Spring recap No. 18: Padres 6, Dodgers 3

Alright, so the Padres leave China with a winning record over the Dodgers after beating them 6-3 sometime while most of us slept Saturday night/Sunday morning.

A bunch of minor league pitchers with no shot at making the major league roster held the Dodgers to 3 runs while Scott Hairston knocked in 2 runs, Kevin Kouzmanoff knocked in another and Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Stateside, the game against the Rockies was rained out which in turn pushed back Brian Giles' 1st appearance this spring.

Spring Training Game 19 Preview: Padres at Rockies

At Hi Corbett Field, 1:05 p.m. PT
Starters: Jeff Francis (Col) vs. Shawn Estes (SD)

Padres are everywhere as Estes leads a split squad against the Rockies, Jake Peavy starts a minor league at the Peoria Sports Complex (also at 1:05 p.m. PT) and the China Team also took on the Dodgers sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, with Cesar Ramos starting.

Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux are all scheduled to stay behind as the Padres travel through Tucson, instead relying on minor leaguers to power what remains of the team. Apparently the China Team will get back Monday night but may not see action until Thursday so they can get over the jetlag from the long trip.

Of course even that may not be enough time as my in-laws recently went to Malaysia on a business trip/vacation and they've been back a couple of weeks and are still getting over the traveling. Let's just hope this doesn't ruin our opener.

Spring recaps Nos. 16 and 17

So our bitter rivals to the North took us on in an exhibition game in China and how did it turn out? A 3-3 tie. Isn't that supposed to be like kissing your sister? Not that I would know what that's like but after this I might actually have an idea.

But enough rambling, looking at the box a couple of things stand out the biggest being that it looks like Justin Germano should get the opportunity to start while Mark Prior is still on the mend. He continued to be sharp in MLB's China debut, giving up 1 ER, 5 hits and 1 BB in 5 IP while striking out 5. Trevor Hoffman also found it easier to pitch in China, striking out 2 and giving up 1 BB, no hits and no runs in 1 IP.

Stateside, Wade LeBlanc didn't fare too terribly well in his first start, giving up 5 runs (2 earned) and 7 hits in 2 2/3 IP. LeBlanc showed some control as he struck out 5 while walking none but the A's picked up the win 9-3.

Tony Clark continues to have a hot spring as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI (his spring BA is now .429) and Chip Ambres hit his first HR of the spring.

Early predictions for the NL West

First things first: I apologize this did not get up on Monday as promised. As most of you probably know, life has a funny way of shifting priorities. But enough excuses.

As Jan. winds down, it's time for anyone and everyone to start making predictions. So starting today, here are my breakdowns of the NL West and the Padres. Today's prediction is the order in which the teams will finish in the division with a short reason why. (Disclaimer: Since it is Jan., I reserve the right to change my predictions based on potential injuries during Spring Training. You didn't seriously think I would allow myself to be held completely to these did you?)

1. Diamondbacks: It would be easy to go with the homer pick here but AZ really surprised everyone last year, especially those who said '08 would be their year. Well, it's now '08 and they have added Dan Haren to the rotation. This team will be tough to beat again and probably has the best shot at winning the division.

2. Padres: You didn't think I'd pick them to finish any lower did you? In midseason they were the best team in the NL but they faded fast and eventually lost game 163 to Colorado. Mark Prior and Randy Wolf are interesting additions to the rotation and along with Jim Edmonds and Tadahito Iguchi this team has made some changes in hopes of playing a little longer in '08. These moves should work.

3. Rockies: They needed to win 21 of their last 22 to make the playoffs and then swept through the NL before being swept out by the Red Sox. Kip Wells is not the answer to replace the "Dragon Slayer" Josh Fogg though and no one will be caught off guard this time. However, Matt Holliday is really good, even if he never touched the plate.

4. Dodgers: Call this a hater pick if you want but Joe Torre does not equal playoffs for the boys in blue. This team still has a lot of work to do and will need more than one year for Torre to work his magic.

5. Giants: This organization is currently a mess and we will definitely need a scorecard to tell who the players are, but they are finally escaping the loooooong shadow of Barry Bonds. But they are still a couple of years away from actually turning this thing around and they should safely be entrenched in the basement by the end of April.

There you have it. Agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments.

