Padres 2007 season - Games 61 to 70

After 60 games: Pads have won 36, lost 24, lead the NL West by 1 game over Diamondbacks, 1-1/2 game over Dodgers. Runs 262-196, Homers 51-31.

Game 61, Saturday, June 9, Seattle at SD: M's win 6-5. This should have been a win - the Pads led 5-1 when it was turned over to the bullpen in the 7th inning. David Wells started and went 6+ innings (6 hits, 3 runs, 0 BB, 2 K). Heath Bell, Scott Linebrink and Doug Brocail (loser, now 2-1) each gave up one run in an inning of work. The Pads jumped on starter Jeff Weaver for 2 in the first and on Jason Davis for 3 in the 5th, then rolled over meekly for closer JJ Putz in the 9th. After 61 games: Won 36, Lost 25 (home 20-11, road 16-14), Runs 267-202, Homers 51-32. Lost 2 in a row, won 5 of last 7, 7 of last 10.

Game 62, Sunday, June 10, Seattle at SD: M's win 4-3. This was another winnable game - the Pads led 3-1 when the M's chased Chris Young in the 7th with 2 runs to tie it up. In the 9th, Kevin Kouzmanoff made an error that led to the winning run off Trevor Hoffman (loser, 2-3). Mike Cameron and Terrmel Sledge homered for all 3 Padre runs in the 4th inning. JJ Putz again closed the Pads out for the 3rd straight game. After 62 games: Won 36, Lost 26 (home 20-12, road 16-14), Runs 270-206, Homers 53-32. Lost 3 in a row, won 5 of last 8, 6 of last 10.

Game 63. Tuesday, June 12, SD at Tampa Bay, Rays win 11-4. This was a winnable game - the Pads were ahead 4-3 in the 7th inning, but the bullpen got rocked. Greg Maddux pitched 6.1 innings (6 hits, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) - not that good an outing. Cla Meredith lost it (now 2-5) giving up 2 unearned runs, and then Doug Brocail finished it, giving up a grand slam to Carlos Pena in the 8th. Scott Kazmir and 3 relievers struck out 14 Pads. After 63 games: Won 36, lost 27 (home 20-12, road 16-15), Runs 274-217, Homers 53-33, Lost 4 in a row, won 5 of last 10.

Game 64, Wednesday, June 13, SD at Tampa Bay, Pads win 9-0. Jake Peavy (winner, 8-1) was on, giving up 2 hits in 7 innings with 3 BBs and 8 K's. The Pads jumped on Edwin Jackson for 5 runs in the 1st inning - a 3-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez and a 2-run homer by Kevin Kouzmanoff. In the 3rd, Khalil Greene emptied the bases with a double to make it 8-0, and the Pads coasted from there. Terrmel Sledge hit a solo homer in the 7th. After 64 games: Won 37, Lost 27 (home 20-12, road 17-15), runs 283-217, Homers 56-33, Won 1 in a row, lost 4 of last 5, won 6 out of last 10.

Game 65, Thursday, June 14, SD at Tampa Bay: Pads win 7-1. But it wasn't that easy. Justin Germano threw 6 innings of shutout ball, giving up 3 hits, 1 BB, 4 K's and getting the win (now 5-0). The Pads scored a run in the first on a walk, a double and an error. In the 7th, the Pads scored four runs with RBIs from Cruz, Gonzalez, Blum and Greene. The Rays scored a run in the 8th off Doug Brocail, and the Pads added one in the 9th on a Marcus Giles RBI single. After 65 games: Won 38, Lost 27 (home 20-12, road 18-15), runs 290-218, Homers 56-34, Won 2 in a row, lost 4 of last 6, won 6 out of last 10.

Game 66, Friday, June 15, SD at Chicago Cubs: Cubs win 4-1. David Wells pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 runs, 10hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks, losing (now 3-4). The Cubs got a run in the 4th, and the Pads tied it in the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th, Wells gave up home runs to Mike Fontenot and Alfonso Soriano. Soriano pranced a bit before running it out. Ted Lilly shut the Pads down over 8 innings on 6 hits1 BB, 3 Ks. After 66 games: Won 38, Lost 28 (home 20-12, road 18-16), Runs 291-222, Homers 56-36. Lost 1 in a row, lost 5 of 7, won 5 of last 10.

Game 67, Saturday, June 16, SD at ChiCubs: Pads win 1-0. Another "best game of the year." There were three major highlights in this game. Chris Young started for SD, and hit Derrek Lee in the top of the 4th. Lee charged Young and the teams emptied the benches. Lee and Young were tossed. Carlos Zambrano lost his no-hitter in the 8th, when he tipped a hopper up the middle. He lost the game in the 9th when Russell Branyan one-armed an opposite field home run. The Pads bullpen was superb - Justin Hampson went 3.1 innings, Heath Bell went 1.2 innings (winner, 1-2), and Trevor Hoffman pitched the 9th for his 19th save. After 67 Games: Won 39, lost 28 (home 20-12, road 19-16), Runs 292-222, Homers 57-36, Won 1 in a row, lost 5 of last 8, won 5 of last 10.

Game 68, Sunday, SD at Chicago Cubs: Pads win 11-3. It wasn't that close. Greg Maddux (winner, now 6-3, 6 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 0 BB, 1 K) sailed until the 6th and the bullpen finished up with 3 shutout innings. This game was all about Padres' power (huh? what power?) - Mike Cameron had 2 HRs and 3 RBI, Adrian Gonzalez had a HR, 3 doubles and 3 RBI, with 2 RBI, Kahlil Greene hit a 3-run HR with 4 RBI, and Rob Bowen hit a solo shot for 9 of the Padres runs. After 68 Games: Won 40, Lost 28 (home 20-12, road 20-16), Runs 303-225, Homers 62-36, Won 2 in a row, won 5 of last 10.

Game 69, Tuesday, Baltimore Orioles at SD: Pads win, 12-6. Jake Peavy sailed through 5 innings, then gave up 3 runs in the 6th and was gone (6 innings, 3 ER, 6 hits, 2 BB, 7 Ks, won, now 9-1). The Pads were ahead 5-3 when they scored 6 in the bottom of the 6th. The Birds got 3 in the 7th off of Justin Hampson, and the Pads added 1 in the 8th. On offense, Marcus Giles (HR, 3 RBI) and Kahlil Greene (HR, 3 RBI) were the stars. After 69 games: Won 41, Lost 28 (home 21-12, road 20-16), Runs 315-231, Homers 64-36, Won 3 in a row, won 5 of last 10.

Game 70, Wednesday, Orioles at SD, Birds win 7-1. It wasn't that close! Justin Germano (loser, now 5-1) gave up 4 hits to lead off the 1st, then shut the Birds down for 6 innings. Doug Brocail pitched the 7th and 8th, giving up 4 runs to put the game out of reach. Jeremy Guthrie shut the Pads down on 4 hits over 8 innings. Russell Branyan's solo homer in the 8th spoiled the shutout. After 70 games: Won 41, Lost 29 (home 21-13, road 20-16), Runs 316-238, Homers 65-36, Lost 1 in a row, won 5 of last 10.

After 70 games, the Pads are in first place in the NL West, 1/2 game ahead of the D-backs and 1-1/2 ahead of the Dodgers. The team BA is 0.246 (opponents 0.240), and the team ERA is 3.02 (opponents is 4.23).

The Pads called up Chase Headley when Kevin Kouzmanoff had a back problem, and Paul McAnulty went to AAA. They traded C Rob Bowen to the Cubs for C Michael Barrett.