Padres 2007 - Games 121 to 130

Here are the breakdowns for each 10 game segment of the season to date:

10 Games (4/12): 6-4 record, Runs 34-30
20 Games (4/24): 12-8 record, Runs 95-80, BA 0.263, ERA 3.72
30 Games (5/5): 16-14 Record, Runs 136-120, BA 0.243, ERA 3.59
40 Games (5/15): 21-19 Record, Runs 168-142, BA 0.236, ERA 3.16
50 Games (5/28): 29-21 Record, Runs 210.167, BA 0.241, ERA 3.00
60 Games (6/8): 36-24 Record, Runs 262-196, BA 0.243, ERA 2.88
70 Games (6/20): 41-29 Record, Runs 316-238, BA 0.246, ERA 3.04
80 Games (7/1): 46-34 Record, Runs 348-271, BA 0.243, ERA 3.03
90 Games (7/15): 50-40 Record, Runs 385-314, BA 0.242, ERA 3.11
100 Games (7/25): 54-46 Record, Runs 415-371, BA 0.243, ERA 3.39
110 Games (8/5): 60-50 Record, Runs 472-418, BA 0.243, ERA 3.51
120 Games (8/16): 65-55 Record, Runs 526-466, BA 0.244, ERA 3.51

After 120 games, the Pads are 65-55 (home 34-27, road 31-28), Runs 526-466, Homers 117-80. The Pads have won 1 in a row, 5 of the last 10, and 16 of 33 since the All-Star break.

With 42 games left, the Pads are in 2nd place in the NL West, trailing Arizona (69-53) by 3 games. The Rockies are 62-58, the Dodgers are 62-59, and the Giants are 51-70. If Arizona plays 0.500 ball the rest of the way (finishing at 89-73), the Pads have to play out at 24-16 (0.600) to tie them. If the Snakes play at their current 0.566 pace (a 92-70 record), the Pads would have to finish 27-13 (0.667) to tie them. Not likely the way the team is playing. The Pads need a long winning streak and some luck to make the playoffs!

Game 121, Friday, August 17, Houston at SD: Astros win 3-1. Jake Peavy pitched a decent game (7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 11 Ks) but the bullpen let him down - Heath Bell gave up a 2-run homer to Lance Berkman in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie. Woody Williams went 7 IP (1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K) to get the win. The Pads got a run in the 4th inning on a groundout by Termel Sledge. 9 hits, but no RBIs. After 121 games, the Pads are 65-56 (home 34-28, road 31-28), Runs 527-469, Homers 117-82.

Game 122, Saturday, August 18, Houston at SD: Astros win 3-2. We were there (free tickets, Section 117, Row 44, $38, terrible seats). Deja vu all over again - no hitting by the Pads. Justin Germano (6 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, lost 6-7) was just OK, but Roy Oswalt (4.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K) and 4 Astro relievers (4.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K) were better. The Pads scored 2 in the 5th after falling behind 3-0. Oswalt had an injury and left the game. After 122 games, the Pads are 65-57 (home 34-29, road 31-28), Runs 529-472, Homers 117-82.

Game 123, Sunday, August 19, Houston at SD: Pads win 5-3. Greg Maddux pitched well (6 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K, won, now 9-9) and the bullpen finished it off (Trevor Hoffman's 31st save). Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo home run as the Pads scored 4 in the 5th to finish off Albers, the Astros pitcher. After 123 games, the Pads are 66-57 (home 35-29, road 31-28), Runs 534-475, Homers 118-83.

The Pads were 3-3 on the homestand, scoring 27 runs (4.5/game) and giving up 21 runs (3.5/game). Now they are off to New York and Philadelphia. The team hopes to have Milton Bradley back this week, and perhaps Scott Hairston.

Game 124, Tuesday, August 21, SD at NY Mets: Mets win 7-6. This was a winnable game. Chris Young started and went only 5 innings (4 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks) and left with a stiff back. The Pads came from behind 4-1 to lead 5-4 in the 8th. Heath Bell gave up the tying run in the 8th, the Pads scored a run in the 9th, and Trevor Hoffman blew the save giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in the 9th. Mike Cameron hit a solo homer in the 6th and had an RBI double in the 7th. Milton Bradley was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, and Kahlil Greene was 2 for 4 with an RBI. After 124 games, the Pads are 66-58 (home 35-29, road 31-29), Runs 540-482, Homers 119-84.

