The Padre Post

One night after avoiding extra innings, the Padres found a way to play bonus baseball yet again. In the 13 inning affair, the Padres outlasted the Giants and won by a score of 7-3.

The Padres had managed to squander plenty of opportunities in the game. Kevin Kouzmanhoff managed to ground into a triple play, a rare feat. In the eight with runners on first and second, he ripped a one hop grounder to third. Third baseman Jose Castillo stepped on third and rifled a throw to second and Ray Durham quickly fired it to first in time for the triple play.

So when Kouzmanhoff stepped in with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the thirteenth, he was looking for the chance to make up for it. He did not and popped out to first. Khalil Greene followed him however and earned a walk to force in the game winning run. The Padres would go on to score three more after that.

Greg Maddx, who started the game that went to 18 innings last week, took a no decision after a six inning outing allowing just two runs on five hits. He struck out five in the game.

Matt Cain went seven innings for the Giants giving up seven hits and three runs. He K’d seven Padres.

The Padres 1-4 hitters all had two hits. Brian Giles had a double and triple. Yesterday’s hero Jody Gerut had two hits in the leadoff spot.  Giles and Tadahito Iguchi each scored two runs. Giles drove in two for the Padres as well.

The Padres have grown all too familiar with extra innings affairs. Not one or two extra innings, more like nine or ten. After playing 18 and 22 innings games already this year, winning in nine innings is a nice break for the Padres. Jody Gerut stepped up and erased the through of bonus baseball from anyone’s minds.

Gerut was called on to pinch hit in the eight inning with two runners on and one out. He did not disappoint, sending a ball deep into the outfield seats and putting the game out of reach. The blast broke a 2-2 tie and set the Padres up for a 5-2 win.

The blast followed an earlier shot by Kevin Kouzmanhoff that was brought back into play by Ryan Langerhans making a leaping catch at the wall to take away a homer.

Wil Ledezma was strong on the hill for the Padres. In just five innings he rung up seven Nationals batters. He allowed just two hits and only one run.

Nationals starter John Lannan gave up just two runs to the Padres on five hits. He struck out five in six innings. Both starters took no decisions.

Reliever Saul Rivera took the loss for the Nationals. Two of the runners that scored on Gerut’s homer belonged to him. Charlie Manning came in for him and gave up the homer.

The Nationals had four stolen bases in the game. Lastings Milledge had two of them, taking second and then third immediately after it.

Trevor Hoffman picked up his 11th save of the year. Michael Barrett was the only player in the game to have two hits.

The Padres almost put together a three game win streak for the first time this year, but could not muster enough late inning efforts to win and fell to the Washington Nationals by a score of 6-4. Scott Hairston homered in the bottom of the seventh, part of a three run inning that pulled the Padres with two but it was as close as they would get.

Starter Shawn Estes had a hard time upon hitting the fourth inning. He had cruised through three scoreless innings until that point, but Aaron Boone got to him first with a single. A walk, wild pitch and hit batter followed and loaded the bases. Jesus Flores promptly unloaded them with a grand slam.

Odalis Perez needed little more than the 4-0 lead. Perez waited until the bottom of the fifth before the Padres finally got one on the board. Tad Iguchi drove in a run with a single that put the score at 4-1. The Nationals added back on to their lead in the next inning. Lastings Milledge hit a solo homer to put the margin back at 4. The Nationals added one more run off reliever Mike Adams in the top of the seventh.

The Padres seventh inning rally started with back to back doubles by Luke Carlin and Tony Clark. Hairston came up and homered bringing home Clark to pull the Padres closer at 6-4 but that was as close as it would get.

Luis Ayala and Jon Rauch did not allow the Padres another base runner and struck out four of the final eight outs. Rauch picked up his 11th save.

Freddy Guzman had three hits for the Nationals while Jose Lopez and Jesus Flores each had two. Iguchi led the Padres with three hits.

