first pitch: 5:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Clay Hensley (7-10, 4.07 ERA) vs Jason Jennings (7-10, 3.32 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
buy tickets
Bad news is, the Padres got spanked in the opener at Coors Field. Good news is, the Dodgers and Reds both lost, so the Friars remain a game back in the NL West and a game and a half back in the wild card races.
In unrelated news, I’m continuing to import all the old Ducksnorts stuff into the new site — it’s taking more time than I’d anticipated but we’re getting there, and it’s fun to reminisce. I converted three months (October – December 2002) this morning, and here are some posts I thought you might enjoy while we’re waiting for the game to start:
- Brock2 Projections for Eight Rising Stars. Some of the comps are interesting: Adam Dunn vs Brian Giles, Albert Pujols vs Manny Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano vs Jeff Kent.
- Running Commentary on Game 1 of the 2002 World Series. It’s weird to think how few baseball blogs there were back then that I would even attempt something like this. I was coding everything by hand when I wrote this one, so I must’ve hit the old FTP software pretty hard that night. Blogging tools have come a long way since then, but a part of me misses the days when you had to be a geek to have a web site.
- What Might the Padres’ 2003 Lineup Look Like? Wiki Gonzalez, Ramon Vazquez, Deivi Cruz, Eugene Kingsale. Anyone still wonder whether it’s better to be in the midst of a pennant chase or be stuck with truly lousy players?
- Frivolous Friday. Say hello to the blogging equivalent of prog rock. I swear I was sober when I wrote this. Man, I used to throw some weird stuff up here.
- Why the Rumored Nevin for Griffey Deal Made No Sense. Remember this? I like the ending, where I actually say something smart for a change: “I’d rather see them pursue Brian Giles, who is younger, cheaper, healthier, and more productive at this point in their respective careers than is Junior. Plus he’s from San Diego. What could be better?”
Ah, good times. Thanks for your indulgence. Go Padres!
157 Comments
“…Part of me misses the days when you had to be a geek to have a web site.”
…or at least intelligent…
“Bad news is, the Padres got spanked in the opener at Coors Field. Good news is, the Dodgers and Reds both lost…”
Furthermore…
To quote Bill Beane, “Baseball is a war of attrition, and what’s being attrite is pitchers’ arms.”
Padres pitchers used Friday night:
Brocail 1.0 IP
Williamson 1.1 IP
Sweeney 1.2 IP
Dodgers’ relief pitchers used Friday night:
Carrara 0.2 IP
Tomko 1.1 IP
Broxton 1.0 IP
Dessens 2.0 IP
Saito 1.0 0 IP
Sele 3.2 IP
Our ‘pen is still relatively fresh for the rest of our series, where the Dodgers’ has to be gassed.
Good news … http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51807 … oh, wait, it’s a joke
Stauffer with short/rough outing for Portland last night … http://tinyurl.com/ndjum
Nice game write-up about the Portland Beavers’ game last night by DavidB at http://www.pdxbeavers.com/
I was sending an email to a friend and mentioned Ducksnorts. I told him it was likely the best sports fan blog out there. None of the trash talking, venomous attacks you see on some. Instead, it was knowledgeable fans talking rationally about the good and bad of their team with an insightful debate. I figured that since I’d complimented the blog to someone else, I’d better pass on that compliment to all those contributors to Ducksnorts, especially GY. Thanks, everybody.
LarMar … right back at ya, bud!
Scoreboard watch: Gi’nts beat Reds … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260826126 … that’s a good thing!
From last nights AP game story notes … Park is recovering well from Wednesday’s surgery to stop bleeding in his small intestine.
The San Diego Padres optioned outfielder Ben Johnson to Triple-A Portland on Saturday to make room for recently acquired infielder Russell Branyan on the 25-man roster.
The Padres also placed pitcher Scott Williamson on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain and recalled right-hander Jon Adkins from Portland.
Wow … I figure’d this’d be a tough decision … did *not* expect Branyan to replace Johnson … I read that Branyan can / has played OF … so the brass is saying they prefer a guy that gives them some defensive options (a la Eric Young) … Branyan has played mostly RF for TB this season … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6149/career … bleh … it’s not obvious to me …
BTW, Todd Walker’s fpct is up to .848 now … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5700/career … perhaps this Branyan move is to make Walker’s defense look better / acceptable?
Hmmm, in the story about transaction, it says that Branyan was acquired “for pitcher Evan Meek and a player to be named later or cash” … hmmm, I didn’t know about that 2nd part … fyi.
Yes, that was in the original trade.
Yowzer … game on! First 5 Padres reach … it’s 3-0 and nobody out in Top o’ 1st!
