The Padre Post

Jake Peavy is undoubtedly one of the best pitchers in baseball, and if you take that off a team, it hurts. The Padres were more than happy to welcome Peavy back to their starting rotation and he was more than happy to remind people why he is so good.

Peavy masterfully threw six innings of three hit shutout baseball. He struck out four and walked none. The offense supplied more than necessary output, winning 9-0.

Hiroki Kuroda was not so lucky. The Padres jumped on him for four runs and two homers in the first inning. The first two batters reached base and Brian Giles promptly cleared them with a three run shot. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a homer of his own and put the Padres up to stay.

Gonzalez had two hits, while his brother Edgar had three.

Kuroda lasted just 2.1 innings and gave up five hits and six runs. He also walked four.

The Padres took the series by a count of 2 games to 1.

In his last start he outdid Johan Santana. In his next start, he threw one run baseball over seven innings and struck out nine Dodgers.

Randy Wolf is slowly making this into a solid season for himself, and establishing himself as one of the best deals of the last offseason.

The Padres took home the win 4-1. Edgar Gonzalez had possibly the highlight of the day, his first career homer. His brother, Adrian, is used to driving homers, but on this day the older Gonzalez had his say.

Khalil Greene belted a homer an inning later in the second and the rest was left to Wolf who was dominant to say the least.

The Dodgers had just five hits, four against Wolf.

Gonzalez and Greene each had two hits for the Padres.

Trevor Hoffman picked up his fifteenth save of the year.  Chad Billignsley took the loss, allowing four runs over seven innings off eight hits.

The Padres had a five game win streak snapped in the opener of a three game set with the Dodgers. They lost by a score of 7-2.

Greg Maddux had trouble controlling his pitches, something you won’t hear very often. He walked three and his pitch count went up high early, He only allowed one run, but lasted just six innings.

Clayton Kershaw had his best outing of his young MLB career thus far. He threw 5.1 innings and gave up six hits and just two runs. He struck out five and walked four.

Both starters took no decisions, Scott Proctor picked up the win for the Dodgers.

Russell Martin led the way for the Dodgers, with three hits and three RBI’s. Martin somehow is not leading the all-star voting at catcher despite tearing up the league for a .321 batting average.

Each of the Padres hitters 1-3 had two hits in the game.

Tony Clark sent the Padres and their fans home happy, with a second straight late inning  win. A day after Scott Hairston homered in the bottom of the tenth, Clark hit a three run, two out blast to center field off Billy Wagner.

The pitch came on a full count, and Clark did not miss. The shot helped send the Padres home winners 8-6, with the come from behind homer being the key. The put up a four spot in the bottom of the eighth.

The Padres pounded out 14 hits in the game. Jody Gerut and Brian Giles led the way with three hits a piece.  Gerut and Paul McAnulty each drove in two runs.

Carlos Delgado led the way for the Mets with three hits, including his first triple of the year.  He fell just a homer short of the cycle.

The Padres pounded starter Pedro Martinez for 10 hits and four runs. Wil Ledezma lasted just four innings, giving up five runs, four earned. He walked four and struck out four as well.

The Mets had four steals with Ledezma on the hill, including two steals of third.

The Padres offense still is not lighting up the scoreboard by any stretch of the imagination, but they are lighting up the win column with surprising consistency. The Padres won their fourth straight game Saturday, by the same exact score each time. The score of 2-1 has become the Padres lucky combination to say the least.

Scott Hairston provided the drama to the close game, blasting a walk off homer in the bottom of the tenth inning. For a team that has grown to be accustomed to playing extra innings, the pressures are non existent now.

The first run came off the bat of Michael Barrett in the fifth inning.

Starter Cha Seung Baek went six innings, allowing seven hits and just one run to the potent Mets offense. He walked just two and struck out two.

Mike Adams picked up the win in relief, throwing a scoreless top of the tenth inning.

Oliver Perez allowed just one run to the Padres, the Barrett homer, his first as a Padre. He struck out five in 4.1 innings, also giving up four hits.

Carlos Delgado had three hits for the Mets.

The Padres are not scoring runs like they want to, but they are scoring exactly how many they need to. Three straight wins by a score of 2-1 and the Padres have now won eight of their last 12 games.

Pitching has been the key to this mini hot streak, and Randy Wolf was no exception to that necessity. Especially when facing a pitcher the caliber of Johan Santana, when runs are hard to come by.

Wolf went seven innings, allowing the Mets just one run on seven hits.  He walked two and struck out two.

Santana went six innings, also allowing seven hits but gave up two runs, just one earned. He struck out five while walking one. He made a crucial mistake in the unearned run however.

