IGD: Padres vs Rockies (8 Apr 06)
Sat, Apr 8, 2006
by Geoff Young
first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Dewon Brazelton (1-8, 7.61 ERA) vs Zach Day (1-3, 6.85 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN.com
During Friday night’s 10-4 loss to the Rockies, the opening to Rush’s “Twilight Zone” played as the television broadcast went to commercial following the top of the ninth. This is noteworthy for two reasons. The first is that the more obvious choice would have been Golden Earring’s hit song of the same name, which came out in 1983. The song by Rush appeared seven years earlier, on Side 2 of their seminal 2112, and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Golden Earring tune.
This brings us to the second reason, which is that even among Rush fans, “Twilight Zone” is a pretty obscure track. It’s 30 years old and as far as I can tell, it never received any airplay. Not only is it less well known than the song by Golden Earring, but most likely it’s not known at all by the vast majority of, well, anyone. So to whomever chooses the music leading to commercial over at Channel 4SD, I say thank you for rewarding this Rush fan for suffering through an otherwise horrible game.
Ah yes, the game. The less said, the better. Despite the final line, Chris Young looked good in his Padres debut. He also showed that he can swing the bat a little, driving a ball deep into the left field corner for a double, his first big-league hit. Adrian Gonzalez and Khalil Greene hit balls that had home run distance but hooked just foul. Nice to see Gonzalez, who gets to keep his first base job a little longer now that Ryan Klesko has opted to have surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to miss two to four months, pull the ball with such authority. And Chan Ho Park and Alan Embree did a nice job coming out of the bullpen, with the latter running his fastball at 94-97 mph according to the displays on television.
The rest of the relief corps looked very shaky, with Clay Hensley having a rare bad outing, and the recently recalled Scott Cassidy and Brian Sweeney demonstrating why they have spent so much of their careers in the minor leagues. Cassidy, if you haven’t been following along, was brought up to replace Shawn Estes, who landed on the disabled list due to a “strained flexor tendon in his left elbow” and is expected to be out four to six weeks. Woody Williams replaces Estes in the rotation, with Park getting the #5 spot when it comes up on or around April 15.
As for Saturday night’s contest, Padres fans will get their first look at yet another unknown in the equation that is the San Diego pitching staff. Dewon Brazelton opened a lot of eyes this spring and won the #4 spot over guys with longer track records and bigger contracts. Tonight we’ll get our first indication of whether to believe his performance this May or the 5.98 ERA over 253 career innings he brings into the season. He is a former first-round draft pick and he’s only 25 years old, so anything is possible. With so many question marks on the staff, it would be fantastic to see someone like Brazelton step up and establish himself. We can only hope.
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April 8, 2006 at 6:34 pm
I think he could have a good game tonight.. and we’ll see if the offense shows up. Also Mirabelli hitting 5th in this lineup.. the Padres must have saw something in him that suggested he’d turn from .230 hitting backup to something over replacement level.
April 8, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Also just a word.. have the Alternate Blues been exiled or something? What’s the deal with not using those?
April 8, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I think the I can count on one hand the number of times the Padres have worn the blue tops at home in 2+ seasons. It is a rare sight to see them at Petco.
April 8, 2006 at 6:52 pm
I think that I mentioned it in my spring training observances, but Clay Hensley struggled all thru spring training. His location and velocity both were off. I was hoping that it was just a case of “taking it easy and working on some things” but now I wonder.
April 8, 2006 at 6:57 pm
Piazza, career .467 v. Day.. he’s sitting.. great idea Bochy.
April 8, 2006 at 6:59 pm
mlb.com access pass has me locked out and no way to contact them. crap.
April 8, 2006 at 7:02 pm
eh the Rockies broadcast is on.. try to get your password back or something.. I’d give you mine but I’m on someone elses account.
April 8, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Single. Single. Walk. Double. Rockies up, 2-0, nobody out. The second single and double might have been caught by Cameron in CF. Brazelton is leaving everything up and out over the plate.
April 8, 2006 at 7:18 pm
This is my first opportunity to see Braz, and from what I heard, I was expecting more velocity, around 92-94. His fastball is sitting in the upper 80s tonight. Same old Padre pitching though, get ahead 0-2 in the count and then serve up the fat pitch.
April 8, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Hell, they dont hit thiis well in batting practice. The new Padres pitching philosophy is to wear em out running the baese? eh?
April 8, 2006 at 7:19 pm
One out in the first, Balsley just made a call down to the bullpen. Cassidy is up and getting ready.
April 8, 2006 at 7:19 pm
I don’t care what people say, this Rockies team is not very good, and if these first two games are any indication, neither are we.
April 8, 2006 at 7:19 pm
This is baaaad. Brazelton’s getting ripped.
April 8, 2006 at 7:20 pm
This is embarrassing.
April 8, 2006 at 7:21 pm
Yikes. Home run Miguel Ojeda, 7-0 Rox. Shades of Tim Redding.
April 8, 2006 at 7:21 pm
Redding and May all rolled into one.
April 8, 2006 at 7:22 pm
7-0? Ridiculous. I don’t know what it looks like live, but it can’t be pretty. I’m “watching” it on Gameday and I’m getting pissed.
April 8, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Tonight’s lesson: spring training performance doesn’t really mean much once the season starts.
Get well soon Mike Cameron.
April 8, 2006 at 7:23 pm
So much for Braz having a confident first outing. This will not help Bochy’s paranoia.
