Padres (15-26) @ Cubs (24-16)
Greg Maddux vs Ryan Dempster
11:20 a.m. PT
no television
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 183
MLB, B-R
The Padres showed some good fight at the end of Wednesday evening’s game. Unfortunately they spent much of the early part digging themselves into a deep, dark hole. Still, I liked the matchup of Brian Giles against Kerry Wood with the bases juiced in the ninth. Too bad it didn’t work out for us this time. Oh well, we turn the page…
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The Cubs have signed Jim Edmonds and he will be in uniform for Thursday’s game. He looks as done as anyone this side of David Wells, but maybe it was just a matter of coming back from injury too soon. With the Padres’ luck, Edmonds will return to 2004 form and cause us all to second guess our second guessing…
Nice play Kouz!
Another nice play Kouz!
#49@JP: I was reaching there. No Jake isnt as good a hitter. he has developed into a good hitting pitcher. I just think if its that important to PH for him there, do it with a better hitter than Edgar.
Did Maddux skip Young in the rotation?
#54@Kevin: They did that a few weeks ago and it has stayed like that since.
#54@Kevin: A long time ago, I think.
#53@SDSUBaseball: Like who, versus a LHP? Hairston and Huber were already in the game. Clark doesn’t hit LHP very well and is a huge DP threat. The only other options were a left-handed hitter like McAnulty or Gerut or Carlin, and nobody burns their backup catcher in the 4th.
Probably the other option is Clark, and Gonzalez has been swinging better than him recently.
From Elias Sports Bureau:
Edgar Gonzalez made his major-league debut for the Padres on Tuesday night, starting at third base, across the diamond from his brother, Adrian. Over the last 30 years, only three other pairs of brothers started in the same infield: Cal and Billy Ripken (439 times, 1987-1996 Orioles), Aaron and Bret Boone (47 times, 1997-1998 Reds), and Barry and Stephen Larkin (once, for the Reds, on Sept. 27, 1998).
I love watching the padres hitters watch strike three…just something so heart warming about their appreciation for pretty pitches.
#59@Coronado Mike: Giles seems to enjoy it the most. He must really see the art in a called strike.
#58@Kevin: There is something so cool about brothers starting together on the same team. My brother and I each played different sports (me volleyball and baseball…him football and basketball), but I can imagine it would be a really neat feeling.
From MLBtraderumors…
“One anonymous executive says that the Padres are a good candidate to start selling off pieces, sooner rather than later.”
Maybe there is some fire to the smoke surrouning the maddux trade rumors…
I’ve got the game on DirecTV, but I guess that’s not what you guys were talking about when you said it’s not on TV.
#57@Tom Waits: If your gonna pitch Ledezma against a line-up the feasts on LHP, then why not pinch hit a lefty? I forgot Huber was in the game, but if you dont really have a that hitter coming off the bench (I dont think Edgar is that hitter), then I dont see the point in PH after 4 innings. I guess thats fine if you see it as a good decision, but there is a difference between understanding why it was done and thinking that it was a good decision.
6-4-3
Best digits ever.
Nice DP to get out of the inning.
There you go Jimmy way to earn that 4+ mil the Pads are still paying you!
I love this from Hayhurst!!!
“There is no shame in a man working. Yet it seems as if the work a man chooses will dictate how he is treated…. It’s amazing the things people assume based on job title. I am, after all, the same garden variety, run-of-the-mill human being, regardless of my costume or who signs my paycheck.”
That is beautiful!
#64@SDSUBaseball: You can only measure a decision by what the manager knew at the time, not what happened after. Ledezma has been throwing well and he was the best option in the pen to go 3-4 innings. He got hit. It happens. Jake had given up 4 himself by that point. Sometimes a good decision doesn’t work out. Sometimes a bad decision doesn’t hurt you.
Why would you pinch-hit a player like Gerut or McAnulty? Both have exactly 1 at-bat in the majors this year versus a lefty. Gerut didn’t hit them well in AAA; Gonzalez crushed them.
