Padres 2008 - Games 71 to 80

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.

* 70 games, 31-39 overall 20-18 at home, 11-21 on the road, Runs 266-317, Homers 62-58, team BA 0.247, opposition BA 0.255, team ERA 4.07, opposition ERA 3.43.

Games 71 to 80 Summaries:

Game 71, Sunday, 15 June, San Diego at Cleveland. Indians win 7-3. Greg Maddux had a mediocre outing (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 R, 8 H, 0 BB, 2 SO, lost, now 3- 5) for him, including an error and HBP. CC Sabathia (8 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 SO, won, now 5-8) pitched fairly well - the Pads had RBIs from Huber, Greene and Barrett. The top of the order went 2 for 15. After 71 games, the Pads are 31-40 overall, 20-18 at home, 11-22 on the road, Runs 269-324, Homers 62-60. They've lost 1 in a row, and won 7 of the last 10, and are 8-6 in June.

After this game, Justin Huber was sent to Portland and Chase Headley was brought up. Kevin Kouzmanoff suffered a back strain but didn't go on the DL. Brian Giles is hurting.

Game 72, Tuesday, 17 June, San Diego at New York Yankees. Yankees win 8-0, in probably the worst game of the year. Randy Wolf (4 IP, 5 ER, 7 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 SO, lost now 5-5) had his worst game of the year as the Yankees pounded mistakes. Andy Pettitte and 3 relievers had 14 strikeouts, as the Pads mustered only 7 hits and 1 walk. Chase Headley made his 2008 debut with two hits and an error at 3B. After 72 games, the Pads are 31-41 overall, 20-18 at home, 11-23 on the road, Runs 269-332, Homers 62-63. They've lost 2 in a row, won 6 of the last 10, and are 8-7 in June.

Game 73, Wednesday, 18 June, San Diego at NY Yankees: Yanks win 8-5. Jake Peavy was pounded (4 IP, 3 ER, 4 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 SO, lost, now 5-4) and three relievers gave up 4 more runs. The Pads battled from 3-0 to 3-2, from 5-2 to 5-4, and from 7-4 to 7-5 on homers by Headley, Gonzalez and Giles. After 73 games, the Pads are 31-42 overall, 20-18 at home, 11-24 on the road, Runs 274-340, Homers 65-64. They've lost 3 in a row, won 5 of the last 10, and are 8-8 in June.

Game 74, Thursday, 19 June, San Diego at NY Yankees: Yanks win 2-1. Josh Banks deserved better (5.2 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 SO, lost, now 2-1) but the Yanks stole bases with abandon to set up a SacFly and an RBI single. The Pads had only 5 hits off Chamberlain and 3 relievers, getting their only run in the 4th on a Tony Clark RBI double. After 74 games, the Pads are 31-43 overall, 20-18 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 275-342, Homers 65-64. They've lost 4 in a row, lost 6 of the last 10, and are 8-9 in June.

Game 75, Friday, 20 June, Detroit at San Diego: Pads win 6-2. Greg Maddux pitched well (7 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 SO) but didn't get the win again. The Pads got solo homers from Greene in the 4th and Headley in the 7th to take the lead 2-1 into the 8th, but Heath Bell gave up a solo homer to Polanco in the 8th. The Pads scored 4 in the 8th to make Bell a winner (now 5-3), as Adrian Gonzalez had 1 RBI and Scott Hairston had 2 RBIs. After 75 games, the Pads are 32-43 overall, 21-18 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 281-344, Homers 67-66. They've won 1 in a row, lost 6 of the last 10, and are 9-9 in June.

Game 76, Saturday, 21 June, Detroit at San Diego: Tigers win 7-5 (we were there). Cha Seung Baek pitched poorly (6.1 IP, 6 R, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 SO, lost, now 1-2) as the Tigers came back from 3-1, and 5-4 to win it. The key blow was a Thames 2-run HR off Justin Hampson in the 7th. Edgar Gonzalez and Michael Barret each had 2 RBI. After 76 games, the Pads are 32-44 overall, 21-19 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 286-351, Homers 68-68. They've lost 1 in a row, lost 6 of the last 10, and are 9-10 in June.

