Padres 2007 - Games 91 to 100

After 90 games (55.5% of the season completed):

The Padres are in 2nd place in the NL West with a 50-40 record, one game behind the Dodgers (52-40), the Snakes (49-44) are 3-1/2 behind the Dodgers, the Rockies (45-46) are 8-1/2 behind, and the Giants (38-51) are 12-1/2 behind. The Padres record is 1/2 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (51-40) and the NY Mets (51-40). They are 44-31 in the NL, and 6-9 against the AL. They are 5-6 in extra inning games, and 14-19 in one-run games. They have thrown 12 shutouts, and been shut out only two times.

As a team, the Pads are 16th in the NL in Batting Average (0.242), 11th in runs scored, 9th in home runs hit, 1st in ERA (3.11), 1st in shutouts (12), with an opponents BA of 0.244. The Pads walk 9.9% of the time (opponents walk 7.6% of the time) and strike out 23.0% of the time (opponents strike out 19.6% of the time).

Game 91. Monday, July 16, NY Mets at SD: Pads win, 5-1. David Wells (winner, now 5-5, 6 innings, 1 R, 7 hits, 1 BB, 2 K) had one of his best games. The bullpen pitched 3 scoreless innings. The Pads scored 2 in the 2nd on a hit by Mike Barrett, one in the 7th on an infield out by Marcus Giles, and 2 in the 8th on a solo homer by Mike Cameron, then an RBI single by Barrett. After 91 games, the Pads are 51-40 (home 26-20, road 25-20), Runs 390-312, Homers 84-51. The team has won 2 in a row, won 4 of last 10.

Game 92, Tuesday, July 17, NY Mets at SD: Mets win 7-0. El Duque was marvelous - he always baffles the Pads. He went 7 innings, giving up 2 hits. Jake Peavy (lost, now 9-4, 6 innings, 3 ER, 6 hits, 2 BB, 5 Ks) gave up a run in the 4th and 2 in the 5th. The bullpen (Cameron and Ring) gave up 4 runs in 3 innings. After 92 games, the Pads are 51-41 (home 26-21, road 25-20), Runs 390-319, Homers 84-51. The team has lost one in a row, lost 6 of last 10.

Game 93, Wednesday, July 18, NY Mets at SD: Pads win 5-4, but it wasn't easy. Greg Maddux pitched 5 shutout innings, left with a 4 run lead, but the bullpen gave up 4 runs - Linebrink gave up a 3-run homer to David Wright in the 8th and the game was tied. In the 8th, Geoff Blum drove in a run to give the Pads the lead and Trevor Hoffman notched his 26th save. Earlier, Adrian Gonzalez hit is 15th homer, and Milton Bradley hit his first. After 93 games, the Pads are 52-41 (home 27-21, road 25-20), Runs 395-323, Homers 86-53. The team has won 1 in a row, and won 4 of last 10.

Game 94, Thursday, July 19, Philadephia Phillies at SD: Pads win 1-0. Chris Young threw another masterpiece (7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 BB, 6 Ks, now 9-3) against the best hitting team in the NL. Cole Hamels gave up only one run on 2 hits and took the loss. The run scored in the 3rd on an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez. Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman (save #27, struck out the side in the 9th) closed it out for the Pads. After 94 games, the Pads are 53-41 (home 28-21, road 25-20), Runs 396-323, Homers 86-53. The Pads have won 2 in a row, 4 of the last 5, and 5 of the last 10.

Game 95, Friday, July 20, Philly at SD: Phils win, 7-3. The Pads were ahead 2-1 after 3, but the Phils got 3 in the 4th to go ahead to stay off Justin Germano (5.1 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 3 BB, 3 Ks, now 6-4). The Phils got 3 more in the 7th and 8th off Doug Brocail. The Pads had 11 hits and 8 walks, but left 15 runners on base. Adam Eaton won it for the Phils. After 95 games, the Pads are 53-42 (home 28-22, road 25-20), Runs 399-330, Homers 86-54. The Pads have lost 1 in a row, won 4 of last 6, won 5 of last 10.

Game 96, Saturday, July 21, Philly at SD: Phils win 12-4. It wasn't a close game - easily one of the worst of the season. David Wells started and went only 4.1 innings (7 ER, 7 hits, 2 BB, 1 K, lost, now 5-6). Ryan Howard (5 RBI) crushed two homers for the Phils, as did Wes Helms. The Phils got 5 in the 9th off of Cla Meredith on a series of infield and seeing-eye hits, capped by a double. The Pads had 8 hits against the beatable Jamie Moyer, but left 8 runners on base. The so-so Phils bullpen looked like worldbeaters. Milton Bradley had a homer, triple and single. After 96 games, the Pads are 53-43 (home 28-23, road 25-20), Runs 403-342, Homers 87-57. The Pads have lost 2 straight, and lost 6 of last 10.

