Padres 2007 - Games 81 to 90

After 80 games (one game shy of half the season):

The Padres are in 1st place in the NL West with a 46-34 record, with a one game lead on the Dodgers (46-36), 1-1/2 on the Snakes (46-37), 8 on the Rockies (39-43) and 11 on the Giants (35-45). Their record is 1/2 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (47-34) and even with the NY Mets (46-34). They are 19-13 against the NL West, 40-25 in the NL, and 6-9 against the AL. They are 5-6 in extra inning games, and 13-16 in one-run games.

As a team, the Pads are 16th in the NL in Batting Average (0.243), 11th in runs scored, 9th in home runs hit, 1st in ERA (3.03), 1st in shutouts (11), with an opponents BA of 0.243. The Pads walk 9.8% of the time (opponents walk 7.8% of the time, and strike out 23.0% of the time (opponents strike out 19.7% of the time).

Game 81, Monday, July 2, Florida at SD: Pads win 3-1. David Wells went 6 innings, giving up no runs on 5 hits with 3 BB and 6 Ks - his best outing of the year (wins - now 4-5). The Pads scratched 3 runs on infield grounders and a sacrifice fly, and mounted a mighty offense consisting of 3 hits and 3 walks. Josh Willingham broke up the shutout in the 8th with a homer off Scott Linebrink. After 81 games, the Pads are 47-34 (home 23-16, road 24-18), Runs 351-272, Homers 74-44, Won 1 in a row, won 6 out of last 10.

Game 82, Tuesday, July 3, Florida at SD: Fish win, 6-4. This one got away as Buddy left Greg Maddux in too long. The Pads scored two in the second, and Kahlil Greene hit a two-run homer in the 6th to stake Maddux to a 4-2 lead. In the 7th, Hanley Ramirez tied the game with a pinch-hit homer, then Maddux gave up 2 hits and was lifted (6.1 innings. 6 runs, 10 hits, 0 BB, 5 Ks, lost, now 7-5). Royce Ring came on and gave up two runs before he got the side out. The Marlins bullpen shut the Pads down in the 8th and 9th without a baserunner. After 82 Games, the Pads are 47-35 (home 23-17, road 24-18), Runs 355-278, Homers 75-45, Lost 1 in a row, won 6 out of last 10.

Game 83, Wednesday, July 4, Florida at SD: Pads win 1-0. This is the Pads fourth 1-0 win this year, and their 12th shutout. Chris Young went 7 innings (0 runs, 5 hits, 0 BB, 9 Ks), followed by Scott Linebrink and Heath Bell (winner, now 2-2). Josh Johnson matched Young through 5 innings, then the Marlins bullpen did a good job until the 9th, when Mike Cameron doubled, Kahlil Greene was walked intentionally, Hiram Bocachica bunted and was safe to load the bases, and Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded to 3rd base. Miguel Cabrera threw home and Miguel Olivo didn't catch the throw on a routine play. Cameron scored, the Padres won and everybody cheered. We didn't watch the game - we went to church for a picnic and the fireworks. After 83 games: Won 48, lost 35 (home 24-17, road 24-18), Runs 356-278, Homers 75-45, Won 1 in a row, Won 6 of last 10.

Game 84, Thursday, July 5, Florida at SD: Fish win, 3-2. This was a winnable game - several times over. Jake Peavy (lost, now 9-3, 7 innings, 3 ER, 5 hits, 3 BB, 6 Ks) had a pedestrian outing. The Pads had only 3 hits, and didn't drive in a man on 3rd with nobody out in the 1st, and 2 runners on with 1 out in the 7th. The offense really sucks right now. The Fish got just enough hitting to score 3 and hang on. After 84 games: Won 48, Lost 36 (home 24-18, road 24-18), Runs 358-281, Homers 75-46, Lost 1 in a row, won 6 of last 10.

Game 85, Friday, July 6, Atlanta at SD: Braves win 7-4. It wasn't even close. Justin Germano has a terrible outing (4 innings, 7 ER, 10 hits, 2 BB, 2 Ks, lost, now 5-3). Ex-Padre Buddy Carlyle held the Pads to 3 runs on 8 hits over 8 innings. The Braves scored 3 in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th. The Pads jumped ahead 2-0 in the 1st on 3 singles and a fielders choice. Russell Branyan hit a solo homer in the 7th. After 85 games: Won 48, Lost 37 (home 24-19, road 24-18), Runs 362-288, Homers 76-47, Lost 2 in a row, 3 out of last 5, and won 6 of last 10.

Game 86, Saturday, July 7, Atlanta at SD: Pads win 8-5. Both teams overcame deficits in this game. David Wells went only 3 innings (3 ER, 4 hits, 1 BB, 1 K) and was ejected for arguing with the plate umpire. Doug Brocail came off the DL and pitched 3 scoreless innings, and Heath Bell pitched the 7th, giving up the 2 typing runs and getting the win(now 3-2). Linebrink and Hoffman (25th save) finished it off. The Pads scored 1 in the 2nd on Kahlil Greene's solo homer, 4 in the 4th, 3 on a Mike Cameron homer, and 3 in the 7th on key hits by Gonzalez and Kouzmanoff. A nice comeback win after getting tied. After 86 games: Won 49, Lost 37 (home 25-19, road 24-18), Runs 370-293, Homers 78-48, Won 1 in a row, won 3 out of last 6, won 6 out of last 10.