Game 125, Wednesday, August 22, SD at NY Mets: Pads win 7-5. This game was won, then almost lost. Jake Peavy was good (6 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 5 BB, 11 Ks - 101 pitches, won, now 14-5) - the no-hitter was broken up in the 5th. By then the Pads had a 4-2 lead, and expanded it to 7-2 in the 7th. In the 9th, the Mets scored 3 runs (1 ER) off Kevin Cameron, and Trevor Hoffman saved his 32nd game. The Pads had 13 hits, Kahlil Greene had 3 RBIs and Kevin Kouzmanoff had 2 RBIs. After 125 games, the Pads are 67-58 (home 35-29, road 32-29), Runs 547-487, Homers 119-84.

Game 126, Thursday, August 23, SD at NY Mets: Pads win 9-8 in 10 innings. This was a losable game - the Pads had a 6-1 lead in the 6th, then Justin Germano (5+ IP, 4 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks) and Cla Meredith (1.1 IP, 3 R, 3 H,) gave up 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th. The Pads went ahead with 2 runs in the top of the 9th (Billy Wagner blown save) only to see Trevor Hoffman blow the save in the bottom of the 9th as the Mets tied it up. Adrian Gonzalez homered in the top of the 10th, and Heath Bell saved it with a scoreless 10th. The Pads had 15 hits, with Kahlil Greene and Josh Bard knocking 3 hits each, and they got 2 RBIs from Milton Bradley, Josh Bard and Marcus Giles. After 126 games, the Pads are 68-58 (home 35-29, road 33-29), Runs 556-495, Homers 120-85.

The Pads won the Mets series 2-1, scoring 22 runs on 40 hits while the Mets had 20 runs. So much for the two best pitching staffs in the National League. The disturbing trend of the bullpen giving up runs (all three games) and blowing saves (3 in the last two weeks) continues. Milton Bradley definitely picked up the offense , and Marcus Giles has broken out of his slump, getting several key hits. Chris Young may miss more than one start.

Game 127, Friday, August 24, SD at Philadelphia: Pads win 14-3. This was a close game for 4 innings - the Phillies leading 3-2 into the 5th. The Pads scored 6 in the 5th, 2 in the 7th and 4 in the 9th to win going away. 22 hits (5 by Bard, 4 by Gonzalez and Kouzmanoff, 3 by Bradley, etc.) Milton Bradley and Adrian Gonzalez each hit two home runs. Greg Maddux pitched OK (typically, 7 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 0 BB, 1 K, won, now 10-9). The real highlight (or lowlight) of this game was a block put on Marcus Giles at second on a double play ball by the catcher Ruiz. It was ruled interference, a double play was called and the runner on third did not score. Marcus Giles left the game in the next inning and has hip and knee problems, and went on the DL. After 127 games, the Pads are 69-58 (home 35-29, road 34-29), Runs 570-498, Homers 124-85.

Game 128, Saturday, August 25, SD at Philadelphia: Pads win 4-3. This was a come-from-behind game for the Pads. The Phils were ahead 2-0 after 5 innings, but then Mike Cameron hit a solo homer off Kyle Lohse, the Phils starter who pitched well. In the 8th, Milton Bradley hit a solo homer off Tom Gordon, and in the 9th Kevin Kouzmanoff and Termel Sledge hit solo homers off Brett Myers. Clay Hensley started for the Pads and was mediocre (4.2 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks). The bullpen did OK until Trevor Hoffman gave up a run in the 9th but got his 33rd save. After 128 games, the Pads are 70-58 (home 35-29, road 35-29), Runs 574-501, Homers 128-86.

Game 129, Sunday, August 26, SD at Philadelphia. Phils win 14-2. Turn-about is fair play, I guess. The Pads called up Tim Stauffer from Portland to start in place of Chris Young (back problem, in SD for treatment), and he went only 4 innings, giving up 11 runs. Ryan Howard and Chris Coates had 3-run homers. Wil Ledezma gave up 3 more in the 5th inning, and the bullpen shut them out the rest of the way. Kyle Kendrick pitched a pretty good game for the Phils, and their bullpen shut the Pads down - but they had 10 hits. After 129 games, the Pads are 70-59 (home 35-29, road 35-30), Runs 576-515, Homers 128-88.