Game 97, Sunday, July 22, Phillies at Pads: Phils win 9-0. Another terrible game - poor pitching, no hitting, they made a young pitcher look like Cy Young. Jake Peavy (lost, now 9-5, 6 innings, 4 ER, 9 hits, 2 BB, 6 Ks) started and gave up 2 runs in the 3rd (Rollins homer and Howard RBI double) and 2 in the 5th (Rollins triple, Victorino double and Howard SacFly RBI) and was not real sharp. The Phils tacked on 5 runs in the 8th off Doug Brocail (4 runs) and Royce Ring (1 run). The Pads never really threatened against JD Durbin, who had a complete game. After 97 games, the Pads are 53-44, (home 28-24, road 25-20), Runs 403-351, Homers 87-58. The Pads have lost 3 straight, and 6 of the last 10.

Game 98, Monday, July 23, SD at Colorado: Rocks win 7-5. This is another game where the hitting was OK, the starter did well, and the relievers gave it up. Greg Maddux started (6 innings, 2 ER, 5 hits, 0 BB, 2 Ks) and left with a 5-2 lead. Scott Linebrink hit a batter, waled another, gave up a 3-run homer to Holliday to make it 5-5, then gave up a hit to Atkins. Cla Meredith came in and gave up a homer to Hawpe to cinch the game for the Rockies. The Pads broke out of their slump - 5 runs on 12 hits, with Bradley getting a 3-run homer in the 5th, and Kouzmanoff a solo homer in the 6th. Jeff Francis went 6 innings, giving up all 5 Padres runs on 10 hits. After 98 games, the Pads are 53-45 (home 28-24, road 25-21), Runs 408-358, Homers 89-60. The Pads have lost 4 straight, and 6 out of last 10.

Game 99, Tuesday, July 24, SD at Colorado: Pads win 5-3. This game was just like the last one, until the 8th inning. The Pads jumped ahead with a 3-run homer by Mike Cameron, the Rocks tied it in the 7th with 3 runs off the bullpen (Doug Brocail). Deja vu - would the Rocks win it in the bottom of the 8th? Nope - the Pads won it in the top of the 8th with RBIs by Adrian Gonzalez and Kahlil Greene. The bullpen (Heath Bell got the win, now 4-2, and Trevor Hoffman got the save, his 28th) closed it out nicely. Chris Young started the game, but left after 2 innings with a strained oblique muscle. Justin Hampson pitched 3.2 innings of shutout relief. After 99 games, the Pads are 54-45 (home 28-24, road 26-21), Runs 413-361, Homers 90-60. The Pads have won 1 in a row and 5 out of last 10.

Game 100, Wednesday, July 25, SD at Colorado: Rocks win, 10-2. Aaron Cook pitched a complete game for the Rocks (2 ER, 7 hits, 0 BB, 2 K) using only 74 pitches. The Pads scored 2 in the 1st inning, starting with 3 hits, then couldn't score again. The Rocks chipped away off starter Justin Germano (5+ innings, 6 ER, 7 hits, 1 BB, 1 K, lost - now 6-5) and the bullpen (3 runs, 2 ER off Kevin Cameron, 1 run, 0 ER off Cla Meredith) failed again, with help from 3 errors by the defense. After 100 games, the Pads are 54-46 (home 28-24, road 26-22), Runs 415-371, Homers 90-62. The Pads have lost 1 in a row, 5 of last 7, 6 of last 10, 8 of the 13 since the All-Star break.

Before the 100th game, Termel Sledge was sent to Portland and Clay Hensley was brought up despite his terrible numbers in Portland. After the game, Scott Linebrink was traded to Milwaukee for three young pitchers, one of whom - lefty Joe Thatcher - will join the Pads immediately.

100 games gives us a good benchmark to determine team and personal statistics:

Runs scored: Pads 415 (4.15 per game), opponents 371 (3.71 per game)
Hits: Pads 826 (8.26 per game), opponents 851 (8.51 per game)
Doubles: Pads 195 (1.95 per game), opponents 156 (1.56 per game)
Homers: Pads 90 (0.90 per game), opponents 62 (0.62 per game)
Walks: Pads 333 (3.33 per game), opponents 274 (2.74 per game)
Strikeouts: Pads 773 (7.73 per game), opponents 670 (6.70 per game)
Onbase Average: Pads 0.313, opponents 0.307

Innings pitched: Pads 913.2 (9.13 per game), opponents 910.0 (9.10 per game)
Earned runs: Pads 344 (3.44 per game), opponents 377 (3.77 per game)
ERA: Pads 3.39, opponents 3.73.

