first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (10-5, 3.66 ERA) vs Jeff Francis (11-10, 3.64 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN
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The White Sox used Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” as their rallying cry down en route to a World Series title in 2005. Maybe the Padres need a song from the ’70s to help them down the stretch. Any ideas? Please, no Seals and Crofts.
Well, back to the 8 spot for Josh.
I think it was more of a discipline mistake, which is probably more common among rookies, of swinging at balls, especially that first curve. Maybe pitchers are learning that he really, really likes to swing at the first pitch and can be fooled.
Nice plug to Ducksnorts by Matty V on the broadcast.
Wow, thanks to Matty V. for the shout-out on TV.
Sweet shout out
nice.
Gotta get Ducksnorts some love when we can Geoff.
Wish i could’ve heard it…what did he say?
Much appreciated, Ed!
Nifty play there. Francis hits a soft liner to Barfield, who flips to Alexander to pick Spilborghs off second. Alexander does a real nice job getting to the bag; I’m not sure Blum makes that play.
It’s not obvious to me that Ben Johnson is a better choice for LF and the #5 spot in the lineup than Jon Knott …
the Rockies announcers are saying that if Alexander had looked to first base…the Pads could’ve turned a triple play on that line out to Barfield…
Rough 2nd / 3rd / 4th innings for CY …
Pitches-strikes – J Francis 51-28; C Young 80-48.
Ground balls-fly balls – J Francis 6-1; C Young 0-6.
Batters faced – J Francis 14; C Young 19.
… he needs to throw more strikes!
Holy traffic spike, Batman; thanks again to the folks at Channel 4 for the plug! On another note, way to get out of that bases-loaded nobody out situation unscathed.
Matty was talking about the Loretta trade and how great Barfield has been. He said a lot of reaction on the blogs was negative but the move worked out. Then he specifically mentioned Ducksnorts and Gaslamp Ball as two great Padres blogs.
To be fair I think most people’s objection to the Loretta trade was that we could have gotten more in return, not that we didn’t think Barfield could do the job. As it turned out, Meredith and Bard for Loretta was a hell of a lot better than the original deal.
#61: They may be right; Alexander was watching Torrealba at third.
57: Matty and Tony were talking about sports blogs in the prior inning. In this inning, Matty said something to the effect, “Speaking of blogs and ones that we follow, Ducksnorts.com is a good one.” He also gave a prop to Gaslamp Ball, even though they give the Channel 4 announcers a hard time.
Sweet Geoff, love that you got the plug along with Gaslamp Ball. BTW, I have zero problem with Manny being more concerned with the runner on third at that point. A triple play would be nice, of course…but the runner who should draw the most attention is the one on third.
Thanks, Rich. And I agree about Alexander. He did the right thing. Runner at first can’t score if someone falls asleep.
Re: Barfield vs. Loretta…I loved that Tony was playing with a full deck there by talking about all of the business and not just on the field too…like it or hate it, money is always a factor.
So whassup with the talk about Kottaras needing to clear waivers and so being a PTBNL?
Since he’s gone to the Red Sox already (he’s going to get play on one their minor league teams that made the playoffs!), it doesn’t seem like “waivers” was an issue … yet another example of how confusing the waiver rules are, I s’pose …
CY with 100 pitches thru 5 …
Pitches-strikes – J Francis 67-38; C Young 100-59.
Ground balls-fly balls – J Francis 6-4; C Young 0-7.
Batters faced – J Francis 19; C Young 23.
… seems a bit lucky to have only give up 2 runs … send him out for 6th? I s’pose … unless, obviously, there’s an op to PH here in the bottom of 5th …
Haven’t they learned to not throw a fastball first pitch to Barfield yet? Oh well, works for me.
Yeah, maybe all the teams just agreed said, hey, this isn’t one of the top 10 prospects in baseball and just agreed to let him go to the Red Sox. To make them wait until the offseason would have been semantics.
Great hustle by Johnson allows the run to score. Also, Francis is lucky Piazza didn’t take him yard again.
Rockies catcher is right. They should have come home. But we’ll take it.
Meredith was warming up. Time for the bullpen to close it out.
I’m with you, Kevin … but CY’s back out there!
OT – Eaton was doing OK for the Rangers tonight … until The Big Hurt took him deep for 3 in the bottom of the 6th …
Oops. One hitter too late.
Now bring in Meredith? 3-3 tie …
On the bright side, CY getting yanked in the sixth means that Bellhorn’s out of the game.
Wow … Cla looks so good on paper …
Pitches-strikes – J Francis 86-52; C Young 105-61; C Meredith 7-6.
Ground balls-fly balls – J Francis 7-5; C Young 0-7; C Meredith 2-0.
Batters faced – J Francis 24; C Young 24; C Meredith 3.
PH for Manny here? Why not?
You cannot stop Manny Alexander, you can only hope to contain him!
I FUCKING LOVE IT
An RBI triple’s why not
re: 81 … coulda yank’d CY and Bellhorn with a 1-run lead!
Attaboy, Gonzo. Rockies tie the game? No problem, we’ll get that run right back and add another.
See previous comment.
… never mind
If Bochy gets the heat for a strange lineup or starting guys we think should be on the bench then he deserves some credit when the moves work out. Nice to see the boys showing some heart now that we’re in September.
re: 87… it wouldn’t be the Padres if we did that!
Like Vasgersian said, Bochy earned it tonight. Meredith cruises thru the 6th and Gonzalez comes on to knock in a run. I love the double switch; it’s one of the best things about National League baseball.
Except, of course, when the manager screws it up…I remember Benito Santiago playing left field (!) in a game in Montreal, I think, many many moons ago.
Boy, you have to give Bochy credit tonight, well, except for Bellhorn starting at first. But, it turned out great to do the double switch, bring in AG who singles in the next run. Can’t complain about starting Manny at short either. Now we’ll see if KT’s right about the bullpen being “the decider.” (Stealing the prez’s self-imposed title.)
I would have let CY work the sixth, I think.
re: 92 … LOL! … in the final analysis, we’re hook’d, ain’t we!
Meredith is 28th in baseball in Runs Prevented Above Average. Six other relievers are in the top 30: Papelbon (5), Nathan (9), Ryan (10), Saito (12), Putz (13) and Zumaya (21).
7 through 28 are within one standard deviation of each other.
For those not watching, Sledge had a real nice at-bat to end the inning. He worked the count full, fouled a couple pitches off, and hit the ball to the warning track in left. Almost broke the game wide open.
They’re scoring that a hit? Again, for those not watching, Helton hit a line drive right at Barfield that somehow got past the glove.
Great play by Giles.