The Padres and Phillies each scored 20 runs in the 3-game series. On the road trip, the Pads were 4-2, scored 42 runs and gave up 40 runs. The bats came alive when Milton Bradley returned to the lineup. A 4-2 record on the trip is about the best that could be hoped for, although we could have been 5-1 if we hadn't blown the first Mets game. Now we have Arizona at Petco Park for 4 games, and the Dodgers for 3. We are 3 games back, and we need to have a 5-2 week or better to get close to first place.

Game 130, Monday, August 27, Arizona at SD: Pads win 3-1. Jake Peavy went 7 innings, giving up 1 R, 3 H, 3 BB, and 11 Ks (he won it, now 15-5). Eric Byrnes had a solo homer in the 6th to put the Snakes ahead 1-0. In the bottom of the 7th, Josh Bard walked, and Geoff Blum homered to right to put the Pads in the lead. Up until then, Livan Hernandez (7 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks) mesmerized the hitters with his change of speed, spin and location. In the 8th, Milton Bradley had a solo homer to make it 3-1. Heath Bell pitched the 8th and Trevor Hoffman the 9th for his 34th save.

After 130 games, the Padres are 71-59. They are 36-29 at home, and 35-30 on the road. They have won 5 of the last 6, 6 of the last 10, and are 22-21 since the All-Star break. They are 2 games behind Arizona in the NL West.

In this 10 game segment, the Pads scored 53 runs and gave up 50; they hit 13 homers and gave up 9. They increased their batting average from 0.244 to 0.249. The team ERA increased from 3.51 to 3.59.

The team statistics (after 129 games - the darn paper didn't print them after 130 games) are:

Batting average: Padres 0.249, Opponents 0.249
On-base Average: Padres 0.319, Opponents 0.310
Runs Scored: Padres 579, Opponents 516 (130 games)
Doubles: Padres 258, Opponents 207
Home Runs: Padres 130, Opponents 89 (130 games)
RBI: Padres 547, Opponents 489
Bases on Balls: Padres 435, Opponents 373
Strike-outs: Padres 990, Opponents 872

The regular starters have the following statistics (129 games) (BA, H-AB, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K):

Milton Bradley: 0.356, 36-101, 4, 8, 25, 17, 14
Brian Giles: 0.297, 103-347, 20, 7, 36, 46, 44
Adrian Gonzalez: 0.279, 141-506, 27, 23, 74, 54, 113
Josh Bard: 0.273, 80-293, 21, 3, 38, 39, 44
Geoff Blum: 0.256, 58-227, 14, 2, 21, 24, 39
Mike Cameron: 0.254, 122-481, 29, 17, 67, 53, 127
Kahlil Greene: 0.248, 118-476, 34, 19, 71, 26, 95
Kevin Kouzmanoff: 0.244, 88-361, 20, 14, 55, 22, 81

The starting pitcher statistics are (W-L, ERA, G, IP, H, ER, BB, K):

Chris Young: 9-4, 2.12, 23, 135.2, 89, 32, 48, 130
Jake Peavy: 15-5, 2.18, 27, 177.2, 133, 43, 54, 197 (130 games)
Greg Maddux: 10-9, 3.90, 27, 161.2, 173, 70, 21, 84
Justin Germano: 6-7, 4.24, 19, 108.1, 98, 51, 31, 61

The relief pitcher statistics are (W-L, Saves, ERA, G, IP, H, ER, BB, K):

Kevin Cameron: 1-0, 0, 1.45, 38, 49.2, 42, 8, 27, 44
Heath Bell: 6-4, 1, 2.45, 64, 73.1, 55, 20, 22, 76
Trevor Hoffman: 3-4, 33, 2.74, 49, 46.0, 36, 14, 13, 32
Justin Hampson: 2-3, 0, 3.21, 29, 42.0, 41, 15, 15, 25
Cla Meredith: 4-6, 0, 3.53, 64, 63.2, 80, 25, 14, 43
Doug Brocail: 4-1, 0, 3.75, 48, 57.2, 49, 24, 19, 32

The next 10 games are all in the NL West - 6 against the D-backs, 3 against the Dodgers. They will be critical to the Padres push for the pennant. The team seems to be hitting better, the top 4 starters have been pretty consistent, the relief pitching has been inconsistent, and the defense is decent.