… then zippo … with Josh doing the GIDP-thingy …
Anybody out there watching? If so, what does this mean: ” K. Matsui singled to shortstop”?
The race is on. We get the first 5 on. Rocks get the first 3 on. I hate Coors Field. Speaking of that, Mr. Coors pled guilty to his DUI today.
infield hit, he beat it out.
Manny went to his left, toward second, although slowly. He dove and stopped the ball, whirled to throw to first, and pulled Gonzalez off the bag. Infield single.
Oh, yeah. As Mr. Coors says in his commercials: “Drink responsibly.”
MLBtraderumors.com says what Buster Olney said
the following players cleared waivers
David Wells
Shawn Chacon
Jae Seo
Sidney Ponson
Bruce Chen
Jeromy Burnitz
Jeff Conine
Jay Payton
Bobby Kielty
Reggie Sanders
Luis Matos
Jay Gibbons
Geoff Jenkins
Gabe Kapler
link http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/baseball_waiver_trades/index.html
Pitching details after 1st …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 20-10; J Jennings 37-24.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 3-0; J Jennings 4-1.
Batters faced – C Hensley 5; J Jennings 10.
Adrian fielding error … tell me about that?
Thru 2 …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 32-21; J Jennings 37-24.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 4-0; J Jennings 4-1.
Batters faced – C Hensley 9; J Jennings 10.
and just for people who have been watching;
the last time the Padres wore a jersey other than the alternate blue: Aug 16
the last time the Padres wore the road sand: July 29
what is the deal with that?
The road sand jerseys SUH-huck, that’s what!
Much more in favor of the blue top on the road…
I am shocked that they sent Johnson down.
Why put on a hit and run with Manny f’n Alexander? Why put on a hit and run, period?
I think ti’s okay to send Johnson down, he’s not going to get playing time and he might as well get more in AAA
Thru 3 1/2 (fell asleep there) …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 47-30; J Jennings 65-39.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 6-1; J Jennings 7-2.
Batters faced – C Hensley 13; J Jennings 18.
… nice bottom of 3rd for Clay … Barfield makes up for GIDP with RBI single … 4-1 Padres …
Get Blum back in there. Poor guy goes 4-4, then sits the next two games!
They should have released Bellhorn.
Hey, folks. Just got back from my walk. Nice to see an early lead. Surprised that Johnson was send down to make room for Branyan; then again, Johnson wasn’t getting much PT. I’m also okay with Alexander getting the start with a sinkerballer on the mound.
Good point GY — didn’t think about that.
After 4 full …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 63-36; J Jennings 65-39.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 9-1; J Jennings 7-2.
Batters faced – C Hensley 18; J Jennings 18.
… looks like Clay struggled thru bottom of 4th …
yea I mean watching Geoff Blum play SS, he can’t make that long throw consistently.. as he showed sometimes when I saw him in New York.
Let’s chase Jennings this inning! DR starts it off with a walk …
There’s no reason to keep Bellhorn. When are all of these guys going to play?
I guess Branyan’s the first backup at 3B, 1B
Bellhorn now is solely behind Barfield
For now Blum is starting SS
Whatever. I guess I don’t care.
Clarify: as long as they win, I don’t care.
For now — the bases are full of Pads.
C’mon Bard!
Mud has an issue with the strike zone. He thinks Jennings is getting calls on the outside corner that he shouldn’t be. I disagree.
Hey, Ollie’s pitch’d for the Mets tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260826121 … did OK … still had “control problems” (5 BBs) … he’ll get a W from 11 runs of support …
Jennings already over 90 pitches . . .
Big AB for Barfield here … bases loaded 2 out …
Damn. Holliday robs Barfield of a three-run double.
Seem’d like a nice AB for Cameron to work the walk … could/should he have been more agressive with the 2 strikes he got?
Jennings now at 99 pitches … thru 5 IP for him … wow, he’s issued 7 walks …
I’d forgotten that Josh Bard was drafted by the Rockies. He was their #23 prospect according to BA in 2001. John Sickels gave him a C+ grade in his 2001 book.
FWIW, Rob Bowen was #7 for the Twins according to BA in 2001 (A. J. Pierzynski was #18; both got a C+ from Sickels).
Jennings is all over the place. He can thank Matt Holliday for keeping him in this game. I thought Barfield had a grand slam or at least a double.
Last inning for Clay? He’s due up 2nd in 6th … guess we don’t *need* to use a PH’er … eh, I’m getting ahead, aren’t I …
Dogs go down 1-2-3 in top of 1st vs D-backs …
Damn, Barfield has gotten quick on that turn. Nice DP to get Hensley out of the inning.