Game 77, Sunday, 22 June, Detroit at San Diego: Tigers win 5-3. A frustrating game as the Pads were ahead 1-0, behind 3-2 and 4-3, but could never get the key hit or make a great pitch. Randy Wolf pitched just OK (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 R, 6 H, 4 BB, 10 SO, lost, now 5-6), but the offense had 8 hits and 6 walks and could only score 3 runs. Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the first. After 77 games, the Pads are 32-45 overall, 21-20 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 289-356, Homers 69-70. They've lost 2 in a row, lost 7 of the last 10, and are 9-11 in June.
Game 78, Tuesday, 24 June, Minnesota at San Diego: Twins win 3-1. Jake Peavy pitched well (6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 SO) but he left behind 1-0 because Kevin Slowey pitched better (6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 SO). The Pads tied it in the 7th when Chase Headley beat out a double play grounder. But Trevor Hoffman gave up solo homers on successive belt-high fastballs to Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher and lost the game (now 1-5) and got booed in the process. After 78 games, the Pads are 32-46 overall, 21-21 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 290-359, Homers 69-72. They've lost 3 in a row, lost 8 of the last 10, and are 9-12 in June.

Game 79, Wednesday, 25 June, Minnesota at San Diego: Twins win 9-3. The Pads got 3 quick runs in the first two innings, but Greg Maddux couldn't hold the lead (5.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, lost, now 3-6). The Twins hit two more homers off Padres pitching. After 79 games, the Pads are 32-47 overall, 21-22 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 293-368, Homers 69-74. They've lost 4 in a row, lost 8 of the last 10, are 9-13 in June, and 3-11 against the AL.

Game 80, Thursday, 26 June, Minnesota at San Diego: Twins win 4-3. The Pads were up 3-0 but Josh Banks gave up 4 runs in 5.2 innings and the Pads couldn't dent the scoreboard after the 3rd inning. They made the Twins relievers look good. After 80 games, the Pads are 32-48 overall, 21-23 at home, 11-25 on the road, Runs 296-372, Homers 70-75. They've lost 5 in a row, lost 9 of the last 10, are 9-14 in June, and 3-12 against the AL.

In these 10 games, the Pads were 1-9, 1-5 at home, 0-4 on the road, Runs 30-55, Homers 8-17. This was the worst 10-game block of the season, and followed the best 10-game block of the season.

Hitting statistics (Avg, H-AB, HR-RBI, BB-SO) through 80 games:

Jody Gerut -- 0.289, 46-159, 3-12, 19-33
Edgar Gonzalez - 0.299, 32-107, 1-10, 8-25
Brian Giles - 0.297, 85-286, 5-28, 48-32
Adrian Gonzalez - 0.289, 91-314, 21-66, 32-67
Kevin Kouzmanoff - 0.266, 79-297, 10-34, 11-64
Chase Headley - 0.250, 9-36, 2-3, 0-14
Kahlil Greene - 0.229, 67-293, 8-31, 18-76
Scott Hairston - 0.230, 50-217, 9-20, 15-56
Paul McAnulty - 0.211, 27-128, 3-12, 26-37
Michael Barrett - 0.185, 15-81, 2-8, 8-15
Tony Clark - 0.231, 18-78, 1-8, 18-30

TEAM HITTING: 0.245, 679-2773, 70-283, 275-646
OPPO HITTING: 0.258, 721-2797, 75-352, 259-550

Pitching Statistics (W-L, ERA, G-IP, H-ER, BB-SO) through 80 games:

Jake Peavy -- 5-4, 2.77, 12-74.2, 62-23, 23-74
Chris Young -- 4-4, 4.50, 10-54.0, 50-27, 30-51
Randy Wolf -- 5-6, 4.09, 16-94.2, 90-43, 32-87
Greg Maddux -- 3-6, 3.52, 17-102.1, 106-40, 18-52
Shawn Estes -- 1-1, 3.33, 5-24.1, 18-9, 10-14
Josh Banks -- 2-2, 2.33, 7-38.2, 35-10, 8-21
Brian Corey -- 1-1, 2.82, 21-22.1, 18-7, 4-9
Mike Adams - 1-0, 3.15, 13-20.0, 16-7, 8-22
Cha Seung Baek -- 1-2, 5.11, 5-24.2, 26-14, 6-17
Heath Bell - 5-3, 2.27, 40-43.2, 32-11, 12-36
Cla Meredith -- 0-2, 4.38, 40-39.0, 42-19, 12-23
Trevor Hoffman -- 1-5, 4.85, 27-26.0, 25-14, 6-30 (15 saves)

TEAM PITCHING: 32-48, 4.16, 80-735.2, 721-340, 259-550
OPPO PITCHING: 48-32, 3.37, 80-734.1, 674-275, 275-645.

Very little went right in this 10-game block. Chase Headley came up from Portland and played every game, with Justin Huber sent down.

The DL still has Young, Estes, Bard and Iguchi on it.

Just at the time that it seemed like the Pads might make a move, they ran into superior hitting and pitching in the AL clubs. They made them all, with essentially .500 records plus or minus a few, look like World Series champions.