first pitch: 12:35 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (6-3, 3.25 ERA) vs Chad Billingsley (MLB debut)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
If there’s one thing I learned from Wednesday night’s 5-3 victory over the Dodgers, it’s that you don’t throw fastballs out over the plate to their kids. Those homers by Willy Aybar and Matt Kemp were just crushed.
If there’s another thing I learned, it’s that wins are better than homers. Padres have taken the series and now go for the sweep against Chad Billingsley, who makes his big-league debut this afternoon. Pads counter with Chris Young, one of the hottest pitchers in baseball.
Every team in the NL West has played 65 games. Every team is over .500. Two games separate first from last. Strap yourselves in, folks, it’s going to one heckuva ride.
how bout vinny on deck in the eighth but called back for bard who got us an insurence run? Nobody wants the guy to bat, nobody.
Geoff, thanks for the reading recommendation.
LM: What’s so creepy about the song? Just seems like some basic techno to me (although I don’t really know what techno is so maybe it’s some other genre
Pat – the link I posted is just to the jazzy/crowd-pump part of the song … if you surf, you’ll find the whole thing … and some video versions … and the one video version I watched 10 seconds of was creepy-to-the-max … so I just wanted to say something that would prevent any of youse with kids that sometimes look over your shoulder while you surf to beware …
BTW, I’m pretty sure they do play it at Petco … the link at mlb.com to Cameron’s HR (the day he hit a 2B, 3B, HR) has it playing in the background …
Haven’t seen a Jared Wells update, but it looks like he left last night’s game early because he’s being promoted to Portland:
http://tinyurl.com/nhks9
Must be to replace Carillo, whom the Padres are threatening to shut down for the rest of the year according to today’s UT. Not good for Cesar or the Padres for that matter.
Anyone watching the game? On another note, this is pretty funny:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49527
Obviously they don’t visit this site or they would have made it $10B for every at bat that that Vinny C doesn’t swing at the first pitch.
Yeah Geoff I’m watching. You probably could guess that though.
LOL, Ed. Thanks for confirming.
Young seems to be fighting his command. According to GameDay he’s not “just” missing, he’s missing wide.
Coleman is saying he is laboring.
Young doesn’t have it. Roberts continues to impress me in left. That sounds like faint praise, but he was a poor center fielder, but I think he’s an excellent left fielder.
Thanks LM. I hadn’t delved any deeper.
Nice article on Cameron and his near cycle the other day you can link to from the Pads home page.
Kevin: You’re right, Roberts is a terrific defender in left. He made some real nice plays out there last night.
Roberts is 18-for-22 in stolen bases. He’s hitting .299/.370/.441. He has eight triples. He’s on pace for 50 steals. He’s 34 years old, so it may not last, but I’ve been impressed.
He leads the team in OPS, and might be the team’s best offensive player. That’s taking into account the limited plate appearances for Bard and Bowen.
Kevin, yes, Doc is a very good LF and good against lefty too. More frustrating that EY is still taking ABs away from him. Then again, maybe that’s why Doc is having another good season.
Crap. Adkins: 2 pitches, 2 singles.
Correction: 3 pitches, 3 singles, 1RS, 2 on, no out.
TED LEITNER should be eliminated!!!
I went to high school with his son and yeah he is a nice guy in person and everything but DUDE… That guy is so annoying and isn’t easy to listen to on the radio at all. After watching all the games on channel 4 I love Matt V. and Mark Grant. I don’t know maybe it’s just me but Matt and Mudd are fun and all Ted does is bitch and fake a knowledge of baseball. I swear if I hear him say the name Barry Bonds one more time or talk about a pitchers “stuff” (I feel like those are the only words I ever hear him say) I’m going to flip!
On another note I do have to say like to see the Pad’s hitters hit a little!
Adkins doesn’t have it. What pitch was that? Same location as was fouled out previously.
On the other hand, KRS1, Vin Scully is calling a beautiful game.
I’m not sure it’s a good idea to walk Kemp to load the bases with one out. I saw him in LA a couple of weeks back. He fouled a ball that was inside to him and ended up with the ball hit fair and started running to first base. He was quick and almost beat the tag by the pitcher.
Dodger Thoughts covered this too.
When was the last time we saw 2 IBB in the same inning?
Let’s get a GiDP, Embree!
Yes, it’s too bad Young is getting at-bats at all. A better option would be for somone else to get those at-bats.
Now Embree has to hit or be pinch-hit for.
Castilla — HR — that is a rarity.
Yikes, this one got out of control in a hurry. How did Sikorski look? He’s done nothing but get people out since he’s been up — why did we have to suffer through Brazelton and Brower for so long when this guy was hanging around at Portland?
Hey, Vinny took a pitch and then homered on the second.
Wait what… Was that VINNY? Dude mark your calendar a home run for the Pad’s in consecutive games!!! What’s next the Apocolypse?
Weird
Refresh my memory please: Was the BLaw-Castilla trade a wash in terms of salary? For some reason, I recall San Diego actually had to pay a little bit more this year (the last of Castilla’s contract) but BLaw had more years. ‘Zat right?
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
B Sikorski 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 0 20-15 1.80
I think the Padres ended up sending some dollars to the Nats to help pay for BLaw. But the money is a wash.
Yeah, the Padres sent money to even out the $.
I hate the stupid recap of the game:
“Jonathan Broxton (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win. Brian Sikorski (0-1) allowed one run and one hit in one inning to take the loss.”
Nowhere in the article did it mention Adkins giving up 3 hits in 3 pitches after Sikorski left and getting only one out. Yes, Sikorski got the loss but it wasn’t his pitching that put the game out of reach.
Some folks will be happy. I’ve just gotten word that Dave Magadan is out as hitting coach, to be replaced by… Merv Rettenmund. No joke.
Well, that’s brilliant. The hitting coach who was fired because he couldn’t turn Ruben Rivera into a major league replaces the hitting coach who is fired because he couldn’t take 10 years off Vinny Castilla.
U-T is now reporting this as well:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20060615-1659-magadan.html
It’s also reported on Padres.com.
All you dave magadan haters have got what you wanted.
Sikorski looks good. I was pissed when he was lifted.
TW,
I don’t think Merv Rettenmund was fired. IIRC, the Padres couldn’t agree to a contract with him (pretty sure it was over $$$$), so he went to the Braves after the 1999 season in a lateral move. That’s how I recall it; do you recall differently?
TF, you’re right. But there was a lot of talk at the time about his inability to “fix” Rivera, which is why they brought in Ben Ogilve for two months.
This story says a lot, some of it worrying. Has Towers bought into the small-ball, move the runners along offensive theory? Tony Gwynn could thrive just putting the ball in play and counterpunching. Not many can.
http://members.aol.com/CruiznSD/archives/1999/1109.html
From that article, Rettenmund sounds like a Magadan clone – bat control and plate discipline. Magadan might even have a more aggressive philosophy.
They also had similar major league hitting numbers.
I wouldn’t blame Merv for not fixing Rivera; Oglivie couldn’t either. No one could. Merv’s a major league hitting coach, not a brain transplant surgeon.
If Merv can get the team to suddenly be able to bunt properly and advance runners with productive outs on the rare occasions that is a good strategy, then more power to him.