In the bottom of the sixth trailing 1-0, Scott Hairston led off with a double and Edgar Gonzalez was called on to move him up. Santana fielded the bunt and attempted to throw out Hairston at third.  Brian Giles hit what looked like a double play ball, but the ball hit Gonzalez running to second and he was called out.

Adrian Gonzalez stepped in with one out and runners on first and third, and lined a single into center to tie the game.  Kevin Kouzmanhoff fought off many pitches in a seven pitch at bat before singling to center and putting the Padres ahead and Wolf in the win column.

Trevor Hoffman picked up his 13th save working a scoreless ninth inning.

Hairston led the way for the Padres with three hits in the game.

With the way the Padres season has been going thus far, they will take a win anyway they can get it. By all means, you will not hear any grumblings about having a hit batter force in the winning run from the Padres clubhouse.

That was just the scenario the Padres found won the game for them over the New York Mets Thursday. Paul McAnulty played the hero, taking a pitch off his arm that ended the game. The final score was 2-1 as the Padres won a second straight game late by the same score.

Jared Banks had another strong start on the hill for the Padres. He gave up one run in six innings allowing just five hits to the Mets bats. He walked none and struck out three.

The Padres bats showed signs of life at last, rapping out 12 hits in the game.

Tad Iguchi had three and Jody Gerut had two in a potent combination at the top of the order.

McAnulty had two hits prior to taking a Scott Schoeneweis fastball off his shoulder to win it.

Jose Reyes had two hits for the Mets, and also stole two bases. He now has 21 steals on the year.

Mike Pelfrey had a great start for the Mets, but got no run support. He allowed eight hits over six innings but gave up just one run.

The Padres managed to break out of a mini slump, after losing three straight games. They took the final game of a series with the Cubs by a score of 2-1.

The runs came at opposite ends of the game, with the first coming in the first. Scott Hairston got things started off with a bang, hitting a homer in the Padres home half of the first.

The other run came in the bottom of the eighth and broke a 1-1 tie. Kevin Kouzmanhoff knocked in Brian Giles from third with a sacrifice fly to deep right. The situation was key and put the Padres in position to win.

Greg Maddux was responsible for the Padres having a great chance to win the game against his former team. He threw just 69 pitches over seven innings and allowed just three hits and one run. Maddux struck out four. Maddux took a no decision despite his efforts.

Ted Lilly had a strong outing for the Cubs, going 7.1 innings and allowing two runs off seven hits. Lilly rung up eight Padres.

Lilly dropped to 5-5 on the year.

Trevor Hoffman picked up his 12th save of the yea, ringing up all three outs in the ninth.

The Padres finally have a .300 hitter in their starting lineup. Adrian Gonzalez has been hotter than the sun lately, hitting .615 for the month of June and .442 in his last 10 games.

After two straight games with homers, and four RBI’s in last night’s game, he followed it up with a 3-5 game. He drove in one, keeping himself in first place in the NL for runs batted in with 55 on the year. His year average stands at .304.

The Cubs had three homers among 11 hits. Geovany Soto, the leading vote getter for NL All Star Catcher, hit his tenth. Alfonso Soriano hit his 14th of the year, a three run shot in the eight inning that proved to be the difference. The Padres fought back with three of their own in the bottom of the eighth to pull the game within three.

Reed Johnson and Soriano each had two hits and scored two runs. Mark DeRosa also homered in the game, driving in two.

Jason Marquis picked up his third win of the year while Bryan Corey took the loss, his first.

The Cubs stole six bases in the game, four with Wil Ledezma on the mound. Teams have been starting to exploit the slow lefthanded motion that Ledezma has to the plate and steal bases against him.

Carlos Zambrano has earned himself a reputation as a good hitting pitcher. So when he had three hits in the game to help his own cause in a 7-6 Cubs win, it did not come as a huge surprise to anyone.

Zambrano went five innings on the mound giving up five hits and three runs while striking out two. He walked four in the game as well. In three at bats, Zambrano had three hits, including his first triple of the year. He also drove in one.

Adrian Gonzalez continued to add to his already impressive campaign. He went 3-4 with four RBI’s and two runs. He homered in the bottom of ninth in dramatic fashion. With two on and one out, he sent the ball deep into the bleachers to pull the Padres within one.

Gonzalez also had an RBI single, part of a three run first innings for the Padres.

Jim Edmonds, recently released by the Padres and picked up by the Cubs, had two doubles in the game. He also drove in two runs.  Ryan Theriot also had three hits for the Cubs. Kosuke Fukudome scored two runs in the game.

Zambrano picked up the win, his eighth of the year against just one loss.

Kerry Wood earned his 15th save of the year, coming in after Carlos Marmol gave up the homer to Gonzalez. Wood retired the last two batters of the game in order, striking out one.