April 8, 2006 at 7:23 pm
His ERA is 94.50 now, if anyone is wondering.
April 8, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Well . . . Zach Day isn’t very good, right?
April 8, 2006 at 7:24 pm
At least he has Dennis Tankersly beat.
April 8, 2006 at 7:26 pm
I am sure Day, like every other mediocre pitcher to take Petco’s mound, will have a sterling performance, especially since he’s been spotted a 7 run lead. I expect to see a lot of first and second pitch swinging tonight from the Padres.
April 8, 2006 at 7:26 pm
Yeah he does!! Forgot about that game, Bruce! Only that one was in Colorado . . .
April 8, 2006 at 7:26 pm
The Tank start I am thinking of, the one where he failed to record an out, was in SF.
April 8, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Nick, it’s every bit as ugly as it looks. Brazelton didn’t use the inner half at all. Anyone know how many pitches he threw that inning?
April 8, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Was it?? Oh yeah . . .
April 8, 2006 at 7:28 pm
38!! Yuck . . .
April 8, 2006 at 7:38 pm
At this pace the final will be 63-27.
April 8, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Um. 63-36, sorry.
April 8, 2006 at 7:39 pm
I’m pretty sure that the Rockies took a swing at every ball thrown in their half of the inning.
Maybe they forgot who the home team is. We’re not in Colorado dudes. 11 runs, in 5 outs.
April 8, 2006 at 7:42 pm
At least we came back and got some runs. Nothing worse than going 1-2-3 after a big inning.
April 8, 2006 at 7:53 pm
well that was shaky but much better from the kid. Glad that Bochy didnt jerk him. Too late now, let him stretch it out with no pressure. Maybe it will do him some good.
April 8, 2006 at 7:54 pm
So he loaded the bases and got out of the jam? That’s a good thing, I guess — his ERA’s down to 31.5
April 8, 2006 at 7:59 pm
the problem is, we have a habit of letting the offense die after our “one rally”. we need to chip away to get back into this thing…of course we have to contain their offense, which hasnt been happening. ha ha.
April 8, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Ouch. Now we know why Brazelton wasn’t using the inner half. That was ugly.
April 8, 2006 at 8:07 pm
crap . . .2 run jack. I’m going to bed, guys . . . 11 pm EST.
Here’s hoping they can chip away and come back.
April 8, 2006 at 8:10 pm
well so much for gaining a little confidence out of a bad situation. Better days, i sure hope anyway.
April 8, 2006 at 8:15 pm
nice fireman job by cassidy. maybe a brigt side after all, or else the Rocks are just getting tired.
April 8, 2006 at 8:19 pm
It just hit me why Pizza might not be catching tonight. Tomorrow is a day game after a night game and the usual day to rest your regular catcher. But hitting conditions are much better in day games than night games at Petco. So maybe by starting Mirrabelli tonight, we save Piazza for tomorrow. Sound probable? or at least possible. he he.
April 8, 2006 at 8:30 pm
awrite. Scott is doing a great job mopping up. Hopefully this will carry over and we may have found a reliable middle reliever…at least its a bright spot for today.
April 8, 2006 at 8:49 pm
OK then, time to take one for the team. Tomorrow is guaranteed win day. I just picked up Jennings and put him in my fantasy lineup for tomorrow. That should give the guys some luck.
April 8, 2006 at 8:56 pm
I started to watch and then Colorado put up 4.. I assumed Brazelton might not make it out of the inning so I’ll give some credit to him for not completely exploding. ..
Also these last 2 nights so far have looked a lot why this team could be pegged for 76 wins.
April 8, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Our first Rob Bowen sighting!
April 8, 2006 at 9:08 pm
the underlying problem is… our offense is dormant. wtf is wrong with these guys?
April 8, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Someone, please. hit a line drive.. 300 ft fly balls don’t go out of PETCO, in fact they don’t go out anywhere. do something. Hank, it’s the bad offense that makes Zach Day look like Chris Carpenter
April 8, 2006 at 9:33 pm
Nice Padres debut for Sean Burroughs.
Colorado - Top of 1st
Dewon Brazelton pitching for San Diego
C Sullivan singled to right.
C Barmes singled to center, C Sullivan to second.
T Helton walked, C Sullivan to third, C Barmes to second.
G Atkins doubled to deep center, C Sullivan and C Barmes scored, T Helton to third. Colorado 2-0
M Holliday doubled to right, T Helton and G Atkins scored. Col 4-0
E Marrero flied out to center.
J Smith singled to left, M Holliday scored. Colorado 5-0
M Ojeda homered to left, J Smith scored. Colorado 7-0
April 8, 2006 at 9:34 pm
That was really Sean Burroughs, in disguise, on the hill to start tonight’s contest for the Padres.
Either Burroughs or Duke Cunningham on a work release program.
April 8, 2006 at 9:35 pm
You know I was thinking that Burroughs could have probably pitched a little better than Brazelton tonight.. I mean he did only give up a run or two v. Colorado last year.
April 8, 2006 at 9:37 pm
I think it might be panic time for Hensley. He doesn’t have it…. again.
April 8, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Ok, I postulated yesterday that EY has some value. After tonight’s adventures in LF, I think a DFA might be in order.
April 8, 2006 at 10:10 pm
we scored in the first and second yesterday then never threatened again, an today we scored in the first and were shut out for 8 innings.
sound familiar. This seems to be a Padre trademark.
The pitching is a serious concern, to be sure, but again. I am more worried about the offense.