first pitch: 7:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Clay Hensley (1-3, 9.45 ERA) vs Mark Hendrickson (1-0, 1.62 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com
Have you seen my command? Hi, this is Clay Hensley, pitcher for the San Diego Padres. I used to throw a wicked sinker, break bats, get hit in the back of the head by them, and win games anyway. I finished 10th in the National League in ERA last year. Now I can’t seem to get anyone out. I’m young and talented, so don’t stress; still, if you or anyone you know finds my command, would you please get in touch with the Padres? They could use a little pick-me-up right about now, and frankly, so could I. Thanks…
255 Comments
Fort Wayne’s line through 5: 2 runs 5 hits *7* errors. Ouch
LynchMob, about “Mi Hijo” as Adrian’s nickname, the words are 3 syllables, but said together it’s usually pronounced in two syllables that sound like one word, “Me ho.” For those that are confused, here’s my original post:
I think Adrian’s nickname should be “mi hijo†(pronounced me-ho). Mi hijo means “my son†in Spanish and it’s a common term of endearment. This nickname works on a few levels, it’s Spanish so it plays on his heritage, he’s from San Diego so it plays on him being a son of the city. And it’s just damn fun to yell, it’s the kind of a nickname a stadium can chant.
Foxc pointed this out in the previous comments:
Actually, I could be wrong, but I think that “mi hijo†(me ee-ho) actually means “my son,†but when shortened to “mijo†(me-ho) it is a term of endearment.
This works on another level too (may be a bit of a stretch): Padre, of course, means Father in Spanish. Father-son: Padre-hijo…just saying.
Yup, two syllables. MEE-HO for boys, MEE-HA for girls. If you use three syllables, you are definitely a GREEN-GO or GREEN-GA.
Maybe Clay should ask one of one of KUSI’s investigative reporters about that.
Three pitches, two outs. Like that.
Great start for Clay. Even though he missed badly up and in, and I like that its brushing the guys back a bit.
Nice to see a player using the basics to get his body in front of the ball.
Nice job by Kouz. Grounder off bat of Kent handcuffed him a little, but Kouz recovered and made the play with ease.
8: That’s the same reason that I’ve been so impressed with NOG. There have been several balls that could have eaten him alive, but he funnels the ball into his body so well that he makes the plays.
Even though I’ve got Vin tonite, it’s just great to be able to watch a game on cable, instead of spotty ass MLB.TV
Great AB by NOG.
Nice 7 pitch walk there by NOG. Good stuff.
Don’t like this wide zone vs. the Padres; The curve outside to Cruz plus the inside fastball makes for a wide, wide plate. If Clay gets it, OK.
Martin sure can throw better than any of our cathers. I think NOG was out.
LOL…”BroBI” -Matty
On the replay, Marcus’ hand was on the bag first.
Martin already has four throwing errors this year. Nice AB by OG even though he didn’t get a hit.
Hendrickson has thrown a bunch of pitches this inning.
3rd full count this inning, good to see the guys taking some pitches.
Damn; nice play by Furcal
Wow, look what Nomar found.
Easily could have had two base hits that inning. Oh well, we made Hendrickson throw a bunch of pitches. Hopefully Clay comes out and has another efficient inning.
Dodgers just showed Lee Smith at Trevor’s ceremony. Anybody get to see any of that today?
Holding my breath a bit; not liking the flyballs against Clay; last time I blogged that, he threw a complete against Chicago last year.
He’s chatting with Matt and Mud right now.
If Clay’s gotta miss, I’m glad he’s missing low.
Way to charge the ball Mike.
Nice to see Cameron give zero effort on that.
OK, Matty oversold Nomar’s skill in making that play just a bit.
Here’s a shot I took of Trevor and Lee Smith last year:
http://www.geoffreynyoung.com/gfx/trevorlee.jpg
Ugh.
Crap.
Man, Lee Smith sure loves to talk doesn’t he?
If only Mike Cameron would have not just gifted third to Martin.
#34: You think? Pretty cool that he was signed by Buck O’Neill, though…
Lee Smith is hilarious. He ripped on Dodgers fans for leaving games early. Then Mud asked about Garvey’s homer in ‘84. Quoth Smith: “At least it wasn’t Bevacqua.”
If Mike Cameron doesn’t half-ass Ethier’s single, this game is still scoreless.
Squeeked out of that one with a little scratch.
Nomar has gotten seriously lucky tonite.
Guys are getting pretty good swings against Hendrickson.