Kevin Kouzmanhoff and Adrian Gonzalez went back to back to help the Padres win back to back games. After a much needed off day after an 18 inning affair with the Reds two days before, the Padres took the opener over the Washington Nationals by a score of 4-2.

Randy Wolf took a no decision after going six innings allowing just two runs on an Aaron Boone homer in the first inning. After that Wolf settled down and allowed the Nationals no more runs for five more innings. He walked none in the game and struck out five.

With a 2-2 tie in the seventh, Kouzmanhoff knocked one out of the park. After a pitching change, Gonzalez promptly delivered another homer on the first pitch from the new pitcher. Both came with two outs.

The Padres took advantage early in the game of starter Shawn Hill’s control trouble. He walked five and it played into their first two runs. Hill walked the bases loaded before running the count full to Michael Barrett. Barrett ripped a single to center that scored two runs to tie the game at 2.

Heath Bell picked up the win for the Padres. Trevor Hoffman notched his tenth save of the year.

The Padres split a four game series with the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend. The Padres took the finale in dramatic fashion, winning on a walk off homer by Adrian Gonzalez in the 18th inning. The homer brought home three runs and gave the Padres a 12-9 win.

Scott Hairston sent the game to extras when he hit a homer barely over the left field wall to tie the game at 7. The Reds came up and scored two in the 11th, and Brian Giles had a huge two run RBI double in the bottom of the inning with two outs to tie the game back up at 9.

The game went for 5 hours and 57 minutes. A total of 18 pitchers were used. Aaron Harang threw on two days rest, and was impressive to say the least. At one point Harang struck out seven straight Padres. He run up nine total in four innings. Edinson Volquez, the NL ERA leader, followed him on short rest. He took the loss after allowing Gonzalez’ homer.

The game featured a total of 39 hits, including the Padres pounding out 18. Gonzalez had four of the hits, including the Padres fifth homer of the game. He had a game high four RBI’s. Kevin Kouzmanhoff hit two homers in the game, among his three hits.

Ken Griffey Jr and Brandon Phillips each had three hits for the Reds. Joey Votto chipped in three as well. Adam Dunn and Phillips each hit a homer in the game.

The Reds had three blown saves in the game. Josh Banks, just called up from Triple A, picked up his first career win. He worked six scoreless innings of relief. He gave up five hits and struck out four while walking only two.

Volquez took the loss, his second of the year. His record stands at 7-2. The only Reds pitcher not to throw was Johnny Cueto.

The Reds Jerry Hairston Jr and his brother Scott each had a stolen base and an error in the game for their teams.

A total off 55 runners were left on base, 31 by the Reds and 24 by the Padres.

Greg Maddux started the game for the Padres, in what seems like a distant memory after all was said and done. He went 5.1 innings allowing six hits and four runs. Only one run was earned. He also struck out four in the game.

The Padres face a three game set with Washington, hoping to keep momentum going from the big win Sunday.

The Padres suffered a large defeat by a score of 11-3 to the Cardinals Wednesday night. As if that was not enough, Albert Pujols managed to be on the end of two injuries sustained by Padres players.

First, Pujols hit a sharp liner back through the box that broke pitcher Chris Young’s nose. He was left with a bloodstained jersey and had to be helped off the field. Later in the inning, Pujols scored on a close play and his foot bent catcher Josh Bard’s ankle over and Bard had to leave the game with an ankle injury.

The Cardinals bats added insult to injury in the game. They rapped out 16 hits in the game. Leadoff man Skip Schumaker had a 4-5 game and scored two runs. Aaron Miles had three hits from the two spot. Troy Glaus and Chris Duncan each added two hits. Rick Ankiel had a two run pinch hit homer in the eighth inning for the Cards.

The Padres did have 10 hits, but left 17 men on base. Adrian Gonzalez led the way with two hits, including his 12th homer of the year. He had all three RBI’s for the Padres.

