first pitch: 6:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Woody Williams (7-5, 3.85 ERA) vs Josh Fogg (9-9, 5.36 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
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- Williams vs current Rockies: .359/.400/.609 in 128 AB
- Fogg vs current Padres: .275/.352/.479 in 142 AB
Guess who’s doing the big damage against Williams? Yep, former Padres third baseman Vinny Castilla (.364/.432/.848, with 5 HR in 33 AB). Todd Helton (.325/.372/.550 in 40 AB) has handled Williams well, but the same can be said about most any pitcher he faces. Other Rockies hitters have had success against Williams, but in limited plate appearances.
On the other side, it’s been Todd Walker (.368/.455/.579 in 19 AB) and Mark Bellhorn (.273/.333/.636 in 11 AB) doing the damage against Fogg. Josh Barfield has a triple and two homers in six at-bats, so this could be an interesting lineup. The early guess has Bellhorn at third, Barfield at second, and Walker at first. Mike Cameron is 0-for-6 with 5 strikeouts against Fogg, so maybe stick Russell Branyan in right and move Brian Giles to center? I dunno, it’s only six at-bats; could be a fluke.
Fogg is 2-4 with a 7.40 ERA since the All-Star break. Opponents are hitting .339 against him in those nine starts, and he’s surrendered 10 homers in 45 innings so far in the second half.
The Padres need to stop making bad pitchers look good. Tonight would be a good time to start.
71 Comments
Rocks have dogged us all year long, lets change that with this series. Reeling off a bunch of win would be great, but we must win each series. 1 down, 9 to go.
Exciting race for the pads, hope they can throw the Rockies jinx.
Since im in Japan now, i cant help but be excited about the chance the pads have of acquiring a Japanese 3B. Considering the FA market for 3B is pretty dry, it only makes sense to at least look there. Lo and behold Tim Sullivan quotes Towers as looking at a Japanese 3B and when i googled it i found this link –
http://www.japanbaseballdaily.com/centralleague8-14-2006.html
The relevant part is halfway down, starting with Yakult
There have been some other articles stating that the Phillies sent some scouts as well which makes sense with David Bell leaving.
Just in case people missed it here is the Tim Sullivan article, with Towers mentioning an anonymous Japanese 3B and Sullivan speculating it was Iwamura among others
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/sullivan/20060903-9999-1s3sullivan.html
Thanks for the info, Sam. Iwamura would be an interesting pickup if he’s not too expensive. 319 Ks and 74 HRs over the last two seasons:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/I/Akinori-Iwamura.shtml
Good OBP though.
I love Tony Gwynn but that sleeveless SDSU sweater is not a good look for him. It looks like a big Hefty bag.
Thanks, Sam, for the info. I remember watching Iwamura during the WBC and thinking he looked like he could play a bit.
Rotoworld also had an article that got referenced in the Union-trib forums estimating his contract to be 3 years for 13 million, though that probably doesnt include the posting fee…..
And yeah, at least in Japan the guy is solid – hes been torid since august. The experience of Kaz Matsui worried me a bit, but he seems to have bounced back a bit. Maybe it was just NY?
The start of the game is being delayed while stadium crew work to turn on the lights. See something new every day.
i was wondering if yahoo had decided the game wasnt worth carrying or something
Well, Woody looked really good after the walk, homer, and four pitches to Atkins. Unfortunately, those first ten pitches were enough to put the team down 2-0. I guess there is the possibility that the delay got him out of his rhythm after warming up and being ready to start.
Fogg hasnt given less than 3 runs since aug. 1 and has given up 15 his last two starts… though with the pads not sure if that particularly helps…
Ben, there may be something to that. Matt V. and Tony G. were saying that Woody likes to head out to the mound and get going right away.
Here’s a stat I’d like to see: The opposing pitcher’s ERA for his last three starts compared with how he does against the Padres. On second thought maybe I don’t want to see it.
Beautiful play by Branyan on the bunt attempt by Sullivan. Nice job by Walker on the tag as well.
Ooh, a third baseman making a nice play. Good to see, good to see.
Well, at least that ground ball was hit hard. 4 hitters, 4 groundball outs so far. Looks like another frustrating performance against a bad pitcher (obviously it’s too soon to draw this conclusion, but I figured the whole reverse jinx thing was worth trying).
Cameron crushed that ball; wrong part of the park. Fogg is looking eminently hittable tonight.
Walker’s made a couple real nice plays at first base tonight. Also, the ball Helton hit out in the first was not a bad pitch. It was up and away, and I’m not sure it was a strike. Dude’s just a great hitter.
The offensive force that is Geoff Blum breaks up the no-hitter! It’s great that stuff like no-hitters starts getting mentioned in the third inning.
