Padres 2008 - Games 31-40

Here is the Padres' history for each 10-game block of the 2008 season so far:

* 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.

* 30 games, 11-19 overall, 6-9 at home, 5-10 on the road, Runs 98-139, Homers 21-26, team BA 0.226, opposition BA 0.244, team ERA 4.01, opposition ERA 2.79.

Games 31 to 40 summaries:

* Game 31, Saturday, May 3, San Diego at Florida: Pads win 7-2. Jake Peavy broke the losing streak (5.2 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 SO, won, now 4-1) with 3 scoreless innings from the bullpen. The Pads won with timely hitting (7 runs on 14 hits, including Gonzalez with 3 hits and homer #7, and two hits by Iguchi, Kouzmanoff and Edmonds). After 31 games, the Pads are 12-19 overall, 6-9 at home, 6-10 on the road, Runs 105-141, Homers 22-27. They've won 1 straight, lost 9 out of 12, and lost 13 out of 17.

* Game 32, Sunday, May 4, San Diego at Florida: Fish win 10-3. This was a 3-2 game until the 6th, but Greg Maddux (5.2 IP, 4 ER, 11 H, 1 BB, 4 SO, lost, now 2-3) and three relievers gave up 7 runs in the last 3 innings. The Pads got 2 runs early, with Gonzalez getting his 8th homer in the third. After 32 games, the Pads are 12-20 overall, 6-9 at home, 6-11 on the road, Runs 108-151, Homers 23-28. They've lost 1 straight, lost 10 out of 13, and lost 14 out of 18.

* Game 33, Tuesday, May 6, San Diego at Atlanta: Braves win 5-3. Chris Young pitched poorly (5 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 2 BB, 4 SO), and Jair Jurrgens shut the Pads down over 7 innings (1 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 SO). The Pads had 11 hits, 4 by Giles, but could not bring runners in scoring position across the plate. After 33 games, the Pads are 12-21 overall, 6-9 at home, 6-12 on the road, Runs 111-156, Homers 23-30. They've lost 2 straight, lost 11 out of 14, and lost 15 out of 19.

* Game 34, Wednesday, May 7, San Diego at Atlanta: Braves win 5-2. Randy Wolf pitched poorly again (6 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 4 BB, 1 SO, lost, now 1-2) and the Pads scored only 2 runs off Tim Hudson (on a balk and DP). Pitiful hitting. After 34 games, the Pads are 12-22 overall, 6-9 at home, 6-13 on the road, Runs 113-161, Homers 23-30. They've lost 3 straight, lost 12 out of 15, and lost 16 out of 20.

* Game 35, Thursday, May 8, San Diego at Atlanta: Braves win 5-4 with a walk-off bases-loaded single in the 9th. Wil Ledezma and Shawn Estes pitched adequately, but the Pads made 3 errors to give the Braves 3 unearned runs in the 6th and 7th. In the 9th, Thatcher loaded the bases, then gave up the hit to seal the loss. After 35 games, the Pads are 12-23 overall, 6-9 at home, 6-14 on the road, Runs 117-166, Homers 23-30. They've lost 4 straight, lost 13 out of 16, and lost 17 out of 21.

Jim Edmonds was cut, and OF Jody Gerut was called up from Portland in his place. C Colt Morton was sent to San Antonio and replaced by 2A C Luke Carlin.

* Game 36, Friday, May 9, Colorado at San Diego: Rocks win 4-2. This was a winnable game, but Jake Peavy gave up 3 runs in the 6th (5 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 SO, lost now 4-2). Aaron Cook outpitched Peavy, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits in 7 innings. Kouzmanoff hit a homer in the 9th for the final run. Too little, too late, as the hitting woes continue. After 36 games, the Pads are 12-24 overall, 6-10 at home, 6-14 on the road, Runs 119-170, Homers 24-31. They've lost 5 straight, 8 out of the last 10, and lost 18 out of 22.

* Game 37, Saturday, May 10, Colorado at San Diego: Pads win, 3-2. Greg Maddux pitched well (6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 SO, won, now 3-3) and the bullpen did its job, with Hoffman getting his 6th save. The Pads got a 3-run homer from Adrian Gonzalez in the 4th off Ubaldo Jimenez, who struck out 11 in 6.2 innings. After 37 games, the Pads are 13-24 overall, 7-10 at home, 6-14 on the road, Runs 122-172, Homers 25-31. They've won 1 straight, lost 5 out of 6, 7 out of the last 10, and lost 18 out of 23.

LHP Glendon Rusch was sent out with the claim of LHP Sean Henn from the Yankees, and LHP Joe Thatcher was optioned to Portland and RHP pitcher Brian Corey was obtained from the Boston Red Sox. Callix Crabbe was cut also.

