first pitch: 5:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (8-4, 3.64 ERA) vs Jeff Francis (8-8, 3.69 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
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It don’t come easy,
You know it don’t come easy.
It don’t come easy,
You know it don’t come easy.
The Padres appear intent on making the race interesting again this season. They’ve dropped two in a row in Denver and seen the rival Dodgers improve their bullpen and infield by dumping reliever Danys Baez on the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Wilson Betemit, whom the Padres (or at least some of their fans) were coveting as a third base solution.
Cause for Concern:
| AB/HR | HR/9 | GB/FB |
|---|---|---|
| 20.71 | 1.59 | 0.46 |
| IP | ERA | H/9 | HR/9 | BB/9 | SO/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.2 | 3.07 | 5.98 | 0.65 | 2.91 | 5.98 |
Cause for Hope:
| IP | ERA | H/9 | HR/9 | BB/9 | SO/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58.1 | 2.47 | 5.86 | 1.23 | 2.93 | 7.41 |
Let’s get a third baseman. Let’s get a win. Go Padres!
55 Comments
Looking more and more like Morgan Ensburg, but we don’t even know if that is in the works. Something has to happen now that our bench guys playing third have shown themselves to be er a bench players. Betimit is gone to our rivals. Come KT, get something done, or maybe not. As long as we don’t have to play the Rockies too often, I think this team can win the NL West, but it will be close.
Beltre
HOUSTON (AP) – The Houston Astros sent third baseman Morgan Ensberg and rookie right-hander Taylor Buchholz to Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday and called up right-handed pitcher Chris Sampson.
The Astros are idiots. Ensberg has been much better than Huff, and they send him down. The Padres should grab him.
It’s got to be a rehab assignment. They’re not sending him down for perfomance reasons.
The Astro’s website confirms that he’ll be at Round Rock for a couple of starts (today and tomorrow) and then will be reevaluated before the deadline. I’d wager that the Padres will have a scout or two at that game tonight.
Here’s something interesting from Will Carroll:
If you watch closely, Greg Maddux tipped his cap as he was removed from Saturday’s game and appeared to say “goodbye.” (Thanks to the several readers that sent this in.) Maddux may know of or at least think that a deal is in place. The Cubs may be one of the teams involved in the already complex machinations of Kevin Towers and Theo Epstein, though there’s no solid evidence that the two are working on the same deal. The Cubs have received some indications that Aramis Ramirez is going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, putting them in the same situation that the Brewers did before moving Carlos Lee.
Anyone for Maddux or Aramis Ramirez?
How about both?
That would be nice
USA Today on 7-26 had this to say about 3rd baseman:
The Seattle Mariners have told teams third baseman Adrian Beltre is available, according to two GMs.
* * *
The Houston Astros are shopping third baseman Morgan Ensberg, a National League GM said, but they have told teams Ensberg isn’t close to returning to the field because of a sore shoulder.
If Ensberg isn’t close to returning, I’m not sure that we want him that badly.
The more that I read about Yuniesky Gourriel (21 year old Cuban defector–starred during the WBC) the more interested that I am in having the Padres get him to play next year. BA compares him to Chipper Jones and a scout says that he is an impact third baseman for a championship team…
Here’s the BA link: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/060302wbccuba3b.html
What’s the bidding start at for a 21 yr. old Chipper Jones wannabe on the open-market?
BTW, what are the Dodgers doing? They get Betemit, who can play shortstop, 2nd or 3rd, they’ve got Izturis, who played short, though playing 3rd, now rumored to be going to 2nd, they’ve got Nomar, a shortstop, playing first, they spent a ton of money to get Furcal who plays short and they are reportedly in the mix for Tejeda, who plays, yup, short. Wonder what they’ll give us for Khalil?
“What’s the bidding start at for a 21 yr. old Chipper Jones wannabe on the open-market?”
Hellloooo Boston, New York, Anaheim, etc.
EY sure makes things interesting out in LF.
About what the Dodgers are thinking, I think their biggest future roster “issue” now is that Andy Laroche is blocked. They’ll probably try to trade Izturis (after trying to trade Furcal first, and getting laughed at), and there’s no guarantte Nomar will be resigned. Loney will be ready soon. I don’t think it’s too big a deal for them, in other words. I wish the Padres had gotten Betemit. Oh well, onto the stopgap.
I can’t believe that we’re going to go the rest of the way with the two headed monster of Blum and Belhorn at 3rd base…there has to be a trade coming…
Nice move there…we can’t score any runs so lets get picked off 2nd base…jeepers…this team is frustrating..
Especially when Khalil follows with a double. Sigh.
