Padres 2008 - Games 41-50

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.

* 40 games, 15-25 overall, 8-10 at home, 7-15 on the road, Runs 135-188, Homers 29-33, team BA 0.234, opposition BA 0.253, team ERA 4.14, opposition ERA 3.35.

Games 41 to 50 summaries:

Game 41, Wednesday, May 14, San Diego at Chicago Cubs: Cubs win 4-0. Ryan Dempster struck out 12 (8.1 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 12 SO) while Greg Maddux was mediocre (4.1 IP, 4 R, 11 H, 0 BB, 1 SO). The Cubs got all four runs in the 5th inning. After 41 games, the Pads are 15-26 overall, 8-10 at home, 7-16 on the road, Runs 135-192, Homers 29-33. They've lost 1 straight won 3 out of 5, lost 7 out of the last 10, and lost 19 out of 27.

Game 42: Thursday, May 15, San Diego at Chicago Cubs: Cubs win 8-5. Jake Peavy pitched poorly (4 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 SO, lost, now 4-3), falling behind 4-0. The Pads made it 4-3 in the 5th and 6-4 in the 5th, but ther bullpen failed again - 4 runs in 4 innings. After 42 games, the Pads are 15-27 overall, 8-10 at home, 7-17 on the road, Runs 140-200, Homers 29-35. They've lost 2 straight 3 out of 4, lost 7 out of the last 10, and lost 20 out of 27.

Game 43: Friday, May 16, San Diego at Seattle (AL): Pads win 6-4. Chris Young did not pitch well (6 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 SO, won now 4-3) but it was good enough to beat Miguel Batista and the Mariners. The Pads scored 5 runs in the first 3 innings, but the M's got 3 in the 2nd and 1 in the 3rd. The Pads got an insurance run in the 6th and the bullpen (Meredith, Bell, Hoffman - 8th save) pitched 3 scoreless innings. After 43 games, the Pads are 16-27 overall, 8-10 at home, 8-17 on the road, Runs 146-204, Homers 30-36. They've won 1 in a row, lost 3 out of the last 5, lost 6 out of the last 10, and lost 20 out of 28.

Game 44: Saturday, May 17, San Diego at Seattle (AL): Mariners win 4-2. Randy Wold (6.1 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 SO) pitched well enough to win, but Cla Meredith gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th to Adrian Beltre. The Pads only runs were a 2-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez off Eric Bedard in the 4th. Bedard struck out 10 Pads. This was a winnable game - the bullpen failed. After 44 games, the Pads are 16-28 overall, 8-10 at home, 8-18 on the road, Runs 148-208, Homers 31-37. They've lost 1 in a row, lost 4 out of the last 6, lost 6 out of the last 10, and lost 21 out of 29.

Game 45: Sunday, May 18, San Diego at Seattle (AL): M's win 3-2. Shawn Estes pitched well into the 7th, giving up 1 R on 4 H. Heath Bell gave up 2 runs in the 8th to take the loss. The only Padres runs were another 2-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez off Felix Hernandez. This was another winnable game - the bullpen failed again. After 45 games, the Pads are 16-29 overall, 8-10 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 150-211, Homers 32-37. They've lost 2 in a row, lost 5 out of the last 7, lost 6 out of the last 10, and lost 22 out of 30.

Game 46: Monday, May 19, St. Louis at San Diego: Cards win 8-2. Wil Ledezma and Justin Germano couldn't stifle the Cards hitting (7 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings) and the Pads mustered all of 6 hits off Wellemeyer. Albert Pujols hit two homers, Izturis and Ludwick hit one as we sat through a pummeling. After 46 games, the Pads are 16-30 overall, 8-11 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 152-219, Homers 32-41. They've lost 3 in a row, lost 6 out of the last 8, and lost 23 out of 30.

Game 47: Tuesday, May 20, St. Louis at San Diego: Pads win 3-2, on a well pitched game by Greg Maddux and the bullpen, with Brian Corey picking up the win (now 1-0), Heath Bell the hold and Trevor Hoffman the save (#9). Kevin Kouzmanoff provided all of the offense with a 3-run homer in the 6th off Joel Pineiro. After 47 games, the Pads are 17-30 overall, 9-11 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 155-221, Homers 33-41. They've won 1 in a row, lost 6 out of the last 9, and lost 23 out of 31.

Game 48: Wednesday, May 21, St. Louis at San Diego: Cards win 11-3, and Chris Young (broken nose) and Josh Bard (ankle sprain) were lost for two weeks or more. The Pads jumped ahead on Adrian Gonzalez home run in the first, but in the 3rd with two on, Pujols lined a ball off Young's face. The Cards scored 3 in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th, 3 in the 6th and 2 in the 8th off the bullpen. After 48 games, the Pads are 17-31 overall, 9-12 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 158-232, Homers 34-42. They've lost 1 in a row, lost 7 out of the last 10, and lost 24 out of 33.

