first pitch: 10:05 a.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Jake Peavy (3-1, 2.06 ERA) vs Scott Olsen (3-1, 5.63 ERA)
The Padres are 0-2 this season when Jake Peavy whiffs 10 or more batters in a game. After winning 9 of the first 10 games in which Peavy notched double-digit strikeouts, the Padres now have lost 4 of the last 6 such contests, dating back to 2006.
151 Comments
I get to bat first today…. Happy belated birthday Geoff… hopefully Jake will continue to be on his game and we can get another series win..
No OG in the line-up today. Nice comeback win last night. Boomer and Trevor looked good. Let’s hope Jake is on his game this morning.
This is a bizarre lineup.
Good punch by NOG to start it off.
4: I agree. However, at least both lineups are screwy.
Nice RBI for Cruz.
3: Sorry
I know OG’s doing fine this year, but I’m kinda liking our lineup today without him…nice job by Cruz….
Did the Dodgers win or lose last night?
Khalil and Adrian didn’t look so great on those ABs.
Dodgers won, so did SF, so the top three in the West stayed the same.
Arizona lost, so they’re 3 out now. They caught fire and flamed out so quickly.
I still don’t think the Giants and the Dodgers stay healthy all year. And it’s not a good thing that the Giants brought up Linceum.
10: Thanks. Hopefully a Padre win today and a Dodger loss, we can knock them out of first place. I’m flipping back and forth between SD4 and TBS in-between innings trying to keep abreast of this.
10: yeah, seriously interested in seeing how this Giant’s pitcher performs. Seems like a real stud.
Jake’s looking good so far.
Braves just scored with 2 outs in the bottom of the 1st. Braves 1-0.
14: I’d also like Atlanta to get that crap out of their system so we don’t have to worry about it over the next four days.
Damn, that must have hurt!
15: LMAO, so would I!
They should let Jake swing away. He can hit.
This kid Olson has some good stuff.
The North County Times debated this morning rather the Pads should demote Kouz or not.
Wrote Sports Editor Loren Nelson, who says they should keep Kouz: I’m not sure what the difference is between a “good at-bat” and a lousy one when they all end up in outs.
Huh?
He also said: The Padres were mining fool’s gold when they traded slick second baseman Josh Barfield to get a guy whose big-league career consisted of 16 games and a .214 batting average.
Barfield is a nice young player but “slick”?
I wonder if Jake was pissed about getting the sacrifice sign, especially with Sledge at 2nd. Probably not, though. Jake’s a team guy and seems to do whatever the team needs of him to win.
21: I’m betting Jake didn’t want the bat taken out of his hands…..
Great catch! Horrible throw…
I just ordered Geoff’s “Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual” and was wondering if anyone else had a copy. Was it worth the money?
It’s well worth the money…I bought two copies…
25: Thanks, looking forward to it.
It certainly seems like Kouzmanoff is having longer, better at bats recently. Good eye there.
27: Agreed. Actually, most of the guys are having good ABs this series. We’re just not having a whole lotta luck.
Ugh. We needed a big hit there to break it open.
Olsen is going to rattle himself up there. No need to take big swings with this guy all over the place.
Yes!!! Take advantage of those mis-cues!!! We’re certainly playing the smallball this series.
30: Good call.
Olsen is falling apart and rightfully pissed at the ump. We couldn’t ask for much more.
33: The announcers made a good point, though. It’s not like you’re pitching to Barry Bonds, you’re pitching to Rob Bowen. Why nibble?
A nice 33 pitch inning for Olsen.
C’mon Jake, keep it together. Let’s mow em down.
Jake, throw strikes. Let them put it into play.
The Marlins umpires are arguing for a variable strike zone based on the hitter at the plate. That’s a horrible argument. And the Bowen strikes weren’t strikes; it was the Kouzmanoff ball four they should be complaining about.
38: Make that Marlins announcers, complaining about the umpires.
LA is up 2-1 in the middle of the 4th.
39: I think the more important point is that Jake seems to be challening the Marlins hitters more, and that Olsen is almost afraid to throw to the Padres.
The Marlins announcers are doing everything but throw a black cat on the field to jinx Jake at this point
Marlins announcers talking about how well Jake is pitching already. They started after 4 2/3. Jake’s really going to have to keep the pitch count down if he wants to go more than 7.
42: That’s funny.
I wish this series was broadcast in HD. I’ve become spoiled.
Three pop outs in a row. Not gonna get on base like that.
‘Bubba Burger’ is the ‘Official Burger of the Braves.’ That is a little too redneck for me.
KK just F’d that up.
46: Bubba burgers are awesome.