Did the NL West just get tougher?

It's finally official, Joe Torre is now in charge of the underachieving Dodgers. And naturally all sorts of Padres followers are asking how this hire affects the NL West as a whole.

Like I have said before, Torre is a good manager but I question how well he fits with LA. But I am not going to get into that discussion again. What I want to talk about is how hard the NL West could be in 2008 if this move pays off for the Dodgers.

SD ended 2007 by falling 1 game short of the playoffs, losing out to eventual NL champ Colorado in a wild card playoff. Arizona played well above expectations and a streaking Colorado bumped us out of the mix. If things were to remain the same for AZ and Colorado, along with an LA team helmed by Torre playing well, more than one team in the division will be guaranteed an early start on the offseason again.

If Torre gets the Dodgers to live up to their potential, the NL West should clearly become the toughest division in baseball, despite the fact that SF will most likely be terrible again.

While I am not a proponent of throwing money around hoping a championship can be bought (I have watched my Washington Redskins try that approach year after year with no success), I do think this hire requires some smart moves this offseason, something Kevin Towers always seems to be ready for. The obvious areas are the backend of the rotation and the outfield, but even a strong middle reliever could be good enough.

Again, I am not proposing wholesale changes and a shopping spree, but some noise needs to be made. A lot is being made about getting a top name center fielder but even re-signing left fielder Milton Bradley is a great start. But with a thin - and overpriced - market for the other outfield positions, this could be the Padres biggest challenge. Somehow I think Towers pulls this off given what happened at the end of the year and don't be surprised if help once again comes in the form of a trade.

As the stove warms up there will be plenty more rumors to discuss and available players to drool over but for now the consensus is this - no one in the NL West is safe after last year and something obvious has to be done to improve. If it doesn't happen, the Pads will once again be on the outside of the playoffs.

Quick news and notes

Now that the Red Sox have officially ended the 2007 season, it's time to start looking at 2008 and doing what any good fan does, play Armchair GM through the winter. Already there are two things of note for Padres fans that I would like to weigh in on.

1. Joe Torre to the Dodgers? In their usual way, LA is going for the big move in hopes that it will fix its dysfunction and get the team to the playoffs. I've got nothing against Torre as a manager, but I just don't see him as the difference maker the Dodgers need.

Now this is not to bag on a guy with 4 World Series rings, but I think the bigger concern LA has is getting rid of a ton of oft-injured, aging and under achieving talent - something very few if any managers can make work. Luckily for Padres fans, the longer the Dodgers neglect their real issues, the better the shot SD has at staying towards the top of the NL West.

2. I'm sure most of you have heard - and read the subsequent comments - about Mike Cameron's 25 game suspension. Granted Cameron is not on the '08 roster but there are a couple of interesting opinions being bantered about.

Jbox over at Gaslamp Ball feels that even though he didn't want Cameron back before, this situation may present a discount opportunity.

Obviously the CF situation is one to be followed closely throughout the winter but here is my first take on the situation - while I think Cameron did a good job defensively in CF the past couple seasons, and had some good offensive hot streaks, I want to see what someone else can bring to the table.

The big names being thrown around are Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter but they both hinge upon price. I think Hunter is the more intriguing option here as both his offense and defense would not only be upgrades, but his defense would provide a constant spotlight as it will be regularly featured on highlight reels. For a club always worried about return investments, the extra national media exposure could only help right? Again, this is something to be watching all offseason and as more players file for free agency, it will be fun to see who the Padres add to punch things up.

Rocked in Colorado

It's a good thing the Friars had an off day because their performance in Colorado is not what you want to see out of a team fighting for the playoffs. And if it wasn't for Greg Maddux the Pads would really be hurting.

If these guys expect to make it further than the first round in the playoffs (or even make the playoffs at the rate they are going), they need to win games, especially against teams that are trying to get ahead of them in the Wild Card race. It's hard to believe that earlier in the week a NL West title was still a possibility. Now I am just hoping we aren't witnessing a monumental collapse. It's hard to believe that it was only June when SD had the best record in baseball.

We should be relieved that Jake Peavy will take the hill to open a 3-game set in LA (especially since he is pitching on normal rest), but with the way this season has been going, nothing surprises me anymore. This LA series is just as important as the last two (Arizona and Colorado) so let's hope our boys don't choke.

