Big inning leads to series win

Two things stick out to me from Thursday night's game.

1. How about the offense scoring 9 in the 5th? Cavernous Petco looked more like Coors last night (yes, I realize a lot of people are writing the same thing) with an 11-9 outcome. But with the deep fences and long alleyways in Petco, should it really be a surprise to see teams take advantage of all that green in the outfield as they hit it to the gaps? Nice to see the comeback and then see the Padres hold on for the win.

2. Our team is definitely an enigma. There are some teams, no matter what year or what sport, that you can just predict how they will win and where the trouble spots will be. Not so with the Padres. Last night it was the offense that came through after SD fell behind but the lead was almost squandered by the pitching and defense when most people would say those are the Padres strengths. They have mainly been a pitching team throughout the year but it seems of late our starters are having trouble getting deep into games and the pen looks likes it wearing down. I realize Kevin Towers is doing everything he can to spare the pen (getting rid of David Wells and running an all-night shuttle between SD and Portland so as to bring up and rest a different batch of arms every night) but what really needs to happen is the Padres need to get 2-3 consecutive starts to last 7 innings or more.

In Denver, it looks like the writers are already saying this game could be the breaking point for the Rockies but if you ask me, wouldn't you need to see another game and see how the team bounces back from a loss like this before you start calling it the end of a playoff run. The best part is the fact where Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post says the manager has looked like a genius because his pen has held up so well lately but last night seems to erase all of that.

They're hitting the panic button in the Rockies, which should now make this a race between the Padres and the Diamondbacks but just in case Colorado isn't done after one bad game, let's hope the team can put it all together against Houston this weekend.

The (non) Weekend Update

So I've been a little lax this weekend in posting my thoughts, I am sure many out there are disappointed ... and more probably didn't even notice.

Jake Peavy has to be the best pitcher in baseball right now and if he had gotten the proper support in that no decision against the Diamondbacks where he struck out 16 there probably would be a number of stories detailing his life history on ESPN since they like to jump on what's hot. We knew he was good, even when he struggled last year, but I don't think any of us expected his season to go this way this early.

And it's nice to know that when a starting pitcher goes down, a guy like Justin Germano is hanging around in Portland ready for his next shot. After giving up only one run in his first start against Atlanta, Germano pitched seven innings of shut out ball on Sunday - which is huge considering Greg Maddux, David Wells and Clay Hensley have been so unpredictable. That trio has been very up-and-down and so to see Germano see pretty steady in his first two starts says a lot.

It was also nice to see the bullpen not have to work so hard against the Cardinals as they had to against the Braves. And three games at Cincinnati should not be too taxing either.

The only other thing I loved about the weekend series was retro night. Gaslampball.com has some great pictures from retro night (go check them out) but the only image you need to see is this one I found of Peavy.

Got to love the yellow and brown uni's. Now let's beat those Reds.