KK just cost us a no-no.
it was an error on KK….but the no hitter is done…
What are you talking about, TD? His play was ruled an error. The next batter hitting the ball cleanly into center field for a hit ended the no-no.
I’m not sure which whiny group of Marlin announcers is worse – Rich Waltz and Tommy Hutton on TV, or Roxy Bernstein and Dave Van Horn on the radio. Braves fans continually use umpires as excuses for bad performances, and now it’s spreading across the East.
Yeah, KK made a great play on that to keep it from being a hit.
Nothing Cameron can do on that hit by Uggla, he just smoked it.
Also, with Jake’s high pitch count, he probably wouldn’t have been able to finish it. And he hadn’t even finished 6 innings yet.
51: Sorry, what I meant to say was that KK cost us that run. If it weren’t for his error, that batter wouldn’t have been on in the first place.
It kinda looked like Cameron wanted to make the great play on Uggla’s liner to save the no hitter instead of taking the better angle to the ball to keep it from turning into a triple.
Marlins 3-4 hitters: 0-6, 6 k’s.
Sledge 0-5 for the series. Probably good call for him to try and bunt.
Now 0-6
An extra base hit! Whoa!
Bowen showing his moxie with that double
95 pitches and hitting for himself with a runner on 2nd???
Jake is likely good to go the 8th. We’ll see if that works out or not.
62: Would you rather have Blum at the plate?
I would rather have left Blum in his hotel room…
Dodgers 4-1 in the top of the 7th. Not good.
Hopefully Jake can make it through the 8th unscathed and hand the ball to Trevor for another 1-2-3 ninth.
67: I’m with you on that. I just wish the Dodger v. Atlanta game was going the other way.
Jake is good for 120 pitches.
Dare I say it, The Padres are boring to watch.
70: You don’t think it’s exciting for the pitcher to strike out 9 guys in 6 innings, carrying a no-hit bid into the 6th? It’s a bad game to complain about the Padres being boring.
71: Agreed. It’s not like they’re getting blown out. They’re making the most of their chances today and Jake is being Jake.
I guess. I like a little more hittin’. I’m glad Peavy is pitching so well, though.
70: Anyday I can watch the Padres or Chargers is an exciting day for me. I’m no ‘fair weather fan’ and can’t stand basketball.
My apologies to you if you are a fan of both offense and the Padres, because it seems the two rarely appear in the same game.
I’m still wondering why it is that Gonzalez is sold on Owens as a closer and Lindstrom as his 7th inning guy. Lindstrom is downright filthy and is the better pitcher.
Roger Clemens is going to sign with the Yankees
76: What game are you watching?
Crudge had two questionable strikes that AB.
77: I was hoping he’d just shrivel up and go away. Must be a nice gig, getting to sit out the first part of the season, name your price, have people fawn all over you, and then ride in like the white knight.
Mercenary pitchers went out of vogue with Jack Morris and David Cone.
wow..nice catch by the SS
4-3 Dodgers in the bottom of the 7th.
78: I’m watching the Padre game. Owens (Henry, the Marlins’ closer) throws from his ear like a catcher. Lindstrom has upper 90s heat and a devastating breaker.
I was honestly stunned when Vargas went over to the Mets and both Lindstrom *and* Owens came back.
83: Sorry, that should have clicked with me (Owens). I’m watching three games at the same time and checking in here.
I’m looking for a nice quick outing by THE CLAW!!!
He’s Uggla, He’s Uggla, his momma dress him funny…
Is it just me, or does it seem like almost every hit Clay gives up is a come-backer?
83: The Mets sure have hemorrhaged relief talent, haven’t they? But their bullpen still has been a strength.
Cla’s gotta hold onto this….
And he does…
Braves take the leaad in the 7th…
Dodgers are now losing 5-4 to the Braves, even after a truly awful check-swing call on Chipper Jones.
Billingsly is thaking the mound for the Dodgers and it is now 5-4, Atlanta in the bottom of the 7th.
Now 6-4 Atlanta
92: Brian, you are as bad as me…tracking all these games at the same time and finding time to post in here.
Hey, pinch hitting with a light hitting middle infielder than can actually get a bunt down! Even if I don’t like the decision to bunt, at least it was executed correctly this time.
Non-issue, Cubs are tied with the Nationals 1-1.
3-1 Padres, nice insurance.
nicely done by Sledge..
Ha! Our hammer is better than yours!
Get some Crudge!
I can’t believe they walked Brannan to go after NOG.
101: NOG is the best hitter on our team, right? Totally make sense to pitch around someone who Ks 30% of the time to get to our best hitter.
101: Maybe they were just trying to get to Cameron?
Can I order the Whole Life, Auto, Fire and Wind policies please?
