feature a pretty robust lineup, top to bottom. Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell are the mainstays. Then there are the kids on the right side of the infield: Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Both are 26 or younger, and both can flat rake. And their manager lets them play. The Phillies also have a stud reserve outfielder in Jason Michaels. Dude is an on-base machine, and he has a little pop in his bat.
Like the Mets before them, the Phillies come to San Diego with a better record than the home team. The good news, if you’re a Padres fan, is no Brett Myers this weekend.
Looking for more good news? Dave Roberts and Khalil Greene are starting to produce again:
| Mon | AB | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul | 86 | .244 | .283 | .407 |
| Aug | 32 | .313 | .389 | .625 |
| Mon | AB | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul | 55 | .109 | .254 | .109 |
| Aug | 30 | .367 | .424 | .600 |
With Bruce Bochy’s continued reluctance to give Xavier Nady the playing time he deserves, the Padres need help from anywhere they can get it. Speaking of which, have you noticed how well the new catchers have done (in an admittedly small sample)? Ross and Miguel Olivo are hitting a combined .333/.371/.667 over 33 at-bats.
That’s all I’ve got. You know where to go for more Padres coverage.
Looking for more Phillies coverage? Might I recommend Michael Berquist’s excellent A Citizen’s Blog. Right now he’s got a listing of how often teams in the NL employ the sacrifice bunt. Some readers of Ducksnorts may be surprised to see that the Padres rank near the bottom. In fact, only the Phillies, Pirates, and Reds sacrifice less frequently than the Friars.
Some more solid work over at Balls, Sticks, & Stuff. Former Padre outmakerfielder Shane Victorino is now in the Phillies organization. Who knew? Apparently he’s doing quite well. Good for him.
Get the dirt on the opposition. Then head out to the game tonight or hang out here. And watch the Padres win. 
Hurst and Greg Harris brought Ausmus and other role-players I can’t seem to recall. As Ausmus was part of the deal with Houston later, I’d say he counts for something.
I’m going home to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD’s (best show EVER!) with the wife and kids. A part of me will linger with our team.
GO FRIARS!!!!!!
The key deals:
–Darrin Jackson for Derek Bell
–Sheffield for Hoffman, Andres Berumen, and Jose Martinez
–McGriff for Elliott, Nieves, and Vince Moore
–Harris and Hurst for Ausmus, Andy Ashby, and Doug Bochtler
I wrote about this several years ago on the old site:
http://www.ducksnorts.com/articles/1999/07251999.html
Lance, I’ve never seen Buffy, but I’m a huge fan of Joss Whedon’s show Firefly. Enjoy!
Klesko with a good helmet slam.
Giles lays out to save the day. Great catch.
That was nice. Nice night in the field for him.
Damian Jackson takes a page out of the Mark Sweeney school of baserunning. Just plain stupid. Bochy’s been tossed, but it’s not the umpire’s fault that Jackson had a brain fart.
Geez, Jackson gets tagged out. What a mess. Now Bochy is throw out.
I’m not sure he got Jackson though. Or was he saying out of the baseline, but he wasn’t, I don’t think.
I think that’s what happened. Utley missed him, the ump said Jackson was out of the baseline, and he wasn’t, and that’s why Bochy went off.
Umpire called DJ out of the baseline, but it looks like Utley made the tag as well.
We weren’t robbed because Jackson was dumb, but I’m not buying any part of that call.
Randa, Greene, Olivo to face Wagner in the ninth. Combined they are 0-for-6 with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Randa has the walk.
One pitch, one out.
Opponents against Wagner on the road are hitting .153/.206/.254. That’s sick.
Khalil is battling. Where’s Leyritz when you need him?
So much for that. Tonight’s loss is brought to you by Sir Not Appearing in This Game, as played by Xavier Nady. I’m sure glad we didn’t get our best right-handed bat in there to face Wagner.
When you lose by one run and your biggest home run threat doesn’t get a single AB, you can put that one on the manager.