Just four days ago, there was a three way tie for first place in the National League West. Now, after a three game sweep over the Dodgers and five wins in a row overall, the Padres have broken away from the pack, at least for the time being.
Jake Peavy looked mortal yesterday. It was the first time since opening day he was tagged for four runs in a start and his ERA almost pushed above 2.00 because of it. Still, with 95 strikeouts and a 7-1 record (the offense bailed him out yesterday), he’s definitely on his way toward his first Cy Young.
The pitching star of the series was Chris Young. He threw seven shutout innings in the opener on Tuesday to keep the Padres in the game. It was eventually only a 1-0 win and Young got us there with a 117 pitch outing. Also, congratulations to Trevor Hoffman, who had two saves in the series. He became the first pitcher ever to save 500 games in a season. What a season he’s having, holding the opposition to a 1.79 batting average.
Interleague play starts back up tonight and the Padres play three against the Mariners, this time at home. The Mariners are somewhat surprising this year and the most interesting pitching match up is the finale on Sunday, when Chris Young takes on a struggling Felix Hernandez. You have to feel for Felix because he was so good in those first two starts. Now he’s looked rather mortal since his injury.