Game 87, Sunday, July 8, Atlanta at SD: Braves won, 5-4. This was a terrible game on national TV (ESPN). The Braves scored 3 in the 2nd and 2 in the 6th off Greg Maddux (5+ IP, 5 ER, 6 hits, 2 BB, 2 Ks, lost now 7-6). The Pads had 1 run on 4 hits through 8 innings, retiring 16 of the last 17 batters. In the 9th, the Pads had 5 hits off closer Bob Wickman and scored 3 runs to make it close, but Marcus Giles struck out to end it (on a ball 6 inches outside called by the umpire). After 87 games: Won 49, Lost 38 (home 25-20, road 24-18), Runs 374-298, Homers 78-50, Lost 1 in a row, lost 4 of last 7, won 5 out of last 10.

Now it's the All-Star break, with Jake Peavy starting the game in San Francisco. Chris Young won the last spot on the fans vote, and Trevor Hoffman will be there too.

Peavy pitched the scoreless first inning, Young pitched the 5th and gave up two runs on Ichiro's inside-the-park homer, and Trevor pitched a scoreless 9th. The Nationals lost 5-4 for the 10th game in a row.

Game 88, Friday, July 13, SD at Arizona: Snakes win 8-3. This was a terrible game - behind early, had a chance, lost it badly. The pitching was terrible - Greg Maddux gave up 4 runs in 4 innings (on 9 hits), and Brocail had two shutout innings. The Pads got two solo homers from Kouzmanoff and Jose Cruz to pull to 4-3 in the top of the 7th. We had a chance! Then relievers Royce Ring and Cla Meredith gave up 4 more runs in the 7th and 8th. After 88 games - Won 49, Lost 39 (home 25-20, road 24-19), Runs 377-306, Homers
80-50, Lost 2 in a row, lost 5 of last 8, lost 6 of last 10.

Game 89, Saturday, July 14, SD at Arizona: Snakes win 5-4. What's worse than falling behind and almost coming back? It's going ahead and losing it in the later innings. Chris Young pitched very well - 6 innings,1 run, 2 hits, 0 BB, 8 Ks. The Pads got solo homers from Kouzmanoff and Greene and a two-run shot by Brian Giles, and the Pads are up 4-1 into the 7th. Heath Bell got lit up in the 7th for 3 runs and then Scott Linebrink gave up a run in the 8th to take thel oss. The Arizona bullpen pitched 3 hitless innings. After 89 games - Won 49, Lost 40 (home 25-20, road 24-20), Runs 381-311, Homers 83-51, Lost 3 in a row, lost 7 of last 10.

Game 90, Sunday, July 15, SD at Arizona: Pads win 4-0. Justin Germano went 6 good innings and won the game. The Pads had 12 hits and scratched out 4 runs on timely hitting against Brandon Webb. The bullpen (Bell, Linebrink and Brocail) finished it off. The team really needed this one. The 13th shutout of the year. After 90 games - Won 50, Lost 40 (home 25-20, road 25-20), Runs 385-311, Homers 83-51, Won 1 in a row, lost 3 out of last 4, lost 6 out of last 10.

In this 10 game stretch, the team lost 6 out of 10, scored 37 runs and gave up 40, and saw the team ERA soar above 3.10.

After 90 games, the batting leaders are (BAvg, AB, H, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K)

* Milton Bradley .... (0.400, 15, 6, 0, 0, 3, 2, 3)
* Brian Giles ......... (0.292, 212, 62, 12, 2, 17, 30, 26)
* Mike Cameron ....(0.262, 344, 90, 22, 11, 44, 29, 87)
* Adrian Gonzalez . (0.261, 353, 92, 25, 14, 52, 40, 85)
* Mike Barrett ....... (0.258, 264, 68, 12, 9, 34, 17, 43)
* Josh Bard ........... (0.256, 203, 52, 12, 3, 23, 23, 31)
* Jose Cruz ........... (0.246, 244, 60, 12, 6, 21, 29, 63)
* Marcus Giles ...... (0.242, 339, 82, 18, 4, 31, 33, 64)
* Kahlil Greene ..... (0.240, 325, 78, 21, 16, 52, 18, 64)
* Kevin Kouzmanoff (0.238, 239, 57, 14, 9, 39, 20, 57)

The current starters are (W-L, ERA, G, IP, H, BB, SO):

* Chris Young ....... (8-3, 1.91, 18, 109.2, 76, 36, 107)
* Jake Peavy ......... (9-3, 2.19, 18, 119.0, 92, 34, 125)
* Justin Germano ..(6-3, 3.55, 12, 71.0, 64, 16, 37)
* David Wells ...... (4-5, 4.31, 17, 96.0, 115, 25, 55)
* Greg Maddux ..... (7-6, 4.35, 19, 113.2, 130, 19, 60)

The top relievers are (W-L, S, ERA, G, IP, H, BB, SO):

* Kevin Cameron ... (0-0, 0, 0.31, 21, 29.1, 17, 18, 24)
* Trevor Hoffman .. (2-3, 24, 1.91, 35, 33.0, 19, 6, 20)
* Heath Bell ........... (3-2, 0, 2.26, 44, 51.2, 36, 14, 53)
* Royce Ring ......... (1-0, 0, 2.38, 11, 11.1, 7, 8, 14)
* Scott Linebrink ... (202, 1, 2.61, 40, 41.1, 36, 11, 22)
* Doug Brocail ...... (2-1, 0., 2.79, 32, 38.2, 30, 13, 23)
* Cla Meredith ..... (3-5, 0, 3.48, 42, 44.0, 54, 9, 34)