Padres 2008 - Games 21 to 30

Here is the history for each 10-game block:

* 10 games, 5-5 overall, 4-3 at home, 1-2 on the road, Runs 32-31, Homers 6-7, team BA 0.282, team ERA 2.97.

* 20 games, 9-11 overall, 5-5 at home, 4-6 on the road, Runs 65-92, Homers 11-14, team BA 0.239, opposition BA 0.241, team ERA 3.88, opposition ERA 2.65.

Game 21 - Tuesday, April 22, San Diego at Houston. Astros win 11-7. The Padres came back twice, from down 0-2 to lead 3-2, then down 3-7 to tie at 7-7. Jake Peavy started and pitched poorly for him (6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) - perhaps it was the ballpark. The Pads offense was efficient - 7 runs on 8 hits with only 3 LOB. McAnulty and Gonzalez hit homers. The bullpen gave up 7 runs (Thatcher and Bell were ineffective) - with the Astros getting 4 runs in the 8th to win it. After 21 games, the Pads are 9-12 overall, 5-5 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 72-103, Homers 13-15. They've lost 2 straight, 6 out of 7 and 7 out of 10.

Game 22 - Wednesday, April 23, San Francisco at San Diego. Giants win 3-2 in 13 innings. A very well pitched game on both sides - Greg Maddux went 7 IP (0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 SO) and Matt Cain was almost as good (7 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 SO), giving up a run in the 5th on three hits, Giles getting the RBI. Josh Bard led off the 5th with a hit but was out at 2nd trying to stretch it. Trevor Hoffman gave up a homer in the 9th to Bengie Molina to blow his second save in 8 tries. In the 13th, the Giants scored 2 runs off Glendon Rusch on RBI singles by Lewis and Rowand. The Pads got one back in the bottom of the 13th but Iguchi grounded out with runners on second and third. After 22 games, the Pads are 9-13 overall, 5-6 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 74-106, Homers 13-16. They've lost 3 straight, 7 out of 8 and 8 out of 10.

Game 23 - Thursday, April 24, San Francisco at San Diego. Giants win 1-0. The Padres can't hit fast balls, it seems. Chris Young pitched well (7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 10 SO, lost, now 1-2) but gave up a homer to Rich Aurilia in the 7th for the only run in the game. The Pads managed 5 hits and 7 walks off Tim Lincecum (won, now 4-0) but left 11 on base as they couldn't come up with the timely hit, despite runners on third with one out three times. After 23 games, the Pads are 9-14 overall, 5-7 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 74-107, Homers 13-17. They've lost 4 straight, 8 out of 9 and 8 out of 10.

Game 24 - Friday, April 25, Arizona at San Diego. Snakes win 5-1. Randy Johnson pitched well (7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 SO), Randy Wolf did not (4 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 SO, lost now 2-1). The Pads bunched all of their hits in the 4th inning, and had the bases loaded with one out but Bard and Clark struck out. The Snakes got 5 runs in the 3rd inning, the big hit being a 3-run homer by Mark Reynolds. After 24 games, the Pads are 9-15 overall, 5-8 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 75-112, Homers 13-18. They've lost 5 straight, and 9 out of 10.

Game 25 - Saturday, April 26, Arizona at San Diego. Pads win 8-7 in 13 innings. Justin Germano (5 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 SO) pitched poorly, but the back end of the bullpen (Bell, Hoffman and Rusch - who won it going 4 innings) pitched well. Tadahito Iguchi won the game with a solo walk-off homer in the 13th off of Petit. Brian Giles had a homer off Micah Owings (5 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 SO). After 25 games, the Pads are 10-15 overall, 6-8 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 83-119, Homers 15-19. They've won 1 straight, lost 5 of 6, and lost 8 out of 10. They are now 1-3 in extra inning games.

Game 26 - Sunday, April 27, Arizona at San Diego. Snakes win, 2-1 in an excellent pitcher's battle. Brandon Webb (6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 SO, won now 6-0) outdueled Jake Peavy (7 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 9 SO, lost now 3-1) on a hot day. Both bullpens pitched hitless innings after the starters left. Peavy grooved a fastball to C Chris Snyder in the 2nd inning and he hit it 410 feet for the Snakes' 2 runs. The Pads scored in the 4th on a Sac Fly by Edmonds, but couldn't score with the bases loaded in the 5th and 6th. After 26 games, the Pads are 10-16 overall, 6-9 at home, 4-7 on the road, Runs 84-121, Homers 15-20. They've lost 1 straight, 6 out of 7, and 8 out of 10.