Isn’t that just typical … the guy that makes the great play with the glove comes up and hits into the GIDP … oh wait, it’s s’pose’d to be the other way around???
Jennings has been relieved … Clay’s at 79 …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 79-47; J Jennings 99-53.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 11-2; J Jennings 9-3.
Batters faced – C Hensley 22; J Jennings 25.
… let him hit? I s’pose so … after Sept 1st, with McAnulty / Cust / Sledge / Johnson on the bench, I’d expect a PH’er here for sure! (and for MannyA also!)
Did Clay almost get ahold of one? …
C. Hensley flied out to deep right
… almost make Peavy proud?
Clay had a nice at-bat. He took Hawpe to the warning track.
The numbers don’t bear it out, but Hensley actually has a clue at the plate.
Small sample size
I hate when you let a pitcher hit late in the game … then he starts off the next inning with a walk …
With 79 pitches, I don’t see a problem with Hensley pitching the 8th, with a four-run lead.
That’s a pretty play by Alexander. Yeah, I’m real comfortable having him behind Hensley.
Yes, Clay gets 3rd GIDP!
Meredith and Embree are warming in the ‘pen.
Kevin – I agree … that was my bottom line in #55 …
Thru 6 …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 94-55; J Jennings 99-53; T Martin 8-5.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 13-3; J Jennings 9-3; T Martin 2-1.
Batters faced – C Hensley 25; J Jennings 25; T Martin 3.
Not good Eaton in Texas tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260826113
Right, but I thought you hinted at a PH’er later in the season.
Dog’s & D-backs scoreless thru 2 … D-backs with GIDP’s in both 1st & 2nd …
I’ll bet it’s a “playoff-like atmosphere” at Comisky tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260826104
Hey, I just noticed this odd play back in 4th inning …
M. Alexander flied into double play right to first, J. Barfield out at first
… whassup with that?
Walker is hitting .321/.438/.491 in 53 AB with the Padres. Here’s the part I love: 11 BB, 1 SO.
re: 68 … ya, I’m just looking forward to having some hitters on the bench in September …
That seem’d like a weak top of 7th from our 2-3-4 “hitters” …
LM (71): Barfield was running on the pitch and the ball was hit on a line. Barfield scrambled back, and it looked like he might’ve gotten his hand back in before the throw arrived, but it was the right hand (umpire was on the other side of the bag). Very close play either way.
Todd Walker = anti-Branyan …
Matt V. just said that Branyan will start at 3B tomorrow, with Walker at 2B.
Yeah, I just don’t see why PH’ing would have been a good call in September either. Hensley was fine. Maybe I’m still misunderstanding.
Hensley goes upstairs to get pinch-hitter Sullivan swinging on three pitches. Don’t see Clay finish guys off up in the zone too often.
Bellhorn, and his .956 FPCT, in at 3B …
Kevin … no, you’re not misunderstanding … it’d be the right call to leave him in even in Sept … I mispoke just while pondering having some real hitters on the bench in Sept …
re: 78 & 81 … OTOH … we’ll have a deeper bully also … and anticipating a post-season appearance, it’d be nice to save an inning or 2 off Hensley’s arm down the stretch … I guess that’s a part of what I was thinkin’ … again, perhaps ahead of things …
Nice 7th for Clay … 3 K’s!!! After 7 …
Pitches-strikes – C Hensley 106-64; J Jennings 99-53; T Martin 20-12.
Ground balls-fly balls – C Hensley 13-3; J Jennings 9-3; T Martin 4-2.
Batters faced – C Hensley 28; J Jennings 25; T Martin 6.
… now we PH for him?
Nomar knocks in 2 … Dogs up 2-0 …
Now it’s Meredith and Adkins in the ‘pen.
Joe Table is 40 years old! Amazing for an RHP that had a WHIP of 1.81 back in 1999!
Mesa’s also #12 all time on the saves list. Branyan is in the on-deck circle in case Alexander keeps it going.
Damn, Manny takes Holliday to the wall. We could very easily have 10 runs tonight.
Manny to the wall….definitely must be using the non-humidor balls tonight!
Just noticed Cameron is hitting sixth, which seems unusual to me (would think he’d be in the top 3 spots). Anyone have any insight on this?
He does poorly against Jennings is the explanation I heard.
Russ’ll wait for the 9th … mighty Manny has flied out …
they liek Walker in the 3hole…. Walker’s hit .321 in August.. so I don’t blame them, plus as long as Giles doesn’t swing for power, he might as well hit 2nd.
Meredith in for the 8th …
Meredith has tied the Padres rookie scoreless innings record.