The hitting stats of the regular players are (BA, AB, H, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K):

Milton Bradley (OF) - 0.370, 46, 17, 1, 3, 9, 7, 7
Brian Giles (RF) - 0.292, 250, 73, 16, 2, 18, 36, 34
Adrian Gonzalez (1B) - 0.266, 391, 104, 30, 15, 59, 41, 89
Josh Bard (C) - 0.266, 218, 58, 13, 3, 24, 23, 32
Mike Barrett (C) - 0.258, 291, 75, 15, 9, 37, 17, 48
Mike Cameron (CF) - 0.253, 371, 94, 22, 13, 48, 34, 95
Jose Cruz (OF) - 0.237, 253, 60, 12, 6, 21, 30, 65
Marcus Giles (2B) - 0.236, 356, 84, 18, 4, 33, 35, 67
Kahlil Greene (SS) - 0.234, 363, 85, 24, 16, 54, 19, 72
Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B) - 0.229, 271, 62, 14, 10, 40, 21, 65

The starting pitchers statistics (W-L, ERA, G, IP, H, BB, SO):

Chris Young - 9-3, 1.82, 20, 118.2, 78, 39, 114
Jake Peavy - 9-5, 2.47, 20, 131.0, 107, 38, 136
Greg Maddux - 7-7, 4.11, 21, 124.2, 139, 19, 68
Justin Germano - 6-5, 4.20, 14, 81.1, 77, 20, 41
David Wells - 5-6, 4.57, 19, 106.1, 129, 28, 58

The relief pitching statistics (W-L, S, ERA, G, IP, H, BB, SO):

Kevin Cameron - 0-0, 0, 0.99, 26, 36.1, 26, 24, 34
Trevor Hoffman - 2-3, 28, 1.75, 38, 36.0, 20, 7, 24
Justin Hampson - 2-2, 0, 2.03, 17, 31.0, 27, 9, 15
Heath Bell - 4-2, 0, 2.06, 49, 56.2, 40, 15, 57
Scott Linebrink - 3-3, 1, 3.80, 44, 45.0, 41, 14, 25
Cla Meredith - 3-5, 0, 4.20, 48, 49.1, 62, 11, 36
Doug Brocail - 2-1, 0, 4.64, 35, 42.2, 40, 17, 26

The Pads scored 30 runs and gave up 60 in this 10 game stretch. The team batting average is 0.242, and the opponents raised theirs from 0.244 to 0.248. The team ERA jumped from 3.11 to 3.39.

Observations:

The starting pitching is starting to break down - Young is injured, Peavy is lagging, Maddux, Germano and Wells are inconsistent. Peavy is the only one who averages over 6 innings. Young gives up the fewest hits (5.94 per 9 innings)), Peavy strikes out the most (9.34 per 9 innings( and Maddux walks the fewest (1.37 per 9 innings).

The relief pitching is breaking down. Only Trevor Hoffman and Justin Hampson have pitched effectively in this 10 game stretch. The ERAs of Bell, Linebrink, Meredith, and Brocail have increased significantly since Game 90.

The hitters continue to struggle. Too many strikeouts, not enough hits and walks. JD Durbin and Aaron Cook should not dominate hitters the way they did. Adrian Gonzalez is over his slump, but Marcus Giles' slump continues. Brian Giles has done well in the leadoff position, and Milton Bradley has started well, showing power and speed. Cameron, Greene and Kouzmanoff show occasional power, but strike out way too often. The catchers have gotten key hits with little power.

The defense is pretty good when the regulars play. Bradley has improved the outfield defense.

The bench has contributed few key hits, but the best HR/AB on the team is Russell Branyan with 7 in 122 AB - 1 in 17 AB), but he is hitting 0.197. There is no feared hitter on the bench.

I'm unimpressed by the hitting coach's results - but low batting averages and power have been an ongoing problem for years. Watching how the Phillies and Rockies raked over the last week against the best NL pitching staff - I saw more bat speed and solid hits than the Padres hitters in those games.

They are what they are - the best pitching in the league, the worst hitting in the league, with middle-of-the-pack power and run production.

The trading deadline is coming up. Where could they improve? Mike Piazza as a 3rd catcher and pinch-hitter? Mark Loretta at 2B would provide more hits but poorer defense. A young catcher with power who can throw out runners? A power third baseman? I think they have to stick with what they have, although Piazza might be helpful.