If you squint hard enough, the playoffs are still in sight.

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.

Time to play catchup

With 45 games and 2 1/2 games out of first, SD has to start making its move now if it is going to secure a spot in the playoffs. The Padres still hold a slim lead in the wild card standings but that is not the way you want to enter the playoffs, especially if you had the league's best record earlier in the season.

This stretch begins with a home series against Colorado - one of the hottest teams in the NL right now - but the funny thing about this is that both Colorado and Arizona are the teams in the thick of it with SD instead of the Dodgers. I don't think anyone thought either the Rockies or Diamondbacks would be in position to compete this year but here they are.

The next step in the march to the postseason takes place now, and if the Padres are going to solidify their place they need to begin by winning the series against Colorado.

All-Star game thoughts

Note: I, in no way, actually condone the all-star game or the fact that the winner gets home field advantage in the World Series. However, since this is the only game until Thursday, I decided to take a couple of notes of things I thought were worth mentioning.

First, I don't know if I commend Giants fans or am completely abhorred by their actions. For those who didn't see the announcement of the players and mangers, SF fans showed the Dodgers their appreciation for being on the team by booing them when they were announced even though they were on the same team as their hometown players. I thought Philly fans were the only ones that were that ruthless.

Second, another conundrum for me, I don't know if I liked or feel disrespected by the fact Tony LaRussa only let Jake Peavy pitch the first inning. According to Jayson Stark's blog on ESPN.com, he was only the fifth starting pitcher to leave a game after the first inning without allowing a run. But the best part of his 16 pitches, he made both Derek Jeter and David Ortiz look silly on their second strike swings.

Third, tough outing for Chris Young who will now live in all-star game infamy for being the first pitcher to allow an inside-the-park home run. It was the second time today Ichiro disappointed Padres fans as I'm sure those who were actually paying attention were hoping Young would show off just how good he really has been this year. Oh well, there's always next year.

Fourth, even though it wasn't in a save situation it was nice to see Trevor Hoffman get to pitch the top of the ninth. He may not have the most saves this year but it was nice to see LaRussa actually show some respect to one of our boys. And even though Hoffman had his typical outing where he gives up a big hit before shutting things down, he didn't allow a run.

And finally, did anyone else think it was interesting that Albert Pujols was still on the bench in the ninth with the game on the line? Maybe that master strategist LaRussa knows something we don't about letting guys play in the All-Star game. Oh well, maybe the NL will get home field next year.

Lots of changes lately

Sorry for the long delay between posts, the fourth has screwed up my schedule at work and has left me little time to write this weekend. But as I have pondered about what to write, I thought it might be time to finally define the identity of this blog.

I originally started this blog as a way to post my opinion on the news and happenings with the Padres but quickly detoured into other things like game-by-game analysis. So I am going to stop and go back to what I want to do. I still want to try and post everyday (of course as my schedule allows), but instead of focusing on the specifics of individual games, I want to talk about what the franchise is doing, what it is accomplishing and where it is going. So without further blabbing from my end, here is my take on a couple of the recent happpenings.

SD trades for Bradley

While I am more of a Parker Brothers guy myself (ok, stupid game joke out of the way), Milton Bradley appears to be just the type of guy that can really fill a hole. Granted, he doesn't have the cleanest track record but it appears SD is willing to take a chance, even without a physical. Along with Michael Barrett, many comments are being made about what these two new acquisitions will do to the team's chemistry. I think both guys have plenty of motive to behave and I don't think either will be a problem, no matter how closely both will be watched.

Series win over Dodgers

This series and the one with Arizona are going to be the toughest series' the rest of the season but I have a feeling the Dodgers won't be able to compete with the Padres. The Dodgers won two series' in April but since then, the Padres are 5-1 against our neighbors from the North. Our pitching should carry us to a division title and into the playoffs but if the Padres don't find more offense, they will struggle to get past the first round.

All-Star pitching

With the release of the All-Star rosters, it is no surprise that the Padres have two - and potentially three - pitchers on this year's squad. Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman are having the best year's of any starting pitchers and closers in the National League, and "last chance" nominee Chris Young should have been included in the first place considering the fact that Brad Penny and Peavy are the only two NL pitchers on a better roll right now. While the whole "last chance" vote and All-Star are jokes in general, it's cool to see our guys getting the recognition they deserve.