Especially because Giles is much more likely to get a single than Branyan, which is all that is needed to score the run.
I’d bet the Marlins would like to shoot the Messenger at this time. LOL.
103: Hey Mike, I have a suggestion.
TAKE!
2-0 swinging?? good god…
Trevor Time!
Cameron is a fu*king idiot.
Guess the Pads must not qualiffy for those plans
110: have to wonder where is head is sometimes…
Still 6-4 Atlanta middle of the 8th
Let’s hope Trevor doesn’t blow this.
114: bite your tongue…
112 – his head was set on the glorious grand salami, not the very important 1 insurance run we REALLY could use
112: I frequently wonder where the head is.
Oh well, Trevor needs another save.
What’s the inning trigger in his contract to active the option for next year?
10 straight balls, yeah, why not swing away?
In theory, it might be a good idea to swing there. Messenger would have been grooving a fastball to try and get a strike, so Cameron should have been looking for that pitch.
In practice, it is inexcusable to pop out in that situation.
Two more strikes
Cameron isn’t being selective (only 11 walks for an abysmal .278 OBP), he plays NO little ball (never hitting behind runners), he strikes out a ton and in 124 AB’s he has zero homeruns….my god he has become Gary Pettis.
118 – hey, odds are he has to throw a strike sometime, right?
My god was that routine for Trevor or what?
That’s a great close for Trevor!
4-1 now for Jake…ERA has to be close to being under 2 now..
Hell yeah. Great pitch by Hoffy. Jake the first one out of the dugout to shake his hand. Love it.
I feel like we had no business winning this series, and yet there it is.
Good to see Jake actually get the win after the great outing. Beautiful game.
Let’s just hope that they can play even better in Atlanta.
Yeah, we were definitely out-hit, but we outplayed the Marlins.
They had oodles of past balls, wild pitches, and errors this series. We capitalized on almost all of them.
Jake looked phenomenal again. I’ll take 7 innings of one-hit one-run ball any day of the week.
Now, if the Dodgers lose, will we be tied for 1st?
The Atlanta broadcasters are already talking about not having to see Peavy and Trevor’s save. Hah! I don’t think they are looking forward to seeing the Padres.
Weak hitting Padres dumped Jack Cust for absolutely nothing and he just hit a blast in his first game for the A’s. Yet they have a roster spot for Geoff Blum when the have Russell Branyan AND Oscar Robles. Padres will regret this move, they never gave Cust a shot and the guy can rake.
Is Jake the second best pitcher in baseball now?
133: No.
132: Cust served one role on an NL team. Look, I’m no Blum fan, but at least he can man the entire IF and he’s supposed to be able to hit. Cust cannot play any D, and as we’ve seen already this year, shaky D can cost us games (Both Adrian and LaForest had blunders this year that hurt us).
Sure, he gives us offense. But he doesn’t do much else.
136: And the Padres biggest need at the moment is…?
I too would love to see Blum served with a restraining order preventing him from coming within 1000 miles of a Padres game. Cust would have been a better option on the bench, but really that’s not setting the bar very high. But I’m glad Cust is getting a chance and I hope he hits a ton of ‘em.
134: The question was more intended to spur debate than to result in one word answers. Who’s better besides Santana?
136: Absolutely.
Yet another nice day at the plate for Chase Headley … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_05_06_sanaax_coraax_1 … and a nice outing for Josh Geer too.
Ah, good win. Just got back from Vegas — was able to listen to almost the entire game on the drive home. Thanks to all for the b’day well wishes. As for Cust, I’m glad to see him get a shot in the AL. He serves no useful purpose on an NL team (not that Blum does either), and this gives him a chance to have a career. I hope it works out for him and the A’s.
I think right now you’d have to say Peavy is among the favorites for the NY Cy Young. Leads the league in K’s, miniscule ERA, lots of IP. Other candidates for 2nd best pitcher in baseball: Carpenter, Halliday, Webb, Willis. Considering Peavy’s age and his stuff, I think I’d rather have him than any of those guys.
I was disappointed to hear Clements signed with the Yankees. I was beginning to fantasize the Padres could get a bat out of them if they were desperate enough for pitching. Isn’t it about time to deal a reliever? I keep thinking about how much the Rangers paid for Gagne. Any ideas?
Cust comments: Where do people get than an NL player has to be able to play a position? A couple of your bench players have to – catcher, the primary backup OF, the primary backup IF. The other bench positions should be hitters who can win or change a game for you when you use them to replace the pitcher. You absolutely know for sure you’re going to do that at least once in 158 games. Maybe more. I’ll be shocked if we have more than 2 complete games all year. There’s a bench spot for Cust and his RH twin. You’d prefer that they play passable defense someplace, but that’s a bonus.