* Game 38, Sunday, May 11, Colorado at San Diego: Pads win 6-1. Chris Young pitched well (6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 SO, won, now 3-3) and the bullpen finished it off again (Meredith, Bell and Corey). Scott Hairston and Kahlil Greene hit homers as the Pads scored in the 5th through 8th innings to win it. After 38 games, the Pads are 14-24 overall, 8-10 at home, 6-14 on the road, Runs 128-173, Homers 27-31. They've won 2 straight, lost 5 out of 7, 7 out of the last 10, and lost 18 out of 24.

* Game 39, Monday, May 12, San Diego at Chicago Cubs. Cubs win 12-3. This was a good game until the 5th when the Cubbies beat up on Randy Wolf (4 IP, 7 R, 8 H, 5 BB, 2 SO, lost, now 2-3) for 6 runs. The pads had taken a 2-1 lead on Jody Gerut's first homer in the top of the 5th. The Cubs scored 5 more in the 6th off Justin Henn. A forgettable game. After 39 games, the Pads are 14-25 overall, 8-10 at home, 6-15 on the road, Runs 131-185, Homers 28-32. They've lost 1 straight, lost 6 out of 8, 7 out of the last 10, and lost 19 out of the last 25.

* Game 40, Tuesday, May 13, San Diego at Chicago Cubs. Pads win 4-3 in a game that saw rain throughout. Shawn Estes pitched into the 6th to get the win. Kahlil Greene hit a 3-run homer in the top of the 4th to tie the game at 3, and an RBI single by Jody Gerut drove in the 4th run. The bullpen - Meredith, Bell and hoffman shut the Cubbies down in the last 4 innings. After 40 games, the Pads are 15-25 overall, 8-10 at home, 7-15 on the road, Runs 135-188, Homers 29-33. They've won 1 straight and 3 out of 4, lost 7 out of the last 10, and lost 18 out of 26.

In these 10 games, the Pads were 4-6, 2-1 at home, 2-5 on the road, Runs 37-49, Homers 8-7. They were blown out in two of the losses.

Hitting statistics (Avg, H-AB, HR-RBI, BB-SO) through 40 games:

Jody Gerut -- 0.200, 5-25, 1-2, 3-3
Tadahito Iguchi - 0.255, 39-153, 1-11, 17-28
Brian Giles - 0.266, 38-143, 3-16, 25-16
Adrian Gonzalez - 0.296, 47-159, 9-29, 12-34
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 0.273, 45-165, 3-14, 4-26
Kahlil Greene - 0.218, 32-147, 3-17, 9-33
Scott Hairston - 0.230, 26-113, 5-11, 8-29
Josh Bard - 0.205, 23-112, 0-6, 14-14

TEAM HITTING: 0.234, 325-1390, 29-129, 137-293
OPPO HITTING: 0.253, 353-1396, 33-173, 143-273

Pitching Statistics (W-L, ERA, G-IP, H-ER, BB-SO) through 40 games -

Jake Peavy -- 4-2, 2.47, 8-54.2, 41-15, 18-52
Chris Young -- 3-3, 3.94, 8-45.2, 41-20, 25-44
Randy Wolf -- 2-3, 5.16, 8-45.1, 45-26, 20-40
Greg Maddux -- 3-3, 3.60, 8-50.0, 50-20, 8-26
Shawn Estes -- 1-0, 2.57, 2-7.0, 9-2, 2-4
Justin Germano -- 0-3, 5.79, 8-37.1, 44-24, 11-16
Heath Bell - 0-2, 2.38, 20-22.2, 17-6, 7-16
Cla Meredith -- 0-1, 2.75, 21-19.2, 14-6, 3-12
Trevor Hoffman -- 0-2, 5.40, 12-11.2, 11-7, 5-12 (7 saves)
Wil Ledezma -- 0-0, 1.61, 8-22.1, 17-4, 14-19

TEAM PITCHING: 15-25, 4.14, 40-369.1, 353-170, 143-273
OPPO PITCHING: 25-15, 3.35, 40-376.0, 324-126, 136-292.

The lineup has changed a bit, with Jody Gerut leading off, dropping Giles to third. The four weakest hitting positions are left field, center field, shortstop and catcher. Hopefully, one of the three left-fielders (Hairston, McAnulty, Huber) will heat up and Gerut, Greene and Bard will improve their averages a bit.

The key to this team is still pitching - the team will win when the ERA is 3.0, not 4.0, and not before. Unless the hitters improve tremendously and average more than 8.2 hits, 3.4 runs, 0.7 homers, 3.2 walks and 7.3 strikeouts per game.