| time: | 7:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Justin Germano (5-2, 3.12) vs Buddy Carlyle (2-2, 4.74) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
The last time Buddy Carlyle started a game in San Diego, it was at Qualcomm Stadium and he wore a Padres uniform. Since leaving here, Carlyle has spent time pitching in Hanshin, Japan; Wichita; Omaha; Trenton, N.J.; Columbus, Ohio; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Albuquerque; Richmond, Va.; and now, finally, Atlanta.
Did I mention that Carlyle is just 29 years old? I liked him when the Padres acquired him from Cincinnati for flame-throwing right-hander Marc Kroon (who, ironically enough, is pitching in Japan these days). I quote myself from June 2002 because it’s one of the few times something I wrote five years ago still makes sense:
I really thought Carlyle was going to be what Brian Lawrence has become. I have no idea where he is right now, but he’s only 24 years old, and I still half-expect him to surface in North America at some point and pitch in the big-leagues again.
I’m glad I got one right and that Carlyle might actually have a career on this side of the pond. Now if we can just find Junior Herndon and Brett Jodie…
Silent-L starts at first. Kill me.
Is there something wrong with Kouz? An injury is the only possible explanation for Blum starting at 1B.
Which brings us to, signs you’re team needs to drop it’s 12th pitcher to carry another hitter: one guy might be injured, and suddenly Geoff Blum is your backup first baseman.
yeah — I thought Branyan was the backup at 1b.
Attaboy, Barrett. Nice baserunning by Cameron, too, to take third there.
Nice job MB!
RBI — I’ll take it . . .2-0
I really love watching KG turn two.
Geronemo fanned him big time!
#7: No doubt. That was a tricky hop, and he made it look so easy.
#8: Great sequence to Thorman. After Germano backed him up with the 2-2 fastball, I called curve and that’s what he threw. With a base open, why not?
I want credit for jinxing Silent-L into a base hit.
Ouch.
Wonder if Branyan is considered ‘waivable’ if he does not get his act together. He looks absolutely brutal at the plate right now.
I wouldn’t mind seeing either Cameron or Hampson come in for relief.
Umm, is our pen warmed up yet?
Thank you, Bud.
Hampson coming in.
That was just damn good placement.
How the f*ck does Silent L blow that? Never mind.
Death by paper cuts.
Nice pop by OG
I think it’s time for Clay Hensley to get hit s**t together. We need some help here. He’d be Justin time.
Cooper Brannan with a W today in Arizona …
http://ww2.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_07_06_pdrrok_athrok_1
… and Yefri (the Great) continues his MASHing ways!
Hey PF, at 2-9, 8.19, you gotta get off the Breit bandwagon …
http://ww2.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_07_06_ftwafx_wmiafx_1
… but Cedric (the Great) did have a nice game!
I just caught a brief glimps, but is that Joe West behind the plate tonight?
#12: So much for ‘brutal at the plate.’
OUCH!
Caught him in the right jaw. I hope he’s OK.
Kouuuzzzzzzzzzzz
OK, where is everyone in this blog tonight? At the game?
Love it how Bard is swinging 2-0 and Branyan is swinging for the downs when he is down in the count 0-2 in the count and ALL this when their team is down in the 9th 7-3.
Some of my observations from the game: Channel 4 drove me crazy by not adjusting to Carlyle’s quick tempo. They consistently would not cut back to the batter/pitcher view until Carlyle was releasing the ball, which always made me feel dizzy and lost.
Bud Black drives me crazy by making consistently poor decisions on minor things. Having Blum hit for himself in the ninth (even though it worked, he’s still the worst hitter on the team), continuing to start Cruz over Sledge or Branyan against right handed pitchers, starting Blum at first instead of Kouz at third and Branyan at first. It’s all minor, and ultimately it probably adds up to less than two wins over the course of the season, but it’s so frustrating to see obviously poor decisions made.
I’m really conflicted over how to feel about the offense currently. Every single hitter on this team, except for Cruz, has underperformed reasonable projections for this season. So, should I be optimistic because their prior track records are a better indication of true talent, so they’ll be better in the second half, and the offense was actually pretty average for most of the season until it just tanked recently? Or should I look at the last few weeks and start accepting that this is the performance level of this offense? We can probably win with the offensive level of the season as a whole, but we really can’t if the offense from the past few weeks continues.
All hail Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez. Cabrera doubled in the tying run in the ninth against Saito and Ramirez bunted for a base hit with two outs in the 10th, scoring Eric Reed form third for the winning run. Kevin Gregg got Juan Pierre to pop out after he walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth.
Re-watching the highlights of the Padres game on the news, I’m less discouraged about this outing by Germano. He hung the pitch to Andruw Jones badly, but just about every other hit was the result of a good approach by the Braves hitters staying back on the ball and hitting it the other way. When you don’t strike guys out, that’ll happen.