IGD: Padres vs Giants (11 Apr 07)

first pitch: 7:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Greg Maddux (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs Noah Lowry (0-1, 1.29 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com

The Padres go for their third straight series win to start the season Wednesday night. Greg Maddux gets the start. Maddux has allowed eight homers to Barry Bonds over the years — that’s more than to any player except Luis Gonzalez (10). Most of those came early in their respective careers, with the last being a two-run blast in the sixth inning of a May 1, 1998, contest at Turner Field. Since 1999, Bonds is just 5-for-28 against Maddux. All five hits are singles.

On the other side, only one current member of the Padres has homered against Noah Lowry. That would be Geoff Blum. The good news about Lowry is that he was terrible away from PhoneCo last year. This doesn’t appear to a fluke either:

Noah Lowry: Home vs Road, 2004 – 2006
  PA BA OBP SLG IP ERA
2004
Home 208 .255 .295 .393 52.1 3.10
Road 175 .263 .333 .449 39.2 4.76
2005
Home 486 .242 .300 .348 117.1 3.30
Road 389 .257 .346 .425 87.1 4.43
2006
Home 420 .245 .314 .384 102.1 3.61
Road 269 .316 .371 .557 57 6.79
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Is it coincidence that Lowry has started eight more games at home over the past three seasons than on the road? I’m thinking not. He’s always enjoyed success at PhoneCo, but last year, someone turned his suckitude up to eleven away from there. Lowry also had all kinds of problems in the third inning in 2006 (.387/.444/.632), but he’d never exhibited any similar tendencies in the past, so we probably can file that under “J” for “just one of those things.”

I will be out at the ballpark this evening, so talk amongst yourselves and be excellent. Go Padres!

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198 Responses »

  1. time to send magellan back to no-cal….

  2. that’s a gold glove play at 1B there

  3. 144. Hah! I never knew that!

  4. Did he really need to do that spinny move thing there?

  5. I think the wind is always blowing in at Petco. Nice article about CY over at ESPN, kind of cool he wrote his Princeton thesis about Jackie Robinson and gets the start on Sunday night

  6. Just a routine play for Khalilbot 9000, the mechanical man.

  7. Mudcat called him Sundance. Nice.

  8. 154: Your name brings up a bunch of hits. So what is your claim to fame?

  9. 155:

    Probably, because of his momentum. It’s a standard move for a shortstop.

  10. Yes, yes he did… they should show it again.

  11. Haven’t heard ‘Can of corn’ call for awhile.

  12. 155: If he took the time to set and throw Doc beats it out. He had to spin to keep harness his momentum. Nice play by the kid.

  13. I know that people have fun with Greene here, but I like the fact that he isn’t a phony, rah-rah guy. He has remained himself.

  14. 164: That and he’s a vulcan…

  15. vulcans and cylons in one IGD…Geoff, be sure to clip and save this one

  16. how long before someone starts complaining about the light colored gloves on pitchers? Rules say that you can use any color now… but rules also say that a pitcher can not have anything that serves as a distraction to the batter… I need to look up the exact wording.

  17. Geoff Blum is off to a rough start with a .080 wOBA.

  18. great, our back-up catcher is now tied for the team lead in steals… not a good sign for our ‘team speed’

  19. Time for The Crudge

  20. I love Khalil, he reminds me of watching my little brother playing little league, what with the long blonde hair and the baggy uniform.

  21. That’s the same back-up catcher that legged out a bunt single yesterday.

  22. team speed makes a ton of difference-thats why the DRays are always the top of the heap in runs scored

  23. My mom taught one of Benito Santiago’s kids. She said he’s was dickhead. (Maybe didn’t use that word exactly)

  24. 169: Thankfully, stealing bases is highly overrated.

