Pads Hold Off Pirate Comeback

The San Diego Padres opened a seven run lead in the second game of their series with Pittsburgh, only to be forced to hang on for an 8-5 victory at Petco Park.

Kevin Correia cruised through six innings then saw the wheels come off in the seventh. Luckily, his teammates had given him plenty of cushion and he gained a W despite giving up four of the five Pirate tallies.

Jerry Hairston Jr. hit his tenth home run, Adrian Gonzalez had four hits and Heath Bell contributed his 33rd save, tied for the league lead. San Diego also continued putting pressure on opposing defenses with the running game, with a double steal and a contact play late in the game giving an insurance run after the Bucs had closed to within two scores.

Chase Headley came up big with the glove in the eighth, snaring two line drives. The second came to end the inning after a Ryan Ludwick misplay in right had led to an unearned run. Ludwick seemed to turn his head before closing his glove as he raced towards the foul line, perhaps showing awareness of the walkway past the bullpen that saw several nasty tumbles early in Petco's history, though it has been safer since they added extra fencing.

Bell looked dominant in the ninth, especially against Ryan Doumit. Mike Adams pitched the eighth, with so much movement on his pitches that even his catcher Yorvit Torrealba had trouble handling him.

Ludwick Hits Two, Pads Top Hapless Pirates

The Padres started a series with Pittsburgh last night the way you are supposed to start a series with a bad team. Wade Blank struck out eight and Ryan Ludwick hit his first two dingers as a Padre to send the Friars to a 4-1 victory.

About the only Padre who had a tough night was Miguel Tejada, who got robbed of base hits twice by excellent plays at third and second by the visiting Bucs.

Although the Pirates are now the major league team closest to my home, I can't feel bad about this. If the Pads are going to win the west, they need to dominate bad teams and that is what the Pirates are... a bad team. Certainly we can't repeat the performance against Arizona, another bad team that took two out of three from us.

I'll root for the Pirates as soon as they leave San Diego. Right now, I want them crushed. Especially if the Cubs are going to keep beating the Giants, as they did last night in topping SF ace Tim Lincecum.

Kevin Correia take the hill tonight against Pittsburgh and we need to keep this train rolling. The Dodger and Rockies are seven games back and their hopes are fading, but the Giants are right on our tails, only 2.5 out even after yesterday. I would love to see this Padre club create some breathing room for itself.

The Dog Days Are A Good Time To Be Top Dog

It's been so long since I wrote about baseball. Hardly a word this year, very little last.Sure, I am separated in distance from my team and the city, I am forced to follow on the internet or hope for an Adrian dinger to be replayed on Sportscenter, sandwiched between ten minutes about the Yankees and seven about the Mets.

But if I can't get interested to write aboout this Padre team, a team based on so many of the things I love about baseball...

Okay, so there is no money in it right now. But writing about Padre baseball wasn't about money at first. It was about love for the game, love for my team and love of writing. Have I lost those simply because there was once a check attached to my words and now it is gone?

I have, recently, complained of the loss of my muse. In all my writing endeavors, though principally in my fiction.

Perhaps I shall find her in a seat between the bases, with a beer and a dog.


By the way, the Padres won last night. A 10-1 shellacking of the last place Snakes to avoid a maddening sweep. Luckily for us, the red hot Giants chose the same weekend to cool, or perhaps were cooled due to facing a quality Atlanta team. Two games up, two months to play.

It is gonna be interesting.

USA Advances With Dramatic Goal!

And here is how the bar I used to go watch at reacted...