Padres 2008 - Games 61 to 70

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.

* 50 games, 18-32 overall, 10-13 at home, 8-19 on the road, Runs 168-237, Homers 38-44, team BA 0.237, opposition BA 0.261, team ERA 4.33, opposition ERA 3.44.

* 60 games, 23-37 overall 13-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 222-287, Homers 49-54, team BA 0.237, opposition BA 0.260, team ERA 4.19, opposition ERA 3.22.

Games 61 to 70 Summaries:

* Game 61, Wednesday, 4 June, Chicago Cubs at San Diego: Pads win 2-1. Greg Maddux pitched his best game of the year (7 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 SO) but the Pads didn't break the 1-1 tie until the 8th inning. Heath Bell got the win, and Trevor the Save (#12). Scott Hairston led off the first with a homer, and Kouzmanoff hit a sacrifice fly in the 8th for the winning run. After 61 games, the Pads are 24-37 overall, 14-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 224-288, Homers 50-54. They've won 1 in a row, and won 6 out of the last 10.

* Game 62, Thursday, 5 June, NY Mets at San Diego: Pads win 2-1 (we were there). Josh Banks pitched well (6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 SO) but the Pads didn't score the winning run until the 9th when Paul McAnulty drove in a run as a hit batter. Hampson, Bell and Hoffman (won, now 1-4) pitched 3 hitless innings. The Pads had 12 hits and 7 walks, and left 15 men on base. After 62 games, the Pads are 25-37 overall, 15-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 226-289, Homers 50-54. They've won 2 in a row, and won 6 out of the last 10.

* Game 63, Friday, 6 June, NY Mets at San Diego: Pads win 2-1 (third straight 2-1 game). Randy Wolf pitched well (7 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 SO), outdueling Johan Santana (6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 SO). The Pads scored twice in the 6th, with RBIs from Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff. Bell (hold #11) and Hoffman (save #13) pitched two hitless innings in relief. After 63 games, the Pads are 26-37 overall, 16-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 228-290, Homers 50-54. They've won 3 in a row, and won 6 out of the last 10.

* Game 64, Saturday, 7 June, NY Mets at San Diego: Pads win 2-1 in 10 innings (fourth straight 2-1 game, a major league record). Cha Seung Baek continued the string of good starts (6 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 SO), working out of jams. The Pads scored a run in the 5th to tie the game on a Michael Barrett solo homer, and won it in the 10th on a Scott Hairston solo homer. Corey, Bell and Mike Adams (won, now 1-0) pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief. After 64 games, the Pads are 27-37 overall, 17-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 230-291, Homers 52-54. They've won 4 in a row, and won 7 out of the last 10.

* Game 65, Sunday, 8 June, NY Mets at San Diego: Pads win 8-6. The Cubs scored 3 in the first off Ledezma (4 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 SO), but the Pads scored 3 in the bottom of the first off Pedro Martinez (5 IP, 4 R, 10 H, 0 BB, 4 SO). The score was 6-4 in the bottom of the 8th when Jody Gerut singled home a run and Tony Clark hit his first Padres homer on a full count off closer Billy Wagner. Carlos Guevara got the win, and Trevor Hoffman notched his 14th save. After 65 games, the Pads are 28-37 overall, 18-17 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 238-297, Homers 53-54. They've won 5 in a row, and won 7 out of the last 10.

* Game 66, Tuesday, 10 June, LA Dodgers at San Diego: Dodgers win 7-2. Greg Maddux pitched well again (6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 3 BB 1 SO) but the bullpen let the team down again - 4 runs in the 7th off Corey, Hampson and Bell, and 2 in the 9th off Thatcher. The Pads scored single runs in the 3rd and 6th. After 66 games, the Pads are 28-38 overall, 18-18 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 240-304, Homers 53-54. They've lost 1 in a row, won 5 of the last 6, and won 6 out of the last 10.

* Game 67, Wednesday, 11 June, LA Dodgers at San Diego: Pads win 4-1. Randy Wolf pitched well (7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 SO, won, now 5-4) an d Bell and Hoffman (Save #15) finished it off. Edgar Gonzalez and Kahlil Greene hit solo homers. After 67 games, the Pads are 29-38 overall, 19-18 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 244-305, Homers 55-55. They've won 1 in a row, won 6 of the last 7, and won 6 out of the last 10.

* Game 68, Thursday, 12 June, LA Dodgers at San Diego: Pads win 9-0 (we were there). Jake Peavy came off the DL to dominate the Dodgers (6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 SO, won, now 5-3) and Hampson, Corey and Adams finished the shutout. The Pads scored 5 in the first on a 3-run homer by Brian Giles and a solo by Adrian Gonzalez. After 68 games, the Pads are 30-38 overall, 20-18 at home, 10-20 on the road, Runs 253-305, Homers 57-55. They've won 2 in a row, won 7 of the last 8, and won 7 out of the last 10.

