first pitch: 6:40 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (9-5, 3.77 ERA) vs Enrique Gonzalez (3-5, 5.32 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
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Is it me, or does this pennant race lack the urgency of, say, philosophers playing soccer?
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81 Comments
Az. broadcasters said that 2nd Branyan bomb was the longest they’d EVER seen hit by a lefty in that ballpark. And they were in awe of the 1st blast! If Branyan can learn to stay back on the ball and let the pitcher do most of the work — great job going opposite way on the first HR — he could be very dangerous.
Now for those strikeouts…
Damn, had no idea that “the most important goal” of Socrates’ career was on YouTube. It’s true, Leibniz never had a chance.
supposedly also the Padres are in the running for LHP David Wells.. (from ESPN.com’s buster olney and Boston.com)
Is that the one where the Philosophers are playing against the Amateur Gynocologysts?
no, it’s germany (neitzsche, marx, leibniz et al) v greece (socrates, plato, archimedes, etc). but tell me more about the one you’re talking about… i’m fascinated.
The Branyan blast was truly impressive. He put his foot down too soon but stayed back and was able to drive the ball. To hit it 475 feet when your timing is a little off is just amazing.
I guess Bochy was saying he hadn’t heard a sound like that since he had Vaughn and Cammy.
Link to Wells to Cards, Dodgers or Pads article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2565280
Ok Richard, I’m interested now…let’s talk about Everett and Greene a bit…so do you think Everett’s advantage on defensive is greater than Greene’s advantage on offense?
Walker gets the start at 1B tonight. Gonzo needed a day off.
Philly Billy was talking about the possibility of Wells returning to SD on XX this afternoon. I have to say, I’m underwhelmed.
If Philly Billy had his way Aarone Boone would be our starting third baseman. Wells would be useful but if your season depends on signing a fat 43 year old lefty, you’re in trouble already.
It was good to see the old Chris Young back, throwing the 88mph high heat. Interesting that his first pitch was a breaking ball, he usually sticks with fastballs early.
We are in trouble already. I try not to favor veterans, but I don’t need to see Mike Thompson take the mound the next five weeks.
Good to see Young attacking hitters with the fastball. Very aggressive approach early.
It seems like Young has much better control with his fastball than other games I’ve seen. This is very good.
It also seems like the ump is squeezing Gonzalez pretty badly. It also seems like the Diamonbacks’ announcers are clueless idiots (I’m forced to listen to them because I am on mlb.tv). Yesterday they were arguing for Adrian Gonzalez as ROY. And they are completely unable to focus on the action at hand. Thank you for the space to vent.
Gonzalez also is getting hit very hard. We should get to him.
Yes indeed. Those pitches are fat.
Vent away, Ben, vent away. On another note, is it me, or does Branyan have a much shorter stroke than you’d expect from a guy who strikes out at an epic rate?
Yeah, Mark Grace is not very good.
That was a pitiful effort by Quentin to get out of the way of the pitch. Nice snag by Piazza on the subsequent sacrifice attempt.
My concern is that Davis Wells is not the fix that ails this team. We need to get some timely hits with RISP. Tonight we’ve had two and we’re ahead, for a change.
David Wells will be better in the NL than in the AL, and if he is better than the Padres’ No. 5 pitcher, then he helps the team. No one would argue that he is great pitcher.
Hudson homers after CY struck him out but the umpire forgot to call it strike three. Matt and Mud are chirping about the 0-2 pitch, and I have to agree with them this time.
Robbed on that one, but CY is ptching well. He clearly mouthed bullshit after asking the ump about the pitch (while walking back to the mound) and he is right. Oh well. offense, offense.
Okay, based on their numbers this year…
Over 162 games, Khalil would be worth 23 more runs than Everett offensively and Everett would be worth 21 more runs than Khalil defensively. Based on that, I’d take whoever was healthier.
Piazza lays into one. We should have 6 or 7 runs against this guy. Still, 4 is nice.
I love Cameron, but he really needs to stop doing the bunny hop on balls that don’t leave the yard.
Aurila 2-run HR pulls Cincy to within 1 … now 4-3 Dogs in top of 4th …
CY strikes out #9. Arizona is lifting Gonzalez for a hitter in the fifth.
OT … Jared Weaver is have a problem with XBH’s tonight … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260829112 … 4 HRs + 2 2Bs thru 4 …
Nice play by Branyan.
Nice play by Branyan and Walker at both ends on the bunt attempt by Counsell.