Someone call Elias, I simply must know who leads the majors all time in RBI bunt singles to pitcher…
I don’t think Cameron’s head is in this game tonight. He looks lathargic.
The sad thing about Kouz’s batting average is that he’s got one more RBI than Cameron.
And how many times has Cameron sat?
44: I guess we put Branyan in center field?
Second four-ball walk by Clay. Not good.
Cruz has been placed perfectly tonite in terms of positioning.
Thank God for the on-shore flow.
Hensley has given up a couple of very hard hit balls this inning. One was caught, another hooked foul.
OG makes it look easy.
Good catch OG!
#45: I know you’re joking, but Branyan was placed on the bereavement list today to make room for Bard. I think Cruz is the backup center fielder.
He gave us some scorchers this inning, but there’s no way the Dodgers should be up right now.
I’m not totally out-of-line for holding Cameron responsible for that run, am I?
Where was Chrissy Russo for the Pre-Game show?
3 walks and multiple hard hit balls are not a recipe for success for Clay. He’s going to need more luck to get through 6 innings tonight.
How’s it going Padre fans…
D-backs up 1-0 v the Giants. Speaking of them, i went to the first two Padre games here in Phx. Both were damn fun to watch Stadium was surprisingly empty, but that may be cuz it’s all about the Suns here right now. Anyway, people were cool with the Padre fans, so it was all good
Look forward to seeing them again in Sept.
Beat LA!
We’re hitting the ball hard, just right at the damn people.
53 pitches through four complete for Clay. Hendrickson has only thrown three and he’s at 52.
52: My apologies…meant no disrespect to Branyan or his family…
#52: No worries, bro. I actually was thinking more about the visual of Branyan in center.
Damn, Brian’s getting hold of these
OG with an 11 pitch walk. Simply fantastic.
OG with an 11-pitch walk. Very nice.
As Eric Cartman would say: “Sweeeeet…”
Got something brewing here.
Greeney gets it done.
65 Yeah, a tied game.
Oh boy, I hope Bard is okay.
uh oh
I love Vin’s implication about Pierre’s arm, “Brian can pretty much walk in from there.”
Bard cannot run still. Should he really be playing?
I don’t think Bard’s ready to come off the DL.
He’s not normally that slow, he pulled up lame.
I’ve got a feeling we won’t see him this inning.
Bard just slipped out of the box. That looked a lot worse than it was. Thank goodness he’s okay.
70, heh
Nicely done Greene…
alright mlb.tv is slipping. Heading down to the corner sports bar to catch the rest… cuz i can walk in from there.
Take it easy
I think we all jumped the gun, Matty.
Enjoy, Mykl. Thanks for stopping by.
Jesus, Cameron.
Cammy needs to play like he’s going to be a Free Agent this year.
Another quick inning for Clay.
More solid contact off Hensley but no damage.
Cruz has played some phenomenal LF D tonite.
Wonderful, Vin just compared Kouz to Burroughs.
Martin is impressive. He sure doesn’t run like a catcher.
Anyone alive out there?
83: Martin always looks so damn smug. I can’t stand that guy.
Nice play by Bard. That’s had to hurt with the injured groin.
I just missed that whole inning talking to my wife. There should be a “Man Law” against that.
#84: I suspect a lot of the regulars are at the game. On another note, real nice work by Hensley that inning.
Alright bats, time to come through for Clay
Geez, how did Furcal even get to that ball?
Alright OG
90: No shit, eh? At least one of those finally goes for a hit.
84: I was Rick S. until I was mistaken for Sutcliff and changed to Turbine Dude.
Damn. Nice play by Ethier.
BroBI!!!
87: 1458 innings per year, 1 wife. As much as I love baseball, I think you made the right call there, TD
Impressive defensive all around tonight. Makes for an exciting game.
Run on the Dodgers outfielders all night.
More Ribbies for Adrian, what an April!
If that kid doesn’t go to the all star game, something is wrong.
100: Vote early, vote often folks…
C’mon KG. Another deep fly.
Thank you kindly, my friend. He hit that ball hard.
That’s Petco ball right there. That’s out of the park in Phoenix.
Solid work by Khalil to come back after looking terrible early in the AB.
Has any other team scored as high of a percentage of their runs off of relievers as the Padres?
Great hit by Bardo, good to have him back.
105: True. I was expecting him to wave at a breaking ball out of the zone for a K.
Nice job by Bard too.