Hanging on

Scoring 6 runs in the fourth inning, good.

Giving up 4 runs in the last two innings, not so good.

The Padres had a little too much excitement Friday night when after they had a 7-2 lead the Dodgers were able to creep back into the game. Luckily Trevor Hoffman only gave up one run in the ninth (can you sense the sarcasm in that sentence).

Cla Meredith seems to still be struggling. He pitched a scoreless seventh but then left him in the game and he gave up 2 runs in the eighth. Chris Young had another solid performance and seems to be quietly establishing himself as a great front-of-the-rotation starter.

Which brings us to tonight's game and the No. 1 starter, Jake Peavy. Even though his ERA is above 2.00 for the first time since he gave up four runs in fourth start of the season (April 19 at home against Arizona).

Peavy's last start against the Dodgers wasn't any better than that start against Arizona as he gave up four runs in a no decision. But take the numbers out to his last five starts against LA and Peavy is 3-0 with a 3.03 ERA and 26 K's in 32 2/3 innings.

LA counters with Brad Penny, who in his last five against SD is 1-2 with a 7.62 ERA in 26 innings (and average of about 5 innings per start). Lets hope the Padres can keep that success up again tonight. We'll need it considering Penny is having as good of a 2007 as Peavy is with his 10-1 record and 2.04 ERA.

Top spot on the line

Two of three from the Giants isn't bad but the series that begins today is a big deal. With Arizona, LA and SD all battling for first place in the NL West, the Padres have to win this series to keep an advantage - and I'm sure none of us would object to a second straight sweep.

The best things about tonight's game has got to be Chris Young taking the mound. Even though Jake Peavy has been the stud of the rotation, Young's year has been very impressive as well and in his last outing against LA he pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up only 3 hits. The one disturbing - and I use the term loosely - stat is the fact that he is 0-1 in his last five starts against the Dodgers. He also has walked 20 batters compared to 21 strikeouts in those starts. Not the most impressive stats but the small sample size and the fact that Young has been on a roll this year have to count for something as well.

LA sends Hong-Chih Kuo to mound, who is 1-3 with a 6.33 ERA this year. In his only start against SD this year, Kuo pitched 6 innings, gave up 1 run and 3 hits while striking out 8. Hopefully the second time the Padres face him they will figure him out.

There's no place like the NL

I think one thing has been established during this disastrous four game losing streak - the Padres are definitely in the right league.

It looked like the Padres were finally going to get some luck going their way and then the bullpen imploded. You could see the smoke from Tampa. I, for one, will be glad when this interleague garbage is over so that SD can go back to being the team it was when they swept the Dodgers.

It looked like Greg Maddux pitched decent enough to win last night - not necessarily anything special, but good enough - and should not have had to worry when the pen came to the rescue. However, Cla Meredith has been downright bad of late and another game we should have won got away. In his 4 1/3 innings pitched in June, Meredith has given up 5 runs - 3 of them earned - and 10 hits. He has been responsible for three losses and his ERA continues to climb towards 4.00.

Meanwhile, as Gaslamp Ball pointed out after the game, the Padres have two guys with ERA's under 1.00 that are rotting on the bench.

Whatever the reason is, Bud Black has got to change his strategy or this will be the worst road trip of the season. Let's hope they can get to tonight's pitcher Edwin Jackson and his 7.39 ERA. Of course, most of the AL pitchers SD has faced recently have had juicy ERA's just begging to be blown up more and look how that has turned out. At least Jake Peavy will be able to get us to the eighth without need of the pen.

Swept away

How do the Padres go from sweeping the Dodgers earlier in the week to being swept by Seattle? That should not happen, especially when two of the guys San Diego threw had ERAs under 3.00 while all three of Seattle's pitchers were over 5.00.

Steadying influences Jake Peavy and Chris Young failed to pick up wins this weekend and San Diego lost three straight one run games, a very disturbing trend. When you don't have much offense, these are the types of games that need to be won.

Luckily for the Padres both Arizona and Los Angeles struggled this weekend as well and they are still tied atop the NL West with the Diamondbacks.