Isn’t it time for Kouz to hit a bomb? He is due.
Maybe later today.
Is that Kouzmanoff putting up the first fight of the day? And I jinx him.
#69@Tom Waits: That doesnt mean it was a good decision. I understand why he thought he did it, I dont think it was the right choice. We saw bad decisions not hurt Black all year last year. They are starting to hurt this year and I think this was one of them. I wasnt measuring it by what happened after. I was unhappy when he made the decision and the events that followed happened as they did. I was fine with keeping Ledezma ready, and obviously he is really your only option out of the pen, but Jake looked like he could go another inning, and then you can distribute one less inning to your relievers and you can pitch your better relievers. Its over now though, we lost. i didnt agree with it, you did. Doesnt really matter now.
A RBI knock for the pitcher…quality.
Maddux up in the zone all inning.
When the Cubs come to town, let’s try throwing a first-pitch to Soriano that is well out of the zone.
CHICAGO — San Diego Padres pitcher Mark Prior was in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday to have his surgically repaired right shoulder examined by Dr. James Andrews.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3397861
#72@SDSUBaseball: Well, if you’re basing it on “send up a better hitter than Gonzalez,” but there weren’t any, then what’s the criticism?
Here come the wheels off the bus.
#76@Tom Waits: Not to pinch hit Jake in the first place.
Boy, wheels are coming off in a hurry.
Crap…we are now 4 runs down.
that is okay…we can still come back.
Holy Cow, look at that sombrero!
When it goes, it goes quickly.
Way to wait for us to be down 4 before making a move, Bud!
#82@Phantom: No no no. You’ve got to have more confidence in your 350 game winning 1st ballot hall of famer than that.
Henn in, about to get real ugly I bet.
#83@Tom Waits: Not the way he’s been hit today. After 3 straight singles, there’s no reason for him to be pitching to Lee with men on 1st and 2nd if we’re down by 2.
#83@Tom Waits: Ha ha ha… funny
85: No reason to think he couldn’t have thrown another double play…
#85@Phantom: D’oh, sorry I couldn’t perceive the sarcasm.
#85@Phantom: He was being sarcastic
88: he had only thrown 60 pitches at the start of that at-bat.
Geez, Maddux wasn’t exactly fooling them today. That’ll lower his trade value in a hurry.
I didn’t realize Dempster was doing so good this year. 30 hits allowed in 54 IP. Wow. That’s amazing. I doubt we stand much of a chance to come back on this guy.
There were four straight singles, then a sac fly, then the double by Lee. Maddux shouldn’t have pitched to Theriot.
So Dempster looks like he has enjoyed being converted from closer to starter this year…
#90@Marsh: That’s like the 80-pitch mark for anyone else.
A little OT, but thought interesting…did y’all see Jason Stark’s comments today?
• EYES ON SAN DIEGO: Here’s one AL executive’s nomination for a club that could go into early selling mode: The Padres. “The vibes we’re getting is that they already know it’s not happening for them this year,” the exec said. “So they may be the first team that tries to be opportunistic.” Among the Padres the shoppers figure to keep their eye on: Khalil Greene, Kevin Kouzmanoff (to open third base for Chase Headley), Randy Wolf and any bullpen arms the Padres would talk about.
Comment of the day by the cubs broadcasters…
“Dempster did not fall over running down the line, he just started his dive way too soon.”
Nothing like having the first runner in scoring position showing up in the 7th inning.
#95@Coronado Mike: Wouldn’t surprise me. Timing is the hard part. Wolf may need to rebuild some value, Greene is not looking too attractive, Kouz has done nothing this year to inspire desire by other teams. Even Maddux, with his resume, is not necessarily going to jump off the lot for what we want for him.
Tom…I am a big fan of Kouz, but his power outage is very discouraging. I think, as you point out, the biggest problem is not whether or not we should move them, but rather what is the value? Not much right now seems to be the correct answer.
Slider down and away…KG K’s…shocker.
And Phil Donahue singing during the 7th inning stretch…really? They are hurting for “celebrities”.