Search results for ‘heath bell

I’d Like to Be You for a Day

What’s up with Jerry Hairston Jr.? The guy is hitting .225/.268/.271 with zero homers in 141 PA when the Cardinals come to town. Next thing you know, he’s got back-to-back game-winning jacks. I thought the other Hairston did that sort of thing. It’s like he borrowed Scott’s mojo: Jerry: Hey bro, I’m kind of sucking [...]

We Have Assumed Control

Attention, all planets of the Solar Federation: With Wednesday night’s victory in San Francisco, the Padres now own the National League’s best record at 21-12. They have extended their lead in the division to 2 1/2 games and won another series. Thoughts? You know I have a few: Clayton Richard was very efficient. He needed [...]

Left on Base, Right on Time

Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory over the Giants took a tremendous effort of will… to watch. Neither starter could find the strike zone, as Wade LeBlanc failed to survive the fifth inning and Barry Zito tied a career high with seven walks. If there’s anything more scintillating than watching two guys fling baseballs everywhere but across [...]

Padres Take Two in Houston, Give Third Away

One of the hazards of watching a lot of games at Petco Park is a skewed sense of how hard a ball needs to be struck to leave the yard. I caught a few innings of a Mets-Phillies game on TV the other night, and baseballs were flying out of Citizens Bank Park. I had [...]

Tuesday’s Win Deserves a Better Title Than This

The first seven innings of Tuesday night’s comeback victory over the Rockies provided an exercise in frustration for the home team and its fans. The Padres put runners on every inning, and got at least one man into scoring position in each of the fourth through seventh innings, yet plated just one run. Colorado starter [...]

April in Review

The first month of the 2010 season certainly didn’t turn out as I’d expected. The Padres finished April with a 15-8 record, 1 1/2 games ahead of second place San Francisco. Whether they can sustain their success over the long haul remains to be seen, but at the very least, they have given fans a [...]

Garland Arrives in Style, Everyone Speculates about Gonzalez

It was nice of Jon Garland to finally arrive at the party. Sure, the ERA has been pretty, but that’s mostly because he keeps putting his defense to sleep. I fell asleep a few times during Tuesday’s victory over the Marlins, although Garland isn’t to blame (I’m fighting a little bug, nothing serious). He pitched [...]

Heaven or Mat Latos

Five wins in a row. A share of first place. Sweet? No, spicy; vaguely like doner kebab. Some days you get only one hit. Some days, that’s all you need. On Tuesday, against the Giants, it was enough. Ladies and gentlemen, break up the Padres. (Oops, shouldn’t say that out loud… it could happen, you [...]

Bobblehead Goes Yard, Padres Move into Second

How predictable. The Padres win Monday night on a walk-off homer from David Eckstein. Yawn. Wake me when something exciting happens. Wait, that David Eckstein? Those Padres?

Friday Links (16 Apr 10)

This week’s links are proudly sponsored by coffee. Give yourself a present… Uno Oh, To Be A Padre In August ’80 (Baseball-Reference). Steve Lombardi notes that the Padres played three games of 17 innings or more within a 12-day stretch back in 1980. Yikes. Bill James for Nobel (Sabermetric Research). This article from Phil Birnbaum [...]