The offense still was not impressive, but it was enough to beat the Cardinals 3-2. Earlier in the day, the Padres had a meeting behind closed doors. One can only guess what it was about, but it is pretty likely that managed Bud Black had plenty to say about the teams abysmal performance to this point in the season.

The game changing play was Kevin Kouzmanhoff’s three run homer in the sixth inning that was all the Padres needed. They had just six hits in the game, but the Cardinals managed just seven. Kouzmanhoff had two hits, as did Khalil Greene.

Greg Maddux started and kept the game close enough that one swing of the bat reversed the score. Maddux went five innings allowing the Cardinals their two runs. He struck out two while giving up five hits. Bryan Corey picked up the win, his first of the year.

Trevor Hoffman worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the year.

Joel Pinero allowed just the three runs off the homer in 5.2 innings, but took the loss for the Cardinals.  Troy Glaus, Yadier Molina and Cear Izturis each contributed two hits. Albert Pujols had the only other hit for the Cards.

The Padres offense failed to perform again. The story of the season thus far has still yet to change. Losing their best pitcher to the DL is not the news a slumping team needs, but that is the news they received. Star Jake Peavy was placed on the DL, and Wil Ledezma made the start in his place. The Cardinals could not have shown their delight in any other way than they did in an 8-2 win.

Ledezma was knocked out  after just four innings, giving up four runs, all earned. He allowed two homers and five hits. Ledezma ran into hot hitting Ryan Ludwick and Cesar Izturis, who each hit a homer off him. Ludwick had three RBI’s and two runs off three hits, bumping his average up to .350 on the year. He has been cementing his name into the cleanup spot behind Albert Pujols.

Not the be outdone, Pujols jacked two homers in the game. He had three hits total and three runs. Each homer was a solo shot. The support was all starter Todd Wellemeyer needed, allowing the dismal Padres offense just two runs over six innings. He allowed only six hits through the six innings, only one going for extra bases. He improved to 5-1 for the Cards.

Justin Germano came into the game after Ledezma and was greeted harshly, he allowed three runs in two innings and the Cardinals pounded out six hits against him. The Padres offense only had six hits in the game.

Khalil Greene and Brian Giles each accounted for two of those, and the rest of team managed just two combined.

The Cardinals stole three bases in the game.

Erik Bedard gave the Padres more than they could handle, and left them defeated. The Mariners won 4-2 over the Padres to even the series at a game each. Bedard went eight solid innings, punching out 10 Padres and giving up just two runs.

The Padres offense continued with its season long woes and had just six hits.  Adrian Gonzalez provided the run scoring, with his team leading 10th homer of the year. Brian Giles was the lone Padre to have two hits.

The Mariners got a huge hit from star Ichiro Suzuki, who drove a ball deep to center driving in a game tying run. Ichiro had fought to the tenth pitch of the at bat before smashing a shot over the outfielders heads. He had two hits in the game and scored two runs. Adrian Beltre plated two runs with his seventh inning homer that put the Mariners in the lead.

The Padres showed an offensive spark that has been lacking all season in a 6-4 win over the Mariners. The struggles at the dish have been highly publicized and criticized openly this year.

Brian Giles led the way for the Padres with a 4-5 game with two runs driven in. Tadahito Iguchi pounded out three hits including a huge homer in the second inning. He had two runs and RBI’s. Jody Gerut, Kevin Kouzmanhoff and Khalil Greene all had two hits for the Padres as well.

The bats got going early, scoring three in the first inning and one in each of the next two. The Mariners put up a three spot of their own in the bottom of the second. Kenji Johjima hit a two run homer with two outs in that big inning.

Chris Young picked up the win despite being hit around. He gave up all four of the Mariners run in six innings. He walked four and struck out five. Miguel Batista was rocked by the Padres, something few pitchers can claim this year. He gave up six runs and nine hits in just 5.1 innings.

Trevor Hoffman picked up his eighth save of the year in the game. He struck out batters for all three outs in the ninth.