I don’t like the idea of trading Khalil. Young, hard-working shortstop with power and good range. The injuries have been unfortunate, but he had been steady this year and our best RBI guy in the first half. He’s a guy who wants to play every day, and with his work ethic, he’s just going to get better. And he’s still cheap.
Do we really want to go through at shortstop what we went through at 3rd?
Lousy play by Giles.
Hey I’m curious to know why so many peeps hate KT. I think the main reaon we’re not able to make a favorable trade is because KT and the Pads have comeout on top of all the recent trades. Good move on Walker and Branyan we gave up nothing for some Major Leaguers. I hope you enjoy Giles heating up and carying the team on the stretch. We have a great pitching staff and a good bench…thats what wins a world series.
34 – no one wants go thru at SS what we’ve been thru @ 3B … and I don’t hear anyone suggesting that … what’s been suggested is Tejada and ARod … not bloody likely, as the Brits say … but it’s fun to dream …
I’d say I’m a KG fan … but I can see his negatives … IFF we can improve at SS, then trading him is obviously a good thing … ie. he can’t be considered “untouchable” … what we have to count on, and I think it’s a good assumption, is the brass (SA + KT + …) not underestimating his value …
Philthy: Thanks for the comment. You raise a good question; I think one reason might be that we have higher expectations for the Padres now than we did a few years ago. I agree that Walker and Branyan were nice acquisitions on the cheap.
OT: I’m doing some research and I stumbled onto this site. The stadium diagrams are pretty cool.
Cincinnati just tied it up in the top of the 5th. If we can pull this off, we can’t help but gain a game on someone.
36 – None of us Padres fans have any experience that would help us know “what wins a world series” … and perhaps that’s what some of KT’s non-fans have against him.
It’s very hard to build a world champion team with the budget that apparently is being set by ownership … can somebody else do better? Probably … but I think it’s more likely that we’d find someone that would do worse …
I’m interested to give the “GM by committee” approach a few more years to gel … where the committee = KT + PD + SA …
I haven’t heard anyone realistically suggest A-Rod or Tejada. I don’t think the Padres would want to take on those contracts. (The first thing I would do with Tejada is tell him to forget the stupid consecutive games streak.)
What has been realistically thrown out there, at the trading deadline, was Everett for Greene, with other players involved somehow. They are close, but I would rather have Greene.
Everyone knows the book on Blum is get ahead in the count and then throw sliders down and in. Leave the ball up in the zone and he hammers it. That was a terrible pitch by Cruz 0-2. Much appreciated.
The only two players to hit a home run in their only at-bat during that World Series?
No, no, Blum is totally psyching pitchers out with his approach. Get behind and then get a clutch base hit with 2 outs when the pitcher makes a huge mistake and leaves the ball up. Gets the pitcher every time.
any concerns re: young still pitching with back problem & five run lead? or does the pen need the rest?
Kevin: Pretty sure Kirk Gibson ‘88 was the only other.
I think his shoulder/back is fine and he’s had plenty of rest so they’re letting him stretch it out. I’m sure that was his last inning anyway. Good to see the dominant Chris Young again.
Yep, Gibson and Blum.
That’s 10 triples, I think. Roberts continues to impress.
Agreed, Anthony. CY looked very strong right up till the end. Good to have him back.
hey I know some of you might not be psyched about David Wells but think of David Wells for some A-level prospect is probably better than Dewon Brazelton for part of the rotation. I mean
Peavy-Young-Hensley-Williams-Thompson
is okay but will that cut it in september and what if we need a spot starter?
re: 47 … ‘course Gibson had a pair of HRs in ‘84 … ouch.
Trivia: What was Kirk Gibson’s highest salary? http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gibsoki01.shtml … the answer surprised me!
Well would be a solid acquisition.
Heh, the good old days. I bet some old school writer griped that he was overpaid too.
Ryguy … I’m with you … I think Wells would be more likely to pitch well in an important Sept game than Thompson … and I’m losing faith in Woody …
just noticed also, Chris Young throwing for more ground balls this month (GO/AO 0.71) as oppose to his more frequent fly ball tendencies. that also happened tonight 6-4 go-ao. I just got in so I couldn’t watch but I’m guessing Young kept the ball down pretty hard tonight.
speaking of extreme ground ball, here comes Cla Meridith.
I agree with LM on Woody, I don’t think hes got much left honestly and I saw him pitch in NY
How many other managers use their best reliever in the 8th inning of a game they’re winning by six runs.
And that should have had a question mark.
Meredith breaks Jose Melendez’ consecutive scoreless innings streak by a Padres rookie.