Interleague nonsense continues this week as the Padres travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Devil Rays. Hopefully Greg Maddux can get the team back on track Tuesday, even though Tampa Bay is throwing out one of the most promising pitching prospects in Scott Kazmir. And even though the Rays are still pretty bad, as the series with the Mariners showed, the Padres are no lock to take any series.

Walk off walk

You've got to love winning a game on a walk off walk, especially when it seemed that the Padres had blown the sweep. Five runs in the bottom of the ninth is unheard of and what makes this win even better is that is finished off a sweep of the Dodgers.

Jake Peavy got rocked - by his standards - and things seemed to have gotten away from our boys but behold the power of a bottom of the ninth rally. It was even better to get it against LA's interim closer, Jonathan Broxton, whom many feel should take over for Takashi Saito.

These three wins should give us a little bit of breathing room at least with the Dodgers, now we have to focus on keeping up the pace with Arizona, as they have matched San Diego's every win of late. This NL West race is going to come down to the wire and every game is going to count. Next up, the fiercest rivalry in baseball. Yup, you read that right, the Mariners are coming to town.

Justin Germano looks to improve to 5-0 and keep his ERA under 2.00 while his counterpart, Miguel Batista, struggles to prove he actually belongs in the bigs.

One for the record books

In case you have been under a rock or nowhere within the distance of a TV with ESPN, Trevor Hoffman finally got save No. 500 last night.

What was more impressive to me though was what happened before Hoffman's bells rang. I was amazed to see how efficient Greg Maddux was, even though he left in a jam in the seventh inning, throwing only 71 pitches. And even though he left in the seventh with one out, Luis Gonzalez on base and a home run having been given up to Jeff Kent, Heath Bell was even more efficient than Maddux, throwing two pitches and getting Russell Martin to ground into a double play. The rest was gravy, even though Hoffman gave us our usual heart attack by letting Nomar Garciaparra double to lead off the inning.

What has me even more stoked than Wednesday's win, though, is the fact that Jake Peavy is on the mound tonight for the rubber match and the series sweep. San Diego was tied with the Dodgers heading into the series, now let's see if they can get some more distance from them in the NL West race.

Waterlogged

Well, the Padres lucked out again, this time winning in the rain after letting the Nationals come back to tie them. This series against the Nationals should not have been this hard and Jake Peavy should not have lost on Friday.

David Wells is starting to worry me with his up-and-down outings and that shot Ryan Zimmerman hit off him in the third was huge, landing in the upper deck of cavernous RFK. The lineup was devoid of most of the starters but the pen came through so I guess it's good to have something we can usually count on.

Now we get the Dodgers with Chris Young taking the hill first. This should be a spectacular series, especially with our best pitchers taking the hill. So let's gear up for a great series and hope we come out on top.

Shipwrecked

The problem with David Wells' performance wasn't the fact that he gave up two runs - it was the fact he lasted only five innings while putting nine runners on base and making only 67 pitches.

I know I have mentioned this before but I will again mention it again - Wells is valuable as a teacher for the younger guys on staff, but he may no longer be starting material. And with Kevin Towers dead set on keeping more pitchers than he needs on his roster, a solution needs to be found for when Clay Hensley comes off the DL. Justin Germano is not going anywhere and it makes no sense that if Hensley is being developed as a starter to send him back to the pen, so the solution seems to be sending down Justin Hampson or Kevin Cameron and finding a spot for Hensley.

Again, I propose the solution of moving Wells to the pen and making him the No.1 option for if or when Hensley or Germano gets in trouble and needs to come out early. It keeps Wells on staff in a position that he can still tutor the younglings, it keeps the younglings in the starting rotation and it gets one of our unused relievers some playing time, even if it is at a lower level.

It also seems to give the Friars the best chance to win. The Padres have lost 4 of the last 6 Wells has started and they can't afford to lose games to the lowly Bucs, especially when the Los Angeles Dodgers are in front in the NL West.

Back in the win column

You know it's a good game when these things happen:

1. The Padres snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Dodgers 3-2.

2. Trevor Hoffman comes in and saves the game, actually looking like the league's all-time saves leader.

3. Kevin Kouzmanoff actually gets a hit. Now we need to work on getting two hits in the same game. Small steps.

Let's hope the Friars can make it two in a row against the Dodgers.