first pitch: 7:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Dewon Brazelton (1-8, 7.61 ERA) vs Zach Day (1-3, 6.85 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com | ESPN.com

During Friday night’s 10-4 loss to the Rockies, the opening to Rush’s “Twilight Zone” played as the television broadcast went to commercial following the top of the ninth. This is noteworthy for two reasons. The first is that the more obvious choice would have been Golden Earring’s hit song of the same name, which came out in 1983. The song by Rush appeared seven years earlier, on Side 2 of their seminal 2112, and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Golden Earring tune.

This brings us to the second reason, which is that even among Rush fans, “Twilight Zone” is a pretty obscure track. It’s 30 years old and as far as I can tell, it never received any airplay. Not only is it less well known than the song by Golden Earring, but most likely it’s not known at all by the vast majority of, well, anyone. So to whomever chooses the music leading to commercial over at Channel 4SD, I say thank you for rewarding this Rush fan for suffering through an otherwise horrible game.

Ah yes, the game. The less said, the better. Despite the final line, Chris Young looked good in his Padres debut. He also showed that he can swing the bat a little, driving a ball deep into the left field corner for a double, his first big-league hit. Adrian Gonzalez and Khalil Greene hit balls that had home run distance but hooked just foul. Nice to see Gonzalez, who gets to keep his first base job a little longer now that Ryan Klesko has opted to have surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to miss two to four months, pull the ball with such authority. And Chan Ho Park and Alan Embree did a nice job coming out of the bullpen, with the latter running his fastball at 94-97 mph according to the displays on television.

The rest of the relief corps looked very shaky, with Clay Hensley having a rare bad outing, and the recently recalled Scott Cassidy and Brian Sweeney demonstrating why they have spent so much of their careers in the minor leagues. Cassidy, if you haven’t been following along, was brought up to replace Shawn Estes, who landed on the disabled list due to a “strained flexor tendon in his left elbow” and is expected to be out four to six weeks. Woody Williams replaces Estes in the rotation, with Park getting the #5 spot when it comes up on or around April 15.

As for Saturday night’s contest, Padres fans will get their first look at yet another unknown in the equation that is the San Diego pitching staff. Dewon Brazelton opened a lot of eyes this spring and won the #4 spot over guys with longer track records and bigger contracts. Tonight we’ll get our first indication of whether to believe his performance this May or the 5.98 ERA over 253 career innings he brings into the season. He is a former first-round draft pick and he’s only 25 years old, so anything is possible. With so many question marks on the staff, it would be fantastic to see someone like Brazelton step up and establish himself. We can only hope.