Due to blackouts in the LA area, I’m stuck following on Gameday. Boy is it exciting to see “In play, run(s)” when the Padres are hitting and trying to guess just how the run scored.
Bard is really laboring on the base paths, I hope he is healed up enough to be out there.
105: Yeah, when he was down 0-2, I was sorta bummin. But he fouled off that slider and then killed that ball.
Nice to finally break through there. Billingsley is going to be scary good once he nails down his command. I hope it happens after the Dodgers trade him out of the division.
I’d feel a lot better if Meredith was coming out for the 7th instead of Hensley.
double for furcal…
double for pierre…
Real nice outing by Hensley. Good to see…
Good to see Buddy get him out of there before it got out of hand.
C’mon Cla, you can do this.
Yikes.
If Kouz holds onto that I think the runner’s out
Filthy pitch by Cla to nail Kent. Wow.
Nice pitching to Kent and LGon; awesome
Lucky to get out of that with only one run scored.
Nobody can withstand the might of “THE CLAW!!!”
sorry, I watched “Liar, Liar” last inning.
Cla rules
tough error call on KK; he was rushing the tag because he was going to make it without a very fast tag
Pretty much all dudes with derivations of “Clay” in their name rule tonight
I love that kid. Nothing fazes him
Let’s get some back…; go KK
125: Although I think you might be somewhat biased in that assertion, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Battling…
115: Here, here…
So, do we think the Merv & Buddy braintrust are in the “let the kid work it out for himself” phase or the “let’s start tinkering and try to help him get untracked” phase?
Hmmm. I don’t want to go down this quietly. 2 runs, given troubles in PHX makes me nervous, but I am always neverou in any game where we are not up by 6 or more.
What is the call to Giles?
Everyone note the date and time…NOG draws a walk
I’d like to add about 4 here as well.
133: Second walk of the game, yes?
132: Yeah, I’d like a bigger lead this late in the game as well.
135 – meant to say “another”
I’m hoping Linebrink and Hoffy can rebound from Wednesday here.
Bewilders me. 2nd highest crowd attendance in Petco history and a sold out game. Who holds onto a ticket and doesn’t go? WTF?
Bleh; let’s see our pen do its stuff.
Is it Linebrink now?
139: My bad, they are probably counting the Padres first game at Petco.
I don’t know about others, but KK looks so self-conscious out there. Not when he is making plays, but his face. Makes me hope that a lot of his struggles are nerves.
There’s that good positioning we were discussing as far as KG goes the other day…how else do you get in front of a ball up the middle unless you’re Justin Gatlin?
OMG, some nasty off-speed stuff from Linebrink.
Good show by Scott.
Nice inning for Liney
Geoff, good blogs tonight. I feel like I’m part of the game and not just watching it. Thanks.
Scotty looked pretty automatic.
No knock on Trevor, but I’d really rather not have to see him.
I was looking at the pitch counts vs. Dodgers and thinking we are being really patient, which is probably true, but ran some BP data and the Pads are dead last in pitches per PA. Yikes. Not what you would expect with a Moneyball team, but I guess the players have to play the way they know how.
149: I would be impressed if Black let Scott go in the 9th; he looked great, and nice to see other data points influence pitching choices like these instead of the formulaic plan that Bochy did, though sticking to the Hoffman formula generally works pretty well.
150: The Padres are having some nice ABs tonite. People are getting walks and running counts full.
#148: Thanks, TD.
OG with some great ABs tonight. Really making the pitchers work.
C’mon KG. Time for a double.
Khalil stung that ball. He’s really swinging the bat well.
Bardo 3 for 4. Damn. Nice return from the DL.
3 hits for Bard, nice return game
Josh is looking pretty good for his return tonight.
155: Agreed. He’s putting great wood on the ball this year. I’m not sure if this is just my hetero-life-mate addiction to Khalil, but it seems like he’s chasing less breaking pitches this year. I’ve also noticed him taking more first pitches, which I think is helping him see pitches better.
At least S.F. lost tonight.
Kouz can’t buy a break.
Kouz was robbed.
Did he hit the ball well?
Nice catch; KK can hit fastballs, for sure.
Gotta feel for Kouz there. How he needed that one to drop!
Trevor Time (crossing my fingers, pulling out rabbits foot, 4-leaf clover, etc.)
C’mon Hoffy. Close it up on your nite.
I guess it is Trevor Hoffman night, so you cannot go with Linebrink, but, pure on baseball, I stick with Linebrink.
Totally off-topic, but I just got my fiance to agree to Trevor Greene Deming if we ever have a boy.
