I’ve got a ton of terrible headlines playing on Kevin Kouzmanoff‘s nickname; I’m glad I finally get to use one. On a night when Jake Peavy was less than his usual dominant self (and merely very good), the Padres came back against the Reds and won a game they probably should have lost (recap | box score).
Wednesday’s affair came as a welcome relief in the wake of a stretch where the Padres lost several games they seemingly should have won. And wouldn’t you know, the win was secured courtesy of a walk-off walk by Kouz.
As we’ve noted, Kouzmanoff has been swinging the bat well the past couple weeks but not seeing results. After looking completely lost at the plate in April, he’s made an adjustment and it’s starting to pay dividends. Three hits and a walk in four trips to the dish? We’ll take that and his .296/.343/.444 performance so far in May.
Kouzmanoff’s swing is compact, he’s tightened up his strike zone, and he’s spraying the ball all over the place. The power? That will come, although not necessarily in the form of home runs. Kouz looks to be more of a gaps hitter to me, which should play well at Petco Park. Whatever the case, he’s clearly taken several small steps in the right direction.
Peavy? The final line is pedestrian by his standards: 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 105 pitches. After the first inning, though, he was fantastic: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 71 pitches. Yep, that’s about 12 pitches an inning over the final six frames. More of that, please.
As for the Reds, they let this one get away from them. Anthony correctly points out over at Friar Watch that Cincy left starter Bronson Arroyo in too long. The Reds also committed two very costly errors, including one on the play immediately before Kouz’s walk that loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. Sucks for them, but we’ve seen too much of that from the Padres lately for me to feel much sympathy just now.
The Padres end the homestand at 22-19 on the season, with a 24-17 Pythagorean record. They are 9-6 in May and 8-4-2 in series this year (including 5-1-1 at home). The plan may be starting to come together, no?
by Peter Friberg
You will not see all the notable performances from the night before, but you will see the notable performances from those who are actually prospects.
AAA
No game scheduled
AA
Joshua Geer: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB
Wade Leblanc: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR
Low-A
No game scheduled
Commentary:
I’m not the biggest Geer fan, but a little birdie said I should keep an eye on him. He had a good start, so here he is for your viewing pleasure.
Wade has allowed two earned runs over his last six starts.
Thanks, Peter!
Off day on Thursday, then three in Seattle. Prepare yourself for the next chapter in the fiercest rivalry professional sports has ever known.
Or just watch the Padres and Mariners play over the weekend — your call…
Baseball gods smiled on us. Who would think that Cameron and Kouzmanoff could combine for 6-7 with a key walk? If I am a Cinci fan, I am upset about the call to KK. High-ish change to end the game? But, then I was annoyed on the some calls generous to the Reds in the first that allowed runs, so I guess it evens out.
The Dodgers are winning, but getting a lot of help. BP’s third order wins has them below SD.
On Cameron, I wish I could slice his OPS by where the ball was on the plate and what he did with it. My guess is it would look something like:
Pitch: middle/in Approach: pull; OPS 1.000
Pitch: outside Approach: opposite field OPS 1.000
Pitch: outside Approach: pull OPS .150
Pitch: middle/in Approach: opposite field OPS .150 (this happens when he gets jammed, which is rare)
I am sure he is aware of this, and these kind of splits may be true for all hitters (maybe not the exact numbers but the relative values) but it so pronounced with him.
Glad to see KK finally get some breaks. And all his hits weren’t fastballs. One of his smoked singles was him waiting on curve. Love it.
When Geoff sent around the round table questions, he asked what the Padres could improve upon… I said, “Not much, which scares me.” I thought that they were playing SO WELL that there was probably some “correction” coming… Now, we’re NOT playing overly well yet we’re still winning 50% of the games or so… What happens when we start playing better? And yes, we will.
Some very interesting comments from the Reds at this blog:
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/spring/
Ross: “I’m not going to talk about that pitch, because it’s not why we lost. We didn’t lose because a ball four, borderline pitch, it could have been a strike. For him to take that pitch was pretty daring. That’s not why we lost that game. If we dwell on that pitch, we’re dwelling on the wrong things.”
Arroyo: “He said it was high. If you watch it in slow motion, it’s borderline. If you watch it in fast motion, with the speed of the game, the crowd going and everything, I thought it was right there. It’s hard to get strikes called in this area (Arroyo motions with his hand from between the letters of the jersey to the belt), even though the rulebook says strikes go all the way up to the chest, you usually don’t get them. I just thought under the circumstances, splitting the plate right down the middle, I thought I would get it, but that’s the way it goes”
Pretty classy remarks I think, considering the outcome. I don’t think we’d hear the same thing from the Dodgers for instance.
I agree with Geoff: No sympathy here for the Reds. It’s about time we caught a break like that.
I’m looking forward to the Mariners series and seeing our next centerfielder in action. (Positive thinking can’t hurt, right?)
Jack Cust is hitting cleanup for the A’s and hit his 7th HR last night. Has anyone heard anything about the PTBN for Cust? I wonder if his sucsess is holding up the deal, or if the pads took the cash early and are hoping that the story will go away when Cust cools down?