Colorado’s first three hitters are a combined 7 for 12 but the team has scored only once. That would never have happened in the ‘old’ Coors.
Going into the game, Cameron was .077/.143/.0.77 against Jennings. Probably one of the smarter things Bochy has done lately.
Kevin & Ryguy – thanks!
Nice inning by Cla … 5 pitches … all for strikes … 1 GB + 2 FB outs … single to Helton, who’s been on fire lately …
Lefty in to pitch, so Piazza hits instead of Branyan to start the ninth.
Linebrink is up; he’ll work the ninth.
Torrealba is called out on strikes and throws a minor fit. Rockies are down to their final out.
Okay, Linebrink won’t get his 1-2-3, but that was about the weakest hit you’ll ever see. Broken bat slow roller to shortstop.
It’s worth noting that Linebrink has had some miserable luck during this stretch. Trevor comes in to try and seal the deal.
Don’t like this move. OK, Trevor gets his “easy” save, but with the way Linebrink was throwing, why not leave him against Matsui? No need to use Hoffman, except for the statistic.
Gonzalez and Barfield play kickball on the grounder by Matsui, which brings Helton up as the tying run. Game should be over.
And now Hoffman nemesis Helton is up with a chance to tie the game. Yikes.
Helton is 12-for-18 against Hoffman, with 3 doubles and a homer.
I’m petrified. Helton 12-18 against hoffman
re 105 … I agree 100%!
Now he’s 12-for-19. Grounder to short ends the game. This should have been a blowout but a win’s a win, and we’ll take it.
Phew!
Gulp…
Ballgame!
T. Helton grounded into fielder’s choice, K. Matsui out at second
Three outs. … Hoffman.
What were you guys so worried about? Bunch of worryworts if you ask me. Hoffy had it all the way. LOL
and phew! Glad that’s over.
GY … re: 95 … who’s record did Meredith break? Metzger?
Whew! I’m tired of not being able to breathe when Linebrink and Hoffman are pitching. Just adds to the drama, I guess. That and asphixiation.
They’ve got Meredith on postgame. Just told him he tied the record but didn’t say who the other guy was. I’m looking.
Hoffman: 34th save this year, 470th of career.
I just flipped over to KCAL, and it looks like Lowe was taken out because of injury. Anyone know what’s up with him?
Nothing on wire.
The guys at Dodger Thoughts say that a ball hit Lowe’s glove hand; unless its broken probably nothing serious, although now they have to go with their depleted bullpen.
LM: I can’t find anything on who held the record that Meredith tied tonight. It would have been nice to get that info from the telecast.
Sledge & Cust with HRs (#21 & #26, respectively) for Portland already this evening … http://tinyurl.com/pnny3 … Dewon having a rough go so far …
Hmm, despite a couple of margaritas, this Dodger-DBack game is boring me…perhaps I’ll pull up Retrosheet, do a little research and see if I can figure out who they were talking about…the rookie scoreless streak, I mean. Any guesses?
… besides Metzger? How about Show (I remember he was on the list of Top 3 all-time Padres … don’t know if that was when he was a rookie … was Melendez on that Top 3 list?)?
I’ll check Metzger…Mark Schaffer had 7 straight scoreless appearences to start the season for the 72 Pads, but the record isn’t his…still looking.
PHOENIX (AP) – Los Angeles Dodgers starter Derek Lowe left Saturday night’s game against Arizona after being struck in the left wrist by a line drive off the bat of Chad Tracy.
The right-hander tried to field Tracy’s two-out shot in the fourth inning, but couldn’t get his glove in the way in time. He walked all the way to the shortstop position in obvious pain before leaving the field.
He scattered five hits and held the Diamondbacks scoreless. Lowe (11-8) had won his previous two starts and four of five.
I think we have a winner, but it is not Metzger or Snow…Dan Spillner threw 19 scoreless innings in 1974, spanning 4 appearences (2 starts) from 6/16 to 6/24:
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Kspild0010011974.htm
Scully just said that X-rays were negative on Lowe, still 3-1 t7
Wait! I’m wrong! It WAS Metzger, with 20 scoreless innings over 13 G in 1976:
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Kmetzb1010031976.htm
Great call, LM!
#132 … reminds me of the joke … if they take X-Rays of your head and they come back “negative”, is that good?
I think the record you’re looking for 20.2 IP … GY said CM has tied the record, and by my count, that’s 20.2 (since July 18th) … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7539/gamelog … so I’m not happy-dancin’ over Butch yet … thanks for diggin’, NickW!