“I can’t believe that we’re going to go the rest of the way with the two headed monster of Blum and Belhorn at 3rd base…there has to be a trade coming…”
I think the problem is Towers has been very particular about his approach. He won’t trade Linebrink. He won’t take a player who’s not under control for several years. He won’t take an old player. That doesn’t leave much. Without trading Linebrink, he can’t deal with contenders, and it’s tough to pry a young player away from a non-contender.
And now we are in a “delay due to heat exhaustion by the umpires.” That’s a new one. I hope everyone is okay.
isn’t that the 2nd time we’ve had an umpire change mid game this week?
Nice job by Bellhorn there.
I believe you’re right, Mark. So are they going with a three-man crew now?
“Heat exhaustion by the umpires”, plural? Wow. It’s true – if you watch any baseball game closely enough, you’ll see something you’ve never seen before.
I’m stuck with GameCast; have the TV announcers said anything about the weather being especially nasty?
It’s apparently just under 100.
According to the information under Cameron’s name on Ch4, he scored a run tonight.
Yes, plural. When Francis came out to start the fifth, only Laz Diaz was on the field. The other three umpires were gone and only two came back. There is a new plate umpire.
2-Run Triple. That didn’t suck.
Cameron drives in the two runs he likely cost his team by getting picked off earlier.
Good call throwing Cameron a strike there.
Looks like giving Cameron a night off didn’t hurt.
For those not watching, Rick Reed worked the first 4 1/2 innings behind the plate; Ted Barrett, who had been at second base, is back there now.
For the scoreboard watchers – Arizona lost a few minutes ago, and the Pirates just finished off the Giants.
Nice to see the other team run themselves out of a couple of innings…
K Greene!!!! Yeah baby!!!!
Ka-chow! Khalil ties his own franchise record for homers by a shortstop in a season. Attaboy.
Khalil Greene just matched his HR total from last year with number 15 to dead center field…
What would Kahlil’s numbers be like if he played for the Rockies? Pretty sick, I’m sure . . .
FWIW, Mud and Mark have been noting throughout the night that CY is mixing his pitches a lot more than usual in this one.
That foul ball nearly killed the Rockies TV announcers…
Usually CY throws fastballs almost exclusively the first couple of times through the lineup. My guess is the gameplan is to stay away from the high fastball in Coors. It didn’t seem to help his pitch count or GB/FB ratio much though.
You can’t get two balls past Adrian Gonzalez!
I just realized that doesn’t sound right….
Gonzo makes up for his uncharacteristic error with the even more uncharacteristic 3-2 double play to end the inning.
EY? Wow!
Mom’s in town, so we’re off to dinner. Here’s hoping I come back to some good news.
Okay, I take back “most” of the things I’ve thought about EY.
Someone call hell and check the weather…Eric Young just hit a HR…
Ensberg is 2-2 with a double and homer and two walks so far today in rehab.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2006_07_29_srcaaa_rreaaa_1
Guys
Just saw Olney on Baseball tonight. He said the red sox are possibly involved in a complex 3-4 team deal. The names he mentioned:
Loretta
Linebrink
Lowell
Justin Germano started for Reds tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260729108 … went 5.2 IP … but otherwise not well …
One out. Death.
Two outs. Taxes.
73 mph circle change, beautiful.
Three outs. Hoffman.
Nice performance by Trevor…lets get the split tomorrow…
Lowell keeps on being connected with the Padres. I wouldn’t mind having him on the team for the rest of the year. He’s a good defensive 3B and more of a threat at the plate than other names that have been mentioned. I’d imagine that if the Padres are going to do that, someone is going to have to pick up some of his salary.
SonsofSamHorn is buzzing with the Linebrink to the Red Sox talk. Here’s an example of a trade that one of the posters there proposed. This probably makes sense for the Padres:
Give
Red Sox: Mike Lowell, Clay Buchholz, Chad Spann
Cubs: Greg Maddux, A. Ramirez
Padres: Scott Linebrink, Clay Hensley, George Kottaras
Receive
Red Sox: A. Ramirez, Scott Linebrink
Cubs:Clay Buchholz, Clay Hensley, George Kottaras, Chad Spann
Padres: Mike Lowell, Greg Maddux
Lets the Padres make a run this year without sacrificing a ton of the future. I’d do this deal-especially if one of the two teams would kick money over to cover some of Lowell’s contract.
Paul
I’d do that deal, too. I wouldn’t mind Lowell. He’s on fire this year (36 2b), but I’m not sure how the Fenway numbers would translate to Petco.
I’d love to see how Maddux does in Petco. That would be a great pickup.