* Game 69, Friday, 13 June, San Diego at Cleveland (AL): Indians win 9-5. The pitchers were poor - Banks, Meredith (lost, now 0-2), Adams and Guevara all gave up runs. The Pads had 14 hits, and were ahead 4-3 after 5 innings, but couldn't touch the Cleveland bullpen. Kouzmanoff and Adrian Gonzalez had homers for the Pads. After 69 games, the Pads are 30-39 overall, 20-18 at home, 10-21 on the road, Runs 258-314, Homers 59-58. They've lost 1 in a row, won 7 of the last 9, and won 7 out of the last 10.

* Game 70, Saturday, 14 June, San Diego at Cleveland (AL): Pads win 8-3 in 10 innings. Cha Seung Baek started for the Pads (7 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 SO) and gave up 3 runs on 2 hits in the first inning. Bell (won, now 4-3) and Corey pitched well in relief. The Pads chipped away on the 3-0 lead, tying it in the 8th on a Jody Gerut solo homer. In the 10th, Tony Clark walked with the bases loaded and Kevin Kousmanoff hit his 10th homer, a grand slam, to make it 8-3. After 70 games, the Pads are 31-39 overall, 20-18 at home, 11-21 on the road, Runs 266-317, Homers 62-58. They've won 1 in a row, and won 8 of the last 10, and are 8-5 in June.

In these 10 games, the Pads were 8-2, 7-1 at home, 1-1 on the road, Runs 44-30, Homers 13-4. This was the best 10-game record of the season.

Hitting statistics (Avg, H-AB, HR-RBI, BB-SO) through 70 games:

Jody Gerut -- 0.289, 35-121, 3-12, 15-22
Tadahito Iguchi - 0.259, 62-239, 2-20, 23-54
Brian Giles - 0.304, 79-260, 4-26, 46-29
Adrian Gonzalez - 0.296, 83-280, 19-62, 24-59
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 0.263, 74-281, 10-33, 11-61
Kahlil Greene - 0.222, 57-257, 6-26, 16-66
Scott Hairston - 0.231, 46-199, 9-17, 13-52
Josh Bard - 0.200, 26-130, 0-7, 14-18
Paul McAnulty - 0.235, 27-115, 3-12, 24-31
Michael Barrett - 0.196, 11-56, 1-5, 5-10
Tony Clark - 0.242, 15-62, 1-7, 14-22
Edgar Gonzalez - 0.333, 23-69, 1-5, 6-12

TEAM HITTING: 0.247, 605-2448, 62-255, 242-550
OPPO HITTING: 0.255, 627-2455, 58-299, 237-485

Pitching Statistics (W-L, ERA, G-IP, H-ER, BB-SO) through 70 games:

Jake Peavy -- 5-3, 2.64, 10-64.2, 51-19, 20-64
Chris Young -- 4-4, 4.50, 10-54.0, 50-27, 30-51
Randy Wolf -- 5-4, 3.83, 14-84.2, 78-36, 26-75
Greg Maddux -- 3-4, 3.33, 14-83.2, 86-31, 15-43
Shawn Estes -- 1-1, 3.33, 5-24.1, 18-9, 10-14
Josh Banks -- 2-0, 1.29, 5-28.0, 24-4, 5-17
Brian Corey -- 1-1, 3.12, 16-17.3, 13-6, 3-8
Cha Seung Baek -- 1-1, 3.93, 4-18.1, 18-8, 6-10
Heath Bell - 4-3, 2.04, 36-39.2, 28-9, 12-33
Cla Meredith -- 0-2, 4.41, 34-32.2, 34-16, 10-19
Trevor Hoffman -- 1-4, 4.50, 25-24.0, 23-12, 6-28 (15 saves)

TEAM PITCHING: 31-39, 4.07, 70-649.2, 627-294, 237-485
OPPO PITCHING: 39-31, 3.43, 70-643.1, 605-245, 242-546.

The injury bug bit again during this ten game stretch, with Tadahito Iguchi going on the DL, and Scott Hairston straining a thumb. The Pads dumped Wil Ledezma, called up IF Craig Stansberry, and will call up OF/3B Chase Headley soon.

The team batting average improved 10 points, with Jody Gerut (13-33) and Adrian Gonzalez (13-45, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and Brian Giles (15 for 43) contributing. O). There are still way too many strikeouts (107 in these 11 games) but there were more hits (104 in these 11 games) and RBIs (47 in these 11 games).

The team ERA went down 0.12 run, and in 7 of these 10 games the pitching staff performed well.

The hitters are averaging 8.64 hits, 3.80 runs, 0.89 homers, 3.46 walks and 7.86 strikeouts per game. The opposition stats are 8.96 hits, 4.53 runs, 0.83 homers, 3.39 walks and 6.93 strikeouts per game.