Dewon with a HR tonight! Kinda takes the luster off Cust & Sledge’s, don’t it? He’s getting *rock*ed on the mound … still in after giving up 7 ERs not thru 5th …
Also, NickW, I don’t see Metzger’s 20 IP string … did you miss the unearned run on 4/24/76?
Whoops, yeah, I was looking at ER, so I guess the streak isn’t his…Show had a streak of 18 IP to start 1982, but that’s the best I could find for him.
I see 22 IP for Jose Melendez’ rookie season … 1991 … http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Kmelej0010021991.htm … from 6/27 (final 1.2 IP) thru 8/8 (first 1.2 IP) … so I think the report is premature … agree?
I thought I’d check Luis DeLeon … I liked that guy … http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pdelel001.htm … the rookie streak isn’t his … but he didn’t give up more than 2 runs in an outing for his whole rookie season … that seemed impressive enough to mention …
Yup, I count 22 as well…I think Melendez is the winner. I wonder if the Channel 4 guys got that info from the Padres media notes or from their own statistician. I don’t think they put the media notes online, do they?
Here’s 2 notes from the bottom of the game story at padres.mlb.com …
A late substitution at shortstop for Geoff Blum, Manny Alexander jammed his glove thumb diving for a ball in the first inning but stayed on to figure in three double plays behind Hensley.
Cla Meredith extended his streak of scoreless innings to 20 2/3, matching the club record for a rookie previously set by Jose Melendez in 1991.
… wonder how/why they say 20.2 IP? Maybe they’re not giving him credit for the 1.2 IP after the run scored in his outing before the streak?
Aha! The media notes are online, its a PDF so I don’t know if I can link to it, but it has the following passage:
…the scoreless streak is also tied for second all time for a rookie pitcher in franchise history…here’s a look at the top scoreless streaks by a Padres rookie:
20.2 Jose Melendez 6/27-8/8/1991
19.2 Dan Spillner 6/14-24/1974
19.2 Cla Meredith
What do you say … Retrosheet vs Padres … who’s right? I’m bettin’ on Retrosheet
You should be able to cut a link to the pdf … how’d you find it?
It’s weird, its not even like a PDF, its like a series of GIFs…here, try this link and see if you can see it:
http://presspass.mlb.com/docs/77/126/3400_1575_1.gif
I got to it from this website, I guess I’m already registered because I have a subscription to Gameday Audio:
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/presspass/index.jsp?c_id=sd
Kent with a homer for LA
Sometimes, they have some odd rules for that stuff. Like that outing you were talking about. Padres may be right.
Whoops, I forgot about the mulitiple link rule, here’s the one to the GIF:
http://presspass.mlb.com/docs/77/126/3400_1575_1.gif
Ya, but I don’t see how you can get 20.2 out what he did … he had 18 clean innings between 2 outings … each end had 1.2 IP … ah, I see how they’ve figure’d 20.2 … he gets credit for the full clean innings but not the .2 after allowing a run before the streak and not the .2 before allowing a run after the streak … OK … I can buy that … I s’pose … not how I’d count it … but chalk it up to “odd rules”, as Kevin said …
re: 147 … so how’d you find this? This page says “subscriber” … http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/presspass/index.jsp ???
I think its free as long as you’re a “registered user” of mlb.com. I just used the username and password I have for Gameday Audio and it let me in…its kinda cool actually, they even have a breakdown of what each farm club did the night before.
Oops, 150 is re: 148 … in case that’s not obvious …
re: 151 … how much does Gameday Audio cost you? Has it been good?
LM, I think I paid $15 for it. I’ve had it for the last couple of years and it’s great…I know I’m probably in the majority, but I love listening to broadcast team (even Leitner) and its really handy when I’m at the office or the game isn’t on Extra Innings, so I don’t need to drag out the radio. I think its a pretty good deal, seeing as how you can listen to any game, live or archived, and it may even be discounted now that the season’s almost over.
re: Gameday Audio … web page says $8 for the season … and that includes access to the Media Notes … hmmm … or $30 for the MLB.tv … hmmm, both seem like a decent deal … especially since I’m not subject to Padres’ blackout …
for the Audio … it’s “streaming” … does that mean I can’t download it into an MP3 file/player and listen to it “offline”?
Did anyone else have a problem with bringing in Trevor in that situation? It was 100% managing for a personal statistic, there was no reason to take Linebrink out. He didn’t look too happy about it either. I’m sure Linebrink understands why it was done but on some level he has to think it shows a lack of confidence in him. I just worry that when personal statistics are put above sound baseball decisions bad things can happen.
Anthony … oh, yes … see 105 & 110 … and another reason this isn’t good is we’d be better off with a fresher Hoffy tomorrow!