Shuddup Matty, your gonna jinx this!
Cameron’s making Ethier look like a gold-glove outfielder tonite.
If Cameron would put a little hustle in this game….
Rare mistake by Adrian. Damn.
One down. C’mon Trevor.
Keystone Padres.
Adrian needs to get the sure out, because Furcal steals second anyway.
Dammit, I can’t find my nitro pills…
ARrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg!
Blame that on Adrian and Cameron.
@(@(@(@(!!!!
Adrian’s brain cramp comes back to bite us.
That catch by Ethier looks huge now.
I think Matty V. jinxed it quoting all those stats.
Hoffman’s fastball is off; missing his spots, having to throw meatballs. Nice call on pitch #2; Gameday has it smack in the zone. Jerk ump.
Cameron has played like shit tonite, pulling up on balls and not charging them.
We’re intentionally walking Luis Gonzalez to get to a better hitter?
184: I totally agree. He’s probably cost us most of the setup runs tonight.
Martin has a punkness coupled with skills that reminds me of Kent; hate him and fear him at the same time.
God damnit Cameron!
This is the same problem Trevor had on Wednesday. When he’s not hitting his spots, he’s toast. And now Cameron drops a ball in center.
And he gives up the go ahead run. I NEED another beer.
OK, anyone left who wants to defend Cameron, I want to hear it now. WTF??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I cannot freaking believe how shitty (really sorry for the swearing, I’m just FUMING right now) Cameron is playing this year. Bench his ass for some games.
Hensley finally throws a good game, and his bullpen and defense blow it for him.
Great call on walking Gonzalez intentionally.
Refer to #49. I said early on there was something wrong with Cameron tonight.
It works if Cameron catches the ball. Now we have to go up against Saito. Ugh.
This is just sickening. What the hell happened to our lights out bullpen?
And now we have to face Saito. Yay.
There has been something wrong with Cameron all season! It’s like he’s p**ed off about the contract talks and tanking
can anybody explain to me why Kouzmanoff gets pulled after hitting what should have been a multi-RBI hit? it’s not like he’s hurting us defensively or anything…and then why go with blum??
Re 194 – that’s the second IBB that’s bitten us in the ass in less then two weeks – they walked Stephen Drew last week and then lost the game in SD.
Yes I know Drew hit the game winner the other night, but that ball doesn’t make it out of PETCO
I’m just following on Gameday, so all I have to go by is the red dot on the warning track in center, but a 400 foot fly ball is not having the strategy work.
199: I’m really not understanding Black’s love affair wtih Blum.
Of all the things he’s done this year, that’s the only thing I fault him for.
Cameron is playing horribly right now. If he didn’t have his track record, they would have sent his sorry ass packing by now.
199: It’s the double switch. The game would likely have to go 11 innings before he hit again, and instead of burning up Bell if we do come back, we get Blum in there hitting as he would be anyway as a pinch-hitter.
with our spotty offense, when the ‘pen and the D go south we don’t have much left. Now go prove me wrong…
Blum Ks, I call it now.
203: thanks for the clarification. I just hate seeing kouz get taken out of games right now. Every time he hits I am pulling for him like crazy.
203: There’s something wrong when Blum gets brought into a game w/o being the result of an injury.
Ooh look, I was right :-/
Blum being Blum.
Blum struck out, but that wasn’t even close to being a strike.
Prediction: Doy doy shimasta, Padres. (I hope this prediction doesn’t come true like my call last night)
If we lose, I still blame this game on Cameron. He’s made three shit defensive plays tonite that could have saved about 4 runs.
202: Yes. That’s the point. A track record indicates this is most likely a temporary struggle. Mike Cameron has proven he can hit and play a competent center field. Yes, it sucks that he’s actively losing us games, but at the end of the year he’s still almost certain to be better than our other options.
Sorry to always be defending Cameron, and for being so defensive about it, but Cameron’s one of my favorite Padres.
#201: It does if Cameron doesn’t drop the ball.
Saito is getting calls. You like to see the umpires help out the opposing team.
Crudge!
213: I’ve been pretty anti-Cameron since we got him. I don’t really care for his attitude, as I never feel that the is trying.
He made some great defensive plays last year, but he is atrocious at the plate.
Crudge goes yard. Keep it alive OG.
That’s only one. We need two more.
Too bad Marcus wasn’t on first there. Thank you, Mr. Umpire.