Great graphic on TV. Since 1993:
Trevor: 472 saves, 527 opportunities
Rockies: 482 saves, 793 opportunities
Yeah Woody has been great otherwise. A home run doesn’t mean he’s pitching poorly. Saturday’s game was the best pitched game I’ve ever attended and Jake still gave up a dinger.
Now we’re starting to get to this “pitcher”. Let’s put up about 5 runs here.
Giles goes yard. Everyone is getting real good swings against Fogg. This guy isn’t going to make it through five tonight.
Wow. So Trevor Hoffman over the thirteen years would have been worth maybe 110 wins to the Rockies (ignoring park effects, which are probably hugely important here). That is insane.
That was probably the best swing I’ve seen from Giles all year.
Wow, that pitch was way off the plate.
Branyan with another knock. I really like what I’m seeing from him.
Enough to make him your everyday third baseman next year?
Enough to make me think about it. In other news, we should be beating Fogg silly by now. I hope our poor situational hitting doesn’t come back to bite us later.
I would guess if Branyan is retained as the everyday third baseman the Padres will attempt to find a right handed platoon alternative. One preferably not named Mark Bellhorn or Geoff Blum or Vinny Castilla.
Both sides are chirping at the plate umpire, and with good reason.
I guess that hit was pretty inevitable the way he was ripping the foul balls to the left side.
Well, Josh Fogg survives five innings.
I still haven’t seen any good reasons for McAnulty to not be on the Padres’ bench right now … have you?
Does he hit right handed? They really, really need another right handed bat on the bench. One that can actually hit (aka not Bellhorn). Never mind. Branyan can just hit lefties all the time.
That ball was well-struck by Mr. Branyan…
Branyan has no problem hitting it out of Petco. If he can hit .240 with 35 homers I’d be very happy with him at third next year, even if he does strike out 150 times.
re:35 I’d like to see a little higher average than .240…but 35 home runs would be very nice…
LM: According to the U-T, Cust and McAnulty will be up tomorrow, at the conclusion of Portland’s season.
Branyan has no problem hitting it out of any park. That guy has sick power.
That’s a bogus call on Blum to end the inning…
re: 33 … good point … McAnulty and Cust are both LH hitters … the top RH hitter still down in Knott (.279/.351/.574) and he’s been hitting the long ball well this season (leading PCL with 32, iirc) … other RH hitter is Ben Johnson … I can see why he’s still down getting as many ABs as he can … he was 0-for-5 with 2Ks today (now hitting just .263 @ AAA.
Ah, I just checked their schedule … today was Portland’s last game … so now there’s really no reason to not get all 4 of these guys up on the Padre bench!
And Thompson, Stauffer and Cassidy also!
Ah, I just check’d over at pdxbeavers.com and saw that Whitney had posted this comment …
So immediatley after the game ended today, Rich Burk announced to everyone listening that the call-ups were: Paul McAnulty, Jack Cust, Mike Thompson and Ben Johnson. All of them are on the Padres 40-man roster except for Cust, who they will have to make room for somehow. No call-up for Jon Knott… yet.
… how is Cassidy not on that list?
Is the 40-man roster published anywhere?
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=sd
I found this doing a google search for Padres 40 man roster.
And now you’re pinch hitting Mark Bellhorn?! Why?!
So right there … Bellhorn’s PH vs RHP Field … woulda/coulda/shoulda been McAnulty!!!
Or could have been/should have been anybody else but Bellhorn. Like Gonzalez, or Bowen, or Piazza, or somebody. Anybody. Not Bellhorn.
BenB – thanks! … google and mlb.com are cool … if I can only remember to go there
Cassidy shows on 40-man … he’s bound to get a callup … ain’t he?
LM – I think Cassidy is already up with the Padres.
Cassidy is up. He got into Friday night’s game.
And I’d be happier with Cassidy pitching now than Brocail …
re: 46,47 … DOH!
So, in addition to Mark Bellhorn sucking and thus being dumb to pinch hit him there, now Mike Piazza is the only right handed hitter on the bench, with a lefty dominated Rockies bullpen.
Perhaps all we need is Piazza … the time is *NOW*!!!
Fuentes has no command of the fastball tonight. We’ve got to win this thing. C’mon, guys.
Barfield has no clue, keeps looking fastball. Manny Alexander on deck. Yuck.
I stand corrected. Barfield just got a clue. F-n a!
Haha right when I read Geoff’s last post I saw Barfield hit the homer. The HD feed must be a little slow.
Awesome win!
Holy Tamales! I step’d away for a minute … came back to this …
- M. Cameron walked
- M. Piazza hit for G. Blum
- M. Piazza walked, M. Cameron to second
- K. Greene ran for M. Piazza
- J. Barfield homered to deep left, M. Cameron and K. Greene scored
… it must be *ROCKIN’* at Petco right now!!!