The Pads optioned Joe Thatcher back to Portland, put Young and Bard on the DL, and released Justin Germano after the game. They called up C Colt Morton, and pitchers Mike Adams, Josh Banks and Jared Wells from Portland.

Game 49: Thursday, May 22, Cincinnati at San Diego: Pads win 8-2. Randy wolf pitched well (7 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 SO, won, now 3-4) and the Pads bashed 4 homers after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning on Ken Griffey Jr.'s homer. Adrian Gonzalez pout the Pads ahead in the 5th with a 2-run homer, Kahlil Greene had two solo homers and Kevin Kouzmanoff had a 2-run homer also. Callup Mike Adams pitched two scoreless innings. After 49 games, the Pads are 18-31 overall, 10-12 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 166-234, Homers 38-43. They've won 1 in a row, lost 6 out of the last 10, and lost 24 out of 34.

Game 50: Friday, May 23, Cincinnati at San Diego: Reds win 3-2. Shawn Estes pitched well enough to win, but the Pads scored only two runs on 5 hits off Edinson Volquez (6 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 12 SO) and four Reds relievers - with 17 strikeouts. Adam Dunn hit a solo homer in the 9th off Trevor Hoffman (lost, now 0-3).

After 50 games, the Pads are 18-32 overall, 10-13 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 168-237, Homers 38-44. They've lost 1 in a row, lost 7 out of the last 10, and lost 25 out of 35.

In these 10 games, the Pads were 3-7, 2-3 at home, 1-4 on the road, Runs 33-49, Homers 9-11. They were blown out in two of the losses.

Hitting statistics (Avg, H-AB, HR-RBI, BB-SO) through 50 games:

Jody Gerut -- 0.211, 12-57, 1-3, 8-7
Tadahito Iguchi - 0.258, 49-190, 2-16, 20-40
Brian Giles - 0.306, 55-180, 3-20, 31-21
Adrian Gonzalez - 0.274, 54-197, 13-39, 13-47
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 0.270, 55-204, 5-19, 5-40
Kahlil Greene - 0.230, 42-183, 5-21, 10-44
Scott Hairston - 0.236, 34-144, 5-12, 10-38
Josh Bard - 0.200, 26-130, 0-7, 14-18
Paul McAnulty - 0.195, 15-77, 2-6, 15-19

TEAM HITTING: 0.237, 409-1704, 38-161, 163-389
OPPO HITTING: 0.261, 453-1739, 44-222, 173-338

Pitching Statistics (W-L, ERA, G-IP, H-ER, BB-SO) through 50 games -

Jake Peavy -- 4-3, 2.91, 9-58.2, 48-19, 20-60
Chris Young -- 4-4, 4.50, 10-54.0, 50-27, 30-51
Randy Wolf -- 3-4, 4.76, 10-58.2, 56-31, 22-54
Greg Maddux -- 3-4, 3.94, 10-59.1, 66-26, 9-29
Shawn Estes -- 1-0, 2.33, 4-19.1, 14-5, 8-11
Heath Bell - 0-3, 2.67, 24-27.0, 22-8, 9-23
Cla Meredith -- 0-1, 3.91, 25-23.0, 22-10, 6-13
Trevor Hoffman -- 0-3, 4.91, 15-14.2, 14-8, 5-16 (9 saves)
Wil Ledezma -- 0-1, 3.54, 10-28.0, 27-11, 16-22

TEAM PITCHING: 18-32, 4.33, 50-455.1, 453-219, 173-338
OPPO PITCHING: 32-18, 3.44, 50-460.0, 407-158, 163-389.

The injury bug bit during this ten game stretch, with Peavy, Young and Bard going on the DL.

The team batting average improved a bit, with Brian Giles the main contributor (17 for 37). While Adrian Gonzalez slumped (7 for 38, but 4 HR and 10 RBI), Kahlil Greene raised his average a bit. There are way too many strikeouts (96 in these 10 games) and not enough hits (74 in these 10 games), RBIs (32 in these 10 games) or walks (26 in these 10 games).

The key to this team is still pitching - the team will win when the ERA is 3.0, not 4.4, and not before. The starters are getting roughed up - the only consistent starter now is Estes. Ledezma took over for Peavy and got bashed twice, and Mewredith and Henn have not pitched well recently. The new relievers - Corey and Adams, have done well so far.

The hitters need to improve tremendously and average better than 8.2 hits, 3.4 runs, 0.8 homers, 3.3 walks and 7.9 strikeouts per game.

Realistically, we're looking at a 58-104 season at the present rate the team is going. How long will they keep Hairston, Clark, Bard, McAnulty, Gerut, Huber, Maddux, Meredith and Henn if they don't improve? Chase Headley might make a difference if he can hit major league pitching. They've called up all the pitching they can. There are still free agents out there who haven't played since 2007...but that's probably not the answer. We may have to wait until late July to see if someone is willing to give us prospects for the non-performers. Fat chance!