IBB to Gonzo looking really bad right now
217: Mike Cameron was the most valuable player on last year’s division-winning club.
Trevor not getting guys out, Adrian and Cameron not making plays also looking really bad right now.
Bated breath
Cruz has been full of good surprises this year
220: Not as bad as Adrian’s inability to record an out on Furcal’s bunt.
Adrian may pull this off. Who knows.
C;mon King Adrian. Do it for us now!
Adrian needs to redeem himself here.
222,225 – jus’ sayin’, would love to have that one back right now.
If Cameron made that catch on the track, Crudge’s shot’s the game winner
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Mike Cameron – Goat of the game. I can’t believe they blew that game.
That’s two horrible losses in three games. Mark these ones on the schedule and remember them if we come up short in September.
I hope the Dodgers enjoy their gift. We’ll have to settle for a series win instead of a sweep.
Exciting game, but not in the way we would like. Tough way to start the weekend, but we hope for better tomorrow.
233: Im just so full of rage right now.
this season gets real scary if the pen can’t hold leads. Hopefully this awful week has been an aberration.
‘They’ didn’t blow that game. It was Camerons lack of interest that blew it.
237: And Hoffman’s poor pitching. And Adrian’s dumb play.
238: Agreed
237: I’m sorry, but I don’t blame that on Hoffy. He had two balls in play that should have been outs.
Cameron is repsonsible for the first, fifth, and sixth runs that the Dodgers score.
Cameron lost that game for San Diego. Period.
#237: It was a team effort. Cameron contributed, but also Trevor didn’t locate his fastball and Adrian made a rare poor decision that turned out to be very costly. And give Ethier some credit for robbing Kouz in the eighth. The Dodgers outplayed us in a big way down the stretch.
We are now 12-11. Runs this month 109-96.
The Gonzalez play was a much worse play than Cameron. It was a mental mistake that cost an out and left two runners on. Cameron just didn’t get to the ball, he fell short physically. There was a mental component but physically he did a better job of getting to that ball than anyone else on the team would have, and better than the majority of centerfielders in the game.
Geoff is right, the Dodgers took the initiative with the two bunts and the steal of third.
Cam looks like he can’t see as well. He didn’t get the jump on the gly ball. And, I know its only April, but we all knew the time would come Trevor would turn human. Looks like guys are just waiting for the change these days. Garciapara just hammered it. If Trevel can’t stop the fastball, it be Linebrink Time soon. Doesn’t sound right. Not sure what’s wrong with Cam. He seems to be pouting a little. Maybe its the contract thing. Can Sledge or Cruz play center?
My case against the intentional walk:
Luis Gonzalez had a career .777 OPS against Hoffman, so it wasn’t like it was a choice between pitching to Helton or Holliday. Russell Martin is a better hitter than Luis Gonzalez – last year he had an OPS+ of 101, versus 97 for Gonzalez. He has also hit better than Gonzalez this year. The extra runner put on by the walk actually does mean something, although it’s (usually) not hugely meaningful (obviously this was the difference between a tie and a loss, but that’s hindsight).
Now, obviously none of this matters if Cameron makes the catch or Hoffman executes his pitches better, or NOG and Blum reach base before Cruz homers, or Ethier doesn’t make the catch in right. And the net effect of the decision to intentionally walk Gonzalez is probably only a slight decrease in our win probability.
243: The steal of third was (from what I’ve read on here and on dodgerthoughts- although they hate Juan Pierre there) a horrifically bad play. Pierre likely would have been out had Kouzmanoff held onto the ball, making the second out of the inning at third base with the Dodgers’ best hitter at the plate.
I don’t think trying to steal any base against the Padres is a bad play for the opposition. Pierre’s hand was in before Kouz’s glove swiped him and it didn’t slow down when he dropped the ball. Good play or not they took the initiative and made things happen and the Padres didn’t execute. You can argue that any of those moves wouldn’t have worked if the Padres made the plays but they didn’t. This one feels worse than the Peavy game because multiple people failed.
They all feel bad. This team has had a very schizoprhenic April…looking very good for 3-5 games at a time and then falling completely apart. TG it’s only April…
Major concerns in my personal order of preference:
1. Cameron – isn’t hitting and isn’t fielding. Last year was better when he had April off with the oblique. He is actually hurting the team now. He should have caught the first hit in the 9th, bad jump. If he’s really a gold glove CF, he must catch Martin’s double to end the inning. His hitting is atrocious and is killing a lot of rallies.