Re: 41 and LM’s comment about the GM by committee approach; I agree, and would love to see that group have some more time to develop. I was psyched when the Padres hired DePodesta. Here’s a question for anyone who wants to answer; Has DePodesta has any exposure in the San Diego media since coming aboard? I haven’t heard much, if anything, out of him at all. Maybe he’s just grinding away doing analysis in Excel…
Walker lays out and makes a spectacular diving stop to get the force at second. Blum makes an ill-advised return throw that gets by Meredith. Bowen almost nails the runner at second. Good effort.
59 – gotta use him sometime … off day Thursday … he’ll be OK for a high-leverage appearance tomrrow … and then again on Friday … I’m OK with him going out there tonight … he didn’t pitch yesterday, should he have?
ps. Richard … what’s the status of #80 Top Padre of All-Time???
Geez that was a bad throw by Blum, and a horrible decision to throw in the first place. That was good to see Meredith gettin ground balls from lefties.
Dogs tie it up 5-5 … remember, our best-case-scenario is actually extra innings
I haven’t seen anything on Paul D in the papers or elsewhere. Really a low profile. BTW, Cincinnati and Dogs tied, Reds batting in top of the 7th.
66, 67: And even if it doesn’t go extra innings, both bullpens are going 4+ innings.
Dogs and Reds still tied 5-5, top of the 8th.
DePo was mentioned in early August in the notes section of an article in the SDUT. I haven’t heard anything about him other than that since we got him.
Embree doing his best to give Hoffy another save.
Re:26
I see where you’re coming from, especially with Khalil’s injury history, though I would guess that any slightly better than replacement-level SS is worth as much over 162 as Khalil is worth over 90-100. My only other point would be to echo post 34; Khalil is just now entering his peak while Everett is just now entering the decline phase. While Everett will probably continue to be an excellent defender, his bat is sure to slide even more, while Khalil might (and if I knew how to, I’d italicize might) have a ridiculous offensive season sometime in the next 2-3 years. That possibility alone would lead me to choose Greene, despite his “digital” issues.
Luv-ya, Dub-ya … with apologies
Woohoo, extra innings in the Reds-Dodgers game.
Ah, 13th inning, and still going … sweet
Cust with #28 … *SLEDGE* with #24 (en feugo!!!) … for Portland at Fresno tonight … http://tinyurl.com/p539y
Oh, and McAnulty play’d 3B again tonight for Portland
*Derek Lowe on in the 14th for Dodgers. Smells like a pennant race.
*Nice to have a legit. power threat at 3rd. Only 3 games, though, so let’s not get too excited.
*I’d love to get Wells. The guy’s a fighter and still knows how to get guys out. Afraid what it might take to get him — A LOT of teams are interested. Throw your old boss a bone, Theo.
*Sledge might make excellent trade bait in the offseason. Young, powerful, just not sure his defense is good enough to keep him at Petco if another another team wants him as a package. Nice throw-in in the Eaton-Aki trade, nonetheless.
Wild Card, here we come! Russell Branyan is the boon(e) that we have been searching high and low for, my brothers. Rejoice tonight, for soon we may have one of the Dago’s favorite son’s, David Wells, return like the prodigal son. Tonight is good.
I’d love to see the Dodgers give up Matt Kemp for David Wells (the purported asking price). That would help the Padres for years to come. From what I’ve seen of his at-bats, Kemp has superstar potential.
Dodgers trade Kemp to Sox, Wells throws out his back ( I like the guy, so his back heals up just in time for the Dodgers to miss the playoffs), and the Sox trade Kemp to the Padres for Ben Johnson and a pitcher in the offseason. Hey, a guy’s allowed to dream.
Although I like Wells a lot, KT should not give up much more than he gave up for Williamson. If the Sox are asking for the farm or even close to it, let the Dodgers have him.
A few thoughts…
Awesome start by Young. It’s nice to have a #2 starter who can actually pitch.
Branyan is doing well, but I would love to see the Pads do something interesting, like try Leone or McAnulty at 3rd. Since they’re contending it won’t be until next season.
Greene is better than Everett, but I’m not sure if Greene is suited for shortstop. He’s injury prone, to say the least, and maybe he’s the leftfielder of the fututre at this point. I like his bat and I think he has star potential. I’d rather have him than Everett.
If the Pads can get Wells for cheap they should do it. He’ll be better than Thompson or Stauffer. I also believe that is the Dodgers send Kemp away it will be good for San Diego in the near future.
Do you all realize that the Pads have a solid infield for years to come (besides 3B)? Barfield, Gonzalez and Greene(if healthy) might b the best infield in the NL West over the next 5 years. It’s refreshing, considering the Padres general inability to develop players.