If Tuesday night’s opener provides any indication, this series in Los Angeles is going to be tough. Sure, the final score was 9-4, but the Dodgers just would not go away. The Padres even had to get Trevor Hoffman up and warming at the end.
Jake Gets It Done
Jake Peavy came back strong after last week’s disastrous start in Phoenix. He served up a two-out solo homer to James Loney in the third, and worked out of a couple tough jams.
In the second, with a 4-0 lead, Peavy allowed a leadoff single to Jeff Kent. Then, after jumping ahead in the count, 0-2, Peavy walked nemesis Luis Gonzalez on seven pitches. After a Russell Martin groundout to first moved runners to second and third, Peavy got Andre Ethier to chase a 93-mph fastball up at shoulder level for the second out. This was the key at-bat of the inning, as it allowed Peavy to intentionally walk Nomar Garciaparra and attack pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who proceeded to strike out on four pitches.
Later, in the sixth, Peavy found himself in trouble again. Juan Pierre (the worst offensive center fielder in baseball this season) led off with a double to left. Brady Clark, in for defensive purposes, made a fine play on the ball and almost nailed Pierre at second. Clark probably had a better chance than Josh Bard would have if Pierre had settled for a single and then attempted to steal, so no big deal. Loney then whacked an 0-2 fastball over the head of second baseman Geoff Blum. The ball was hit so hard that Pierre had to hold at third. No matter. Kent followed with a single to right that plated Pierre and made the score 6-2.
If we give Peavy credit for getting himself out of the mess he’d created (and we should), then we need to give the assist to pitching coach Darren Balsley. After Kent’s single, Balsley came out to chat with his young right-hander and give Doug Brocail a chance to get loose. Peavy then paid Balsley the finest compliment possible, getting Gonzalez to fly out to left and Martin to ground into an inning-ending 5-3 double play.
The Hits Keep Coming
Offense? Yeah, a little. It helped that Loaiza wouldn’t throw strikes, but the Padres still had to take advantage of the situation, and they did.
Loaiza needed 50 pitches to get through the first two innings. He gave up four runs in the process, and it might have been worse had Adrian Gonzalez been watching third-base coach Glenn Hoffman give the stop sign on a run-scoring single off the bat of Kevin Kouzmanoff instead of looking back at right fielder Matt Kemp. Still, the Padres took an early lead and made Loaiza work very hard in the process.
And how about four home runs? The first, a two-run shot off the bat of Brian Giles in the second, came on a 3-0 count. Giles reacted out of the box as if he’d hit a routine fly ball — a side effect of playing half his games at Petco Park, no doubt.
In the third inning, Khalil Greene and Kouzmanoff went back-to-back. Greene’s 21st homer of the season came on an 0-1 thigh-high breaking ball and ended up in the left-field bleachers. As for Kouzmanoff’s blast, I don’t even know where to begin. He hit a 1-2 pitch on the outer half and drove it to dead center. Off the bat, I didn’t think it had a chance but the ball just kept carrying and left yard. I’ve seen Kouz hit several of those rockets to center this year, and yet it still surprises me. I think maybe his easy swing fools me into thinking he didn’t get all of the pitch.
I also have to give props to Blum for a terrific game. Two walks, a homer into the second deck, and a fine defensive play to get Heath Bell out of a tight spot — that’ll work. Blum gets a lot of grief from us, and I think for good reason, but it’s important to remember that he’s just trying to do the job asked of him. No, he’s not a starting second baseman, but he’s what we’ve got.
The only real negatives were Gonzalez’ mental errors (in addition to the baserunning gaffe, he also let a Garciaparra pop foul drop between himself and Bard to lead off the fifth) and some sloppy bullpen work. Kevin Cameron and Brett Tomko aren’t high-leverage relievers, but it would have been nice if they could’ve kept Bell from having to work the eighth and Hoffman from having to waste a few warmup pitches in the ninth.
Yes, we’re nitpicking. The Padres got a much-needed win, and right now, that’s all that matters.
Padres Prospect Report
by Peter Friberg
You will not see me forget about 9/11. A huge “thank you” to all of you who serve or have served in our armed forces!
AA
San Antonio 6, Springfield 2 (San Antonio leads series, 1-0)
Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SB
Chase Headley: 1 AB, 2 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR, 4 BB
Joshua Geer: 7.0 IP 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
High-A
Lake Elsinore 14, Lancaster 7 (Lake Elsinore wins series 3-1)
Sean Kazmar: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; BB
David Freese: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 3 RBI, SO
Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2 2B, SO
Mike Baxter: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 3 RBI; HR, SO
Jose Lobaton: 4 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; 2B, BB
Cory Luebke: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR
R.J. Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
Somehow I missed it… On Sunday I said the Storm went up 1 game to none, then on Monday they went up 2-0… Somehow I missed Saturday’s contest where the Storm lost the first game of the series (Lancaster 3, Lake Elsinore 2)… Sorry.
Kyle Blanks now has three home runs and two doubles in seven playoff games (not exactly Reggie Jackson circa ’77, but still impressive).
On June 8, I wrote the following: “[Corey] Luebke was a bit of a reach [in the supplemental round], but at worst he’s a valuable organizational soldier…” Tuesday night, that “soldier” started and won a series-deciding game in his third level (and first year) of professional baseball.
Um, I was wrong. Luebke has quickly become one of my favorite Padre pitchers.
Thanks, Peter. Game 2 at Chavez Ravine on Wednesday starts at 7:10 p.m. PT. Be here, yo…
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