136, especially: Ditto. We’ve lost more games from not hitting, particularly the bench, than we’ve lost from shaky defense.
Black’s game management this far doesn’t seem to be any better than Bochy’s. A little better with lineups, in not benching Kouzmanoff.
#142: A serious disadvantage of the 12-man pitching staff is that it places a lot of strain on the bench and makes it difficult to justify carrying a relatively one-dimensional position player like Cust. With just four non-catchers on the bench, defense no longer is a “bonus” but a necessity. I don’t think moving Cust is a mistake (P-Mac can do the same job if asked); I’m pretty sure keeping 12 pitchers is.
The problem with keeping Cust around is that he’s redundant. Russ Branyan is the better version, and we have MacANulty, the younger version, in AAA. And we released Todd Walker, the less-powerful version, this Spring.
Cust was once a highly regarded prospect, but in 150 major league at-bats he’s at 222/331/389, with no defensive ability anywhere. Rather than keep guys like that around, I’d rather have a defensive-minded infielder, especially with Greene’s history, or a third catcher, although that would definitely entail losing a reliever.
If the Padres need a LH pinch-hitter, there’s a million of them around – the Sweeney/Klesko/ Mabry/Palmeiro types. And who knows, maybe they’ll end up getting some useful filler from the A’s if Cust does pan out. I’d guess, though, that Jack is only around as long as Piazza is on the shelf.
With regards to sending out Kouzmanoff, the reporter for the Union is being myopic when he refers to KK’s 16 games last year without mentioning his awesome minor-league stats. Having said that, I think he may need a two-week refresher course to regain his confidence.
#143 – If they can’t justify Cust on the roster because he can only hit (and I don’t know enough about the man one way or the other to say that he can), how do they justify Blum on the roster when his only dimension is (supposedly) playing all four infield positions???
We figured Castilla or EY had something on Padres management last year to keep them on the roster as long as they were, what do we suppose Blum could possibly have, especially considering Bochy is now out of the picture? Maybe that was why Bochy was so willing to flee north…
#145: I have no clue. Blum’s continued presence on the roster baffles me on many levels. Presumably the Padres think more highly of his skill set than I do, but I honestly couldn’t tell you why.
#145, 146 -
Blum’s ability to play all over the infield is certainly a more desirable skill set than Cust’s ability to strike out 6 times a week, but I agree that he just doesn’t do enough with the bat to justify keeping him around. (For the record, I argued vehemently on these very forums this spring that the the Pads needed to get someone – anyone – instead of Blum as a backup infielder. I was shot down by many, surprisingly. My picks back then were Counsell and Loretta, and Loretta might be available at some point this season. But I just wanna be on record as saying that I was right about Blum. Nyah.)
While Robles is/may be an interesting option, the only guy SD has right now to replace Blum is Manny freakin’ Alexander, who I absolutely do not want to see anywhere near the major league club.
As the season progresses, I can assume there’ll be more options available as teams fall out of the race. If the Yanks continue to stink, Cairo is a nice player. The Phillies have Abe Nunez, the Tigers have Polanco. Kansas City would probably deal Grudzielanek, and that’s a perfect backup infielder for this team.
We don’t have a RH bench hitter right now. KK, Cruz if they are sitting, but given their PT, not really. Neither Bowen or Blum can really hit RH. I remember the discussion about a sub; no way we need both Robles AND Blum. Loretta would be awesome; decent fielder with some ability. How hard can it be to find a decent RH utility infielder? It’s killing us.
I like that they let Peavy hit in the top of the 7th. He has a better OPS than anyone that can swing right-handed, save Bard.
Re 147: We traded Manny about two weeks ago (to the Nationals, I believe), so you don’t have to worry about him any more!
Re 148: I believe his name was Todd Walker.
149: You must be watching your TV in a mirror. Todd Walker is left-handed.
Other stuff:
Whether Cust is better than Branyan or McAnulty isn’t really the question, since Branyan is a semi-starter and McAnulty is in Portland (and doesn’t have Cust’s power). I’m not broken up about trading Cust, but Blum has killed us this season. He rarely even has good at-bats. A properly constructed team would have Cust, or a player like him. He doesn’t need to play a position to play a valuable role on an NL team.
What’s ironic is that the weakness of the bench, caused by carrying 12 pitchers (and not having good bench players) actually feeds the vicious circle. We extend games because we use Blum to not-hit in the late innings, the bully gets tired, we need more arms in the bully, therefore we can’t upgrade the bench. Rise and repeat every four days.
Re 150 – My bad. That’s what happens when ESPN international shows one Padres game a year during the regular season and the playoffs are a bad nightmare that you try to forget as quickly as possible.