Barfield had a clue there. Sweet!
bong! bong! bong!
YES! YES! YES!!!!! What an awesome win. Thank goodness it didn’t come down to Manny Alexander at the plate. Way to go Josh Barfield.
big fly Josh Barfield… .you might want to look back on this game as being a turning point. Just suggesting when it comes down to that.
That was the first homer Fuentes has allowed this year after being ahead 0-2. Barfield is getting mauled by cream pies while TV guys are trying to interview him. That was so huge. Barfield looked absolutely lost on Fuentes’ off-speed pitches and then laid into a fastball down in the zone and out over the plate. Unbelievable win.
Huge win… 2 games back now…
What a great ending. I met Josh Barfield before yesterday’s game. Nice kid. Asked him how his family was doing and he said, “Fine. Things get blown out of proportion.” We got him to sign a jersey. He then has that great defensive play yesterday and the walk off tonight.
re: 62 … “2 games back” … sounds *sweet* don’t it?
Dogs & Maddux lose to Brewers 6-3 … and speaking of Brewers and 40-man rosters, I see that TG Jr is on their 40-man … wonder if he’ll get a Sept call up? That’d be fun to see him make a dent in the Dogs tomorrow or Wednesday
Just caught this article in USA Today about KT and Bochy.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/padres/2006-09-04-cover_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA
I also think it is time for some player to show up and start carrying this team on the offensive end. For soem reason I thought it could be Adrian Gonzalez but he’s cooled off.. That player might be josh barfield, he’s gotta keep playing and GIles and Branyan had their own shots out tonight too.
who do you think can/will carry the Padres in september?
Re: 64-
I think that Barfield is as good a candidate as anyone. He has had monster 2nd half’s historically. Last year he hit more than .340 in the last 3 months with 11 HR and 50 RBI. It’d be great to see him approach that heading into the postseason.
In July he hit .400 for the month with a 1.025 OPS. He slipped in Sugust, but he’s a streaky player, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has another big streak in him.
Here’s an oddity. He’s got a +.900 OPS on the road and about .600 at home…weird.
re:67
Not that odd – Barfield hits the ball in the air and Petco’s a bad place for that.
Regarding the game, I have to say I am impressed with Russ Branyan at this point. I ususally am wary of TTO players (Three True Outcome) because they tend to be defensive liabilities and rally-killers, but Branyan has been better than I thought. While I really hoped Bellhorn would be the answer at third, I’m glad SD could pick up someone of value to play the position. With the absolute dearth of 3B prospects in the organization, I wouldn’t be upset if Branyan was the 3B next season.
And at this point, I wonder if Kahlil Greene might be better served playing left field next year – or maybe even third. He just can’t stay healthy at short, and his defensive abilities there are going to demand a move off the position sooner rather than later.
LM: Response to Fogg, per AC. “He’s hittable.” I believe they heard my scream down at Petco. Great hit by Josh. We pick up Boomer and win 3 in a row. Chemistry… what a concept.
re: 68
Greene’s defensive abilities at short are quite good by just about any measure out there. His offensive abilities would have to be quite a bit better to justify a move to third or especially left field.
*Huge hit! Nice to gain a game on the Dodgers and Reds and keep the Phils and Marlins at bay.
*I HATE those pile ups at home plate after a walk-off, especially at this point in the season. Big bodies bumping into littler bodies can result in some stupid injuries. Did anyone notice Peavy hobbling and hoping in that pile? And he’s the guy who fractured a rib last year doing the same thing! We know how costly that was. How about lining up hockey style guys and high fiveing if you have to be giddy?
*Khalil will stay at short unless the Pads want to pull the trigger on a multi-player deal and Khalil is a key part of it. He’s cheap, has nice power for a SS, is a threat in the line up, he can run a bit and hit anywhere, has decent range and he’s steady. Plus the Pads have full control of him. He also keeps himself in great shape. I’d rather him have those freak hand injuries — as nagging as they can be — than hamstring or elbow problems. Don’t forget he was leading the club in RBIs and HRs for quite a while, and might still be doing so if not for some injuries that are beyond his control.
*Branyan for a miilion next year? Looks like another great move KT.
*I usually like Bochy’s moves, but I didn’t like Peavy throwing the 9th two games ago. Bad foot, end of the year, a pennant race, he’s had some health issues this year, bases loaded, one out with 5-1 lead. You have to pinch-hit, end the game, and have a reliever come in. Everything worked out in the end, but after what happened to Brees last year, you don’t keep your star out there unless it’s absolutely necessary. A win and a healthy pitcher is more important than a comlpete game in my book at this point of the season.
*How has Seanez looked? I can’t watch the games, but he seems like he likes the San Diego weather. Nice to have an extra, reliable arm.