Game 27 - Tuesday, April 29, San Diego at Philadelphia. Phillies win 7-4. Greg Maddux pitched well enough to lose (6.1 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 1 BB, 2 SO, lost now 2-2) while Cole Hamels pitched good enough to win (7.1 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 SO). The bullpen gave up 4 runs in the 8th to seal the win for the Phils. Scott Hairston had 2 homers plus a double to lead the offense. After 27 games, the Pads are 10-17 overall, 6-9 at home, 4-8 on the road, Runs 88-128, Homers 17-20. They've lost 2 straight, 7 out of 8, and 11 out of 13.

Game 28 - Wednesday, April 30, San Diego at Philadelphia. Pads win, 4-2. Chris Young pitched well (6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, won, now 2-2) as the Pads got homers from Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff, and 4 hits from Iguchi. The bullpen held the Phils scoreless for 3 innings. After 28 games, the Pads are 11-17 overall, 6-9 at home, 5-8 on the road, Runs 92-130, Homers 19-21. They've won 1 straight, lost 7 out of 9, and lost 11 out of 14.

Game 29 - Thursday, May 1, San Diego at Philadelphia. Phillies win 3-2. Adam Eaton outdueled Randy Wolf (6 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 9 SO) but Ryan Howard hit a homer off Joe Thatcher (now 0-3) in the 8th to ice it for the Phils. Gonzalez had a homer for the Pads for the only two runs off Jamie Moyer. After 29 games, the Pads are 11-18 overall, 6-9 at home, 5-9 on the road, Runs 94-133, Homers 20-23. They've lost 1 straight, lost 8 out of 10, and lost 12 out of 15.

Game 30 - Friday, May 2, San Diego at Florida. Fish win 6-4. Justin Germano (5.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 3 SO, lost, now 0-3) pitched well until the 6th when he gave up 4 runs. The Pads got only 6 hits off Steve Hendrickson and two relievers, including Kahlil Greene's first homer of the season. After 30 games, the Pads are 11-19 overall, 6-9 at home, 5-10 on the road, Runs 98-139, Homers 21-26. They've lost 2 straight, lost 9 out of 11, and lost 13 out of 16.

In these 10 games, the Pads were 2-8, 1-4 at home, 1-4 on the road, Runs 33-48, Homers 10-12. They were not blown out in any of the losses.

Hitting statistics (Avg, H-AB, HR-RBI, BB-SO) through 29 games (the U-T didn't print the 30-game stats):

Brian Giles - 0.260, 27-104, 3-15, 17-12
Tadahito Iguchi - 0.252, 28-111, 1-6, 14-21
Adrian Gonzalez - 0.283, 32-113, 6-21, 10-26
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 0.256, 32-125, 2-8, 3-25
Jim Edmonds - 0.160, 12-70, 1-6, 8-22
Kahlil Greene - 0.216, 24-111, 0-8, 8-23
Scott Hairston - 0.205, 18-88, 4-9, 7-24
Josh Bard - 0.209, 19-91, 0-3, 11-12

TEAM HITTING: 0.226, 231-1024, 20-92, 101-230
OPPO HITTING: 0.244, 252-1034, 23-125, 102-207

Pitching Statistics (W-L, ERA, G-IP, H-ER, BB-SO) - after 29 games

Justin Germano -- 0-2, 6.04, 5-28.1, 31-19, 10-12
Jake Peavy -- 3-1, 2.09, 6-43.0, 29-10, 145-38
Chris Young -- 2-2, 3.63, 6-34.2, 27-14, 21-33
Randy Wolf -- 2-1, 3.57, 6-35.1, 29-14, 11-37
Greg Maddux -- 2-2, 3.76, 6-38.1, 36-16, 7-21
Heath Bell - 0-2, 2.70, 15-16.2, 15-5, 5-11
Cla Meredith -- 0-1, 4.05, 15-13.1, 11-6, 3-5
Joe Thatcher -- 0-3, 7.20, 13-15.0, 20-12, 5-12
Trevor Hoffman -- 0-2, 6.52, 10-9.2, 11-7, 4-9 (5 saves)
Wil Ledezma -- 0-0, 1.15, 5-15.2, 11-2, 8-13

TEAM PITCHING: 11-18, 4.01, 29-276.0, 252-123, 102-207
OPPO PITCHING: 18-11, 2.79, 29-277.0, 231-85, 101-230.

This was a dismal 10-game stretch, with several games lost because of a single pitch or lack of a key hit. The team BA fell from 0.239 to 0.226, and the team ERA rose from 3.88 to 4.01. At least no game was a blowout. The guys just can't hit consistently, they strike out too often (6 of them may top 120 strikeouts), the starters do OK except for Germano, and the relievers aren't consistent. Other than that - they deserve to be 11-19 with the worst record in the National League. It's time to scrap Jim Edmonds and find a left fielder and a catcher who can hit with power.