first pitch: 7:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Chris Young (2-3, 4.74 ERA) vs Jason Schmidt (1-2, 7.36 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com
Dodgers starter Jason Schmidt hasn’t pitched in a big-league game since the Padres pounded him back on April 14. Shoulder bursitis has kept him out of action for nearly seven weeks. Closer Takashi Saito, meanwhile, is expected to miss the series due to “tightness in his left hamstring.”
Offense? Not a strength of either team. Rusell Martin and Luis Gonzalez are the rough equivalent of Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Cruz Jr. I remain baffled at (and grateful for) the Juan Pierre signing; that’s a lot of outs in the lineup every game.
It’s too early to get caught up in “making a statement.” Obviously this would be a nice series to win, but let’s not get silly about it. If the Dodgers taught us anything last year, it’s that a single series or game doesn’t define a team’s season. Romantic visions of destiny notwithstanding, you don’t really know where you’re going until you get there.
Wherever we end up, this summer again promises to take fans of both teams for a great ride. Go Padres!
Prediction: Extra innings with no score at the end of the 9th.
C’mon, one more strike.
Swinging bunt in front of the plate and that half is done!
#47: Nope. I’m prepping for the draft, which I’ll be liveblogging at Knuckle Curve on Thursday.
48: Wow. I step away from the computer to eat some dinner, and Blum does something right?
CY is holding his own pretty well tonight considering he has never had a win against the Dodgers (if I heard Matty correctly).
We’ve got to have better ABs against Schmidt. Our team is supposed to own him.
What we need is for SF to play, just for a moment, like a major league baseball team that wants to win games. Take 2 of 3 from the d’backs, come’on boch!!! And, if anyone read the Linecum(sp?)/Cain article today on CNN/SI, WTF??!? I mean, is Bochy completley lost? Seriously, how can you feel good about 105 pitches per game for a rookie!!?!?? Talk about a risky play….
#54: Right on. Anyone that sticks out like a sore thumb that you think KT should go after?
BTW, I really figured you wouldn’t miss this series.
Schmidt is obviously terrified of pitching to Kouzmanoff after he took him deep last time.
If Silent L gets another hit, will that be a season game high for him?
Good to hear Gwynn in the booth on MLB.com… the Nats broadcast was brutal.
wtg Kouz
#62: It’s always good to have Gwynn in the booth, in my opinion. The guy has 20+ years of stories to tell.
true that 63, and he does it well.
Where’s Greene?
#64: Last minute scratch with a sore arm.
61: Let’s not pose crazy hypothetical questions that require the impossible to happen.
But to really answer your question: it would tie his season high, set May 9th in Atlanta. That was the game he homered in.
Score that E5 on Silent L.
Nice can of corn catch by NOG.
Always nice to have Juan Pierre come up with runners in scoring position.
Seriously, can we compare salaries between Schmidtt and Young? I’m pretty sure that the Padres are a net-winner on that comparison……..
Man I sincerely hope Khalil can heal up and rejoin the lineup tomorrow.
If baseball is “performance based”, as Bud Black was quoted as saying in regards to Clay Hensley’s demotion to AAA, then why is Geoff Blum still employed?
Hypocrite.
According to Gameday, neither side has hit a line drive in this game.
Thx Turbine dude… i’ll learn to read the thread
73: The Pads have hit several balls that I think could qualify as line drives, especially that last ball.
I’m not a huge Blum fan, but who else is SD going to use? With these ridiculous 12 man bullies, it weakens the bench for everybody. Blum’s as good as anybody else other teams are using for their 25th man.
As much as I like to see Bocachica live his dream, I don’t feel confident that in the middle of a race, we should be giving him corner ABs.
Has Branyan taken the field in LF or RF yet? I guess that was all BS that the pads have been feeding us about his ability to play something other than 3rd base?
Re: 76
Oscar Robles, Craig Stansberry… shoot, I like Manny Alexander better than Blum.
I do hate 12 man bullpens also, particularly in the NL with a quality starting 5.
76: Bocachica is a decent right handed bat off the bench. Projections for him this year have him putting up a solid .800 OPS.
Blum as the 25th man on the roster is fine; Blum as the first hitter off the bench, in key situations, is not fine.
Hmmn. You’re right, Robles is probably better than Blum.
Blum has World Series Hero Cachet, though. That will punch his ticket for a while.
I do like Chris Young’s ERA. I wonder if the Rangers miss him?
#70: If I recall, CY is only making about $575K/yr.
Re: 80
I hope Towers drafts an abundance of Shortstops to groom as Khalil’s backup in the near future.
It seems like Chris Young hits this point every start in the sixth inning. He’ll inexplicably lose it completely and walk a guy on four pitches, then fall behind quickly to the next guy, rally strength, and strike him out.
We seriously need to put up some runs soon. Close games against the Dodgers make me antsy.
#54: Not that I can tell, but Peter is the expert and I’m sure he’ll have some thoughts in the next couple days.
82: That just makes tonight even more sweet. Seriously, we now have two starters (+Germano) with sub-2.5 e.r.a.s… gotta love it.
Let’s see what Termell as the leadoff hitter is all about.
Dang, that was fast.
85: Yeah, and the Dodgers have magical powers to win close games; they’re 14-4 in games decided by one run.
Man our BABIP has got to be ungodly low tonite.
#86: I credit KT with finding a lot of local talent. Good example: Adrian.
Good cut by Bard, just missed it. He is having some nice at-bats of late.
I’d say that we’re hitting the ball much more squarely than the Dodgers tonite, but we’ve got nothing to show for it.
Schmidt’s performance will NOT foreshadow Jeff Weaver’s start this weekend.
Everyone repeat this incantation, or BEWARE.
91: Yeah, but so is the Dodgers’. This is what happens when you have flyball pitchers in big ballparks. Although to CY’s credit, from Gameday it looks like 5 of the 6 deepest hits in the game were by Padres.
#90: refer to post #51.
We probably should stop calling pitchouts. Ethier did us a favor there.
For those of you that can’t see this, R. Martin is pretty damn fast as far as catchers go. He’s no Ricky Henderson, but he’s quick.
RE: 99
He looks fast on Gamecast.