first pitch: 6:40 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Jake Peavy (10-14, 4.13 ERA) vs Miguel Batista (11-7, 4.36 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
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Unfortunately the Padres couldn’t hold off the Cardinals on Wednesday, and the Rockies couldn’t hold off the Dodgers, so the Pads’ lead in the NL West is back down to 1 game. And the Phillies, who needed 14 innings to beat the Nationals, aren’t letting go of their wild card dreams just yet.
So, this is our season. Four games in Phoenix.
Nobody said it would be easy.
Jake Peavy goes for the Padres in the opener, and he’s gotten hot at just the right time. Peavy has a 2.61 ERA over 72 1/3 innings since the beginning of August, and his peripheral numbers are strong as well.
Miguel Batista gets the call for the Diamondbacks. His ERA is a very respectable 3.59 since the All-Star break, but the other numbers don’t necessarily support it. He’s been stingy with the long ball in the second half, but walking and striking out four batters apiece per game isn’t exactly a recipe for sustainable success. Batista also has posted a much higher ERA at home than away, and his extreme lefty/righty splits play into the Padres’ favor. Lefties are hitting .318/.403/.486 against Batista this year, while righties are at .255/.309/.363.
The Snakes might appear to be vulnerable, but they always play the Padres tough. And I don’t buy that non-contenders are just mailing it in at this point of the season. They’ve got professional ballplayers on their team, too. Everyone wants to win; that’s why they play the games.
Nobody said it would be easy. But it sure will be fun. Go Padres!
Test for Jake. Very important game and he has pitched very u and down, so would like to see him be tough tonight, and NO Coffee!!!
Hitters have to be patient and play small ball like we can. A dinger from Piazza or somebody would be nice. And no bellhorn, please.
As usual, good breakdown Geoff… those lefty/righty splits are huge… our lead is now technically 1/2 a game….
It’s game time…let’s get it going.. I’d love to see a nice 3 or 4 run win for the Pads…but I know better than to think that they’ll do anything the easy way…
Lefties didn’t do much in the first. Oh well.
great…starts off hitting Counsell
GREAT throw, GREAT tag
Uh oh. Not a good start at all.
On that ball four, maybe Jake was confused from watching Russell Branyan’s at bat against Carpenter two days ago. Ohhh yes, I am still bitter.
Raining in DC…can’t tell if that’s just a delay or a potential wash out
D-backs announcers are saying Pedro is out for the playoffs.
Good to get Gonzalez out – those career #s against Peavy are frightening
21 pitches, a hit batter, a walk, and two fly balls later, Jake gets out. Yikes.
Yeah, not the start we need for “Give the Bullpen a Break” night
#10 is not quite right, the Mets announced that he won’t pitch in games 1 & 2 and their manager said if he can’t start he won’t be on the roster, the question is whether Pedro can go in game 3
ESPNews reporting “out for the postseason” – torn calf muscle
#9: That game was supposed to start about 7 hours ago. Sucks to be the Phillies.
Peter: sounded like the D-Backs announcers just got updated info that he was out the entire playoffs. Of course, he could just be setting us up for a Schilling moment, even if the announcers have good info.
Oh god. The announcers are trying to convince me that Cameron is going to bunt here.
Daniel Cabrera – 8 1/3 No hit ball…isn’t he like 6’10 too? What’s up with RHP with gigantism throwing 8 1/3 of no-no lately?
MLB.com says Pedro out at least 4 weeks.
“torn tendon in left calf muscle” – I have espnews on in the background – it’s confirmed
Nice job by Cameron to work the walk after falling way behind. Let’s score a few here.
big spot for Blummer here
Too early to pinch-hit for Blum?
Houston won, St. Louis is getting destroyed at Milwaukee. That could get real interesting.
Wow…don’t see many 4-0 BB with the bases loaded
Batista is all over the place. If Barfield swings at the first pitch, I’m going to scream.
Thank you Miguel Batista. Hey, it appears the announcers were correct in telling me that sometimes Batista just completely loses his control.
Pedro wasn’t the same pedro when he came back. Its one of those reasons nobody can be sure what the Mets will do. other than start El Duque in game one and tom glavine in game two, weird.
Barfield listens to Geoff
ATTAWAY BARFIELD! He takes the first pitch!
barfield one of the best road hitters, come through here.
well, there goes that approach. No business swinging at that pitch
alright Jake, hep’ yoself out
one of the things that is good about ending in Arizona, is in case it rains they have the roof. In philly they’re still waiting to start their game tonight and they’re going to probably wait all night to start it because its a game that has to be played.
inside to either lefty or righty hitters, Bautista is not getting the inside pitch called (not that I mind)…
the Doctor is IN!
crooked number
Not so sure I like the vibe with a 4-0 lead being handed to Jake early again. Let’s get some more first.
DR saves us from the curse of the Ugly RsBI
And the inside fastball is finally called a strike.
Batista needed 37 pitches to get through the second.
And the inside fastball is called a ball. It’s ok, only costs Jake one pitch.
Another blown call, on the checked swing, again only costs Jake one pitch.
That’s exactly the inning the team needed. 10 pitches, two k’s and a ground ball out on the first pitch. 31 total for Jake now.
Peavy only needed 10 pitches that inning. A little better than 37.
I would take Adrian Gonzalez to task for swinging at the first pitch there, but that one deserved to be crushed 400 feet. So just bad execution.
Announcers crediting Cameron for the big inning, when he turned his 0-2 count into a walk. In the next at bat Blum was walked on 4 pitches to force in a run.
What’s up with the two-out hits? This is weird.
Two correx from (my) earlier comments: Cards are losing at home (not in Milwaukee), and the Phils/Nats game was supposed to start 10 hours ago (not 7).
And then the Phillies have to fly down to Florida tonight for three games this weekend.
re 48 – that’s it, Geoff. You’re fired. Come by on Monday to pick up your last check.