  25. This game is a lot more fun to watch than all those 1 run games…kinda nice to not be so nervous…

  26. 172/173: my bad. looks like I hit a “hot button”….;-)

  27. about famous dads in San Diego-my mom has had the Walton kids through the years-kids and dad very nice….ex wife not so much

  28. I write for Most Valuable Network for both the Pads and the Bolts…I’m loyal to the IGD here because of the quality of it and because Geoff himself is such a class act. Technically, I’m the competition… but Geoff has never treated me like I am, more like we are teammates. Actually, I would say that is true of the gang at Gaslamp Ball, of Peter F., of Richard & Lance… we’re all friendly and supportive of each other. Great group of guys.

  29. Oooh – someone go to that game and get me a Trevor Time desk clock!!

  30. Who is the Padres catcher with the most steals?

  31. D-backs just lost. Dodgers up 3-0.

    Anyone else going to Chavez Ravine this weekend? I just got tix for Saturday (from a Dodger season ticket holder – my future step-brother-in-law) and possibly for Friday.

  32. Snakes lose 3-2… so update that magic number, Richard.

  33. haha, great slow curve from Brocail to end it.

  34. 179: Thanks for the reply. I’m new to the IGD thanks to Matty V’s plug the other night. This is a good group and I enjoy being in here while watching the game on SD4.

  35. Brocail knew it. Turned his back as soon as he saw that Durham was frozen. Great pitch to end on.

  36. Richard – you really need to spend some time on the Giant’s blog tonight….

  37. 154, 154, 153, 150

  38. Okay, about this bully. What is the Padre bullpen scoreless inning record? What’s the MLB record? What’s the start of the season record?

  39. Great great great game! Another literally unbelievable night for our pitchers. I love this scoreless bullpen streak. Like I said, unbelievable.

    I can’t believe I get to go to sleep before 1 am tonight!

    Maybe I’ll pass the time by reading more awesome posts over at that Giants blog. :-)

  40. How long did it take us to get to three shutouts last season?

  41. Can we keep playing the Giants? Seriously, imagine if we went on to play the nationals next – how sweet would our record be?!?!

  42. Playing the Giants is good for the staff ERA.

  43. As I’m getting ready for bed, I realized an incredibly depressing fact that’s totally putting a damper on the great win tonight…

    There’s no game tomorrow. :-(

  44. Royce Ring has 4 shutout innings down at AAA Portland … so its lookin’ good for having one good option if/when we need to pull up a bullpen arm …

  45. Thanks, all, for minding the store tonight. Great game. Maddux is so much fun to watch. Lightning responses to various points:

    #13: Rivers threw out the first pitch, got a real nice reception from the fans. And P-Riv is a terrible nickname.

    #62: BG is absolutely the best show on television since Firefly went off the air.

    #69: Thanks, dude, for buying the shirt. :-)

    #105: Agreed on all counts, Rich.

    #166: I am such a ST and BG (current version) geek, it’s not even funny.

    #179: Thanks, Rich. Your comment deserves a more thorough response, but I’ll just point out that we’re all Padres fans and we stick together. I’ll also echo your sentiments that the Padres bloggers are a great bunch.

    Three series, three wins. I like it…

  46. I Tivo, so always a bit late, but love the IGD, even after the fact.

    Awesome win, and someone needs to find out the relief scoreless streak. It’s getting sick.

    Nice work from our #4, though Clay is pitching like a #5, so maybe Maddux is our #3.

    We are one circus bobble away from a blow out, but a solid game. I have some pride that at least the former Padres (Doc, Klesko) are playing OK in SF, and Bochy is trying to do what he can (banish Feliz, play Bonds constantly, do everything he can to avoid his bullpen. It sucks that Bochy will take heat but Sabean’s true colors have come through. The encouraging part is that Sabean has infected LA via Coletti, so that will slow them down. Arizona is winning, but BPs’ adjusted standings have them in dead last, so they are clearly getting some luck and picking their opponents quite well. Should be a good season.

  47. jay – no way Clay pitched like a number 5 last night. All but one of the Giants’ hits were on grounders through the infield, and the one exception was the fly ball Cameron misjudged. All in all, he pitched pretty well and has just been unlucky.