2. Starting pitching: did you know we have the worst starter’s ERA in the NL (at least we did before last night’s game, haven’t re-checked this morning)? How can that be possible with this staff?
3. The bullpen – I put this behind the starters, but it’s a close thing. This pen is good enough to be lights out, and it has looked really bad the last few nights – mostly Hoffman. He’s a team guy and knows himself…if this is just a temporary loss of command he’ll get it right, and if it isn’t I believe he’ll tell Black.
4. Stolen Bases – this is partly what’s undermining the starters. Teams are running at will and it’s like a snowball rolling down the hill, turning into an avalanche.
5. Kouzmanoff’s hitting – his D has been solid, but this guy is a hitter and he must hit. There have been some bad breaks, like Ethier’s incredible catch on what should have been a 2-run double last night. But he looks scared and confused and needs to snap out of it.
Lots of good stuff too, but on the heels of a loss the bad stuff is really standing out.
If you missed last night’s game, as I did … and have the stomach for it … there’s lots of highlight and lowlight video at mlb.com … http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070427&content_id=1933576&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd
OUCH … at AAA Portland, Mike Thompson got SHELL’d last night … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_04_27_poraaa_tucaaa_1 … ERA now at 27.00 … really!
Good news: Stansberry’s got his BA over .400! And Jack Cust is doing well also (.328/.459/.776). They ain’t “prospects”, but they are players that seem like they are “above replacement level” and can/will contribute to the Padres if/when there’s a need (ex. due to injury, or coming to senses re: Blum).
Matt Antonelli with HR #3 last night … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_04_27_stoafa_lesafa_1 … and this feels like a HUGE relief … after ZERO in 205 ABs last year, I was *real* worried … it’s hard, even at second base, to contribute to an MLB team with ZERO ability to hit for power …
Wow, Friar Watch has turned into a “must read” blog … http://www.friarwatch.com/2007/04/27/clay-hensley-427-analysis/ … VERY interesting look at Hensley’s pitches from last night’s game …
Just watched the game. My comments…
“OH MY GOD DAMN IT!!!!!”
Guys, as Padres fans we’re going through something of a difficult time now. We need to band together and say:
God beer me strength.
Padres Fan’s,
Some observations from last nights (Friday, 27 April) game…
Heartbreaker!!!
There it is, “Trevor Hoffman Night” at PETCO. SOLD OUT crowd (would you expect anything less for a Padres – Dodger match up – the Los Angeles faithful were in full force), great energy to the crowd (and a nice give-away – Trevor Hoffman clocks that plays “Hell’s Bells” – already available on “EBay”).
Game starts out and you can see right away that Clay Hensley was going to pitch a GREAT game (he had some stuff last night).
Here are the problems – any one of the listed below could be considered the turning point:
1. I can’t believe I am about to say this, but Adrian Gonzalez (WHO HAD ANOTHER STANDOUT OFFENSIVE GAME), had an untypical bad, DEFENSIVE GAME. Two mistakes last night with one off them to be consider the game decider!
2. Mike Cameron misplays a long shot by Martin, flubbing the ball in the 9th.
3. As mush as I like the guy, Kevin Kouzmanoff’s hitting is killing the order. We need to get Branyan back. Kooz might need some time in Triple A. The potential is there – and I suspect the PETCO mojo is messing with his head. He needs to talk with K. Greene about the mojo (which leads me to this)…
4. Khalil Greene – I just wish he could visualize PETCO like the visiting team ball parks (which he terrorizes). Last night he had three long balls go right to the line (only to be denied by Martin). Any other ball park and we are talking doubles and potential HR’s. HOWEVER, I refuse to give in to the fact that PETCO is not a hitter’s park because opposing teams never complain – only Padres.
5. Trevor??? Yea right, easy to blame Trevor – BUT I AM NOT. I place the blame mostly on Adrian. YOU KNOW WHAT – go back in history and check out when Trevor blows two back to back, HE GOES ON A SAVE WINNING RUN.
Sold out crowd last night – did not catch any fights. PETCO staff was on their guard. Only thing I wish is that the Dodger faithful would sit in there own section (vice interspersed through out the crowd). Nothing more annoying then a clandestine Dodger fan that explodes at the end.
I feel the worst for Clay Hensley who pitched a great game last night – he deserved and need that win. Cla Meredith did not help the effort
ALSO – GREAT PITCHING in relief by LINEBRINK AND BELL.
Well – I have predicted a big win tonight – hopefully, Greg Maddux takes to a former team.
More to follow…..