FriarBall: Padres take another from D-backs, Maddux on way to 400 wins?

Monday, September 3, 2007

Padres take another from D-backs, Maddux on way to 400 wins?

Winning 2 of 3 from the Dodgers and picking up another win from Arizona is just how I want to see this team head into the playoffs.

All of the worrying we did in July seems to be going away now and despite the fact we have no permanent fixture in the No. 5 starter hole doesn't seem to be stopping the Pads, who have finally woken up this season offensively. Did they really hit 5 home runs against the Diamondbacks Monday? And where did Brian Giles get all that power from? I thought his power hitting days were over.

Even though we got another great performance from Greg Maddux, I saw this article on the Padres official Web site and thought it was a tad premature. I mean, does picking up win No. 344 at age 41 really warrant a story on going for 400 wins?

I would love to see Maddux hit this milestone but with the way he has tired around the sixth inning in about half of his starts this season, I think it is unrealistic to think Maddux will pitch more than two more years, picking up 56 wins in the process.

As a working member of the media, I am embarrassed when stuff like this happens but I guess it always seems to happen. At this point in the season, whether Maddux will make it to 400 wins is irrelevant, but his pitching of late has been anything but.

Let's hope this battle for the NL West continues to go well and that the Padres can keep picking up these key wins. And if Maddux - or anyone else - reaches a milestone in the process, that will make these wins that much more exciting.

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