INSIDE PITCH
There will be a collision of forces in Minnesota this weekend -- the Padres
struggling offense against the American League's top pitching staff.
And the three-game series climaxes Sunday with a
special attraction, the Padres RHP Jake Peavy (5-2, 2.79 ERA) going up against
the Twins LHP Johan Santana (7-2, 3.32 ERA).
It will all be an exercise in futility for the
Padres, however, if they don't start hitting. San Diego is averaging only 2.1
runs per game in June, which explains the 3-10 record that followed immediately
a franchise-record 22-6 May.
"Our pitching is not what it was and we've been
making some costly errors," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday. "But that
is not what is beating us. The bats are silent ... we're just cold. And I don't
think it matters who we are facing right now."
After leading off Wednesday night's game with
back-to-back hits off Detroit's struggling Mike Maroth (five straight losses)
for a quick 1-0 lead, the Padres got only five more hits and didn't advance
another runner to second until the ninth.
NOTES, QUOTES
--At the age of 24, right-handed pitcher Jake Peavy might be one of the youngest
Padres. But he is also one of the fiercest, and Tuesday he criticized everyone
on the team -- himself included -- after the Padres lost 8-4 at Detroit.
The loss dropped the Padres to 3-9 in June, almost
wiping out the gains they made during a franchise-record 22-6 May.
The turning point Tuesday came when left fielder
Ryan Klesko misplayed a two-out flyball with the game tied at 3-3, allowing two
runs to score.
Klesko wanted to accept the blame for the defeat.
"That cost us the game," said Klesko, who has made a number of adventurous
catches in left this season but had not made an error until Tuesday night's
decisive play. "I came in too aggressive for the way the wind was blowing. I was
under it and it kept blowing and swirling. I was right under it, then I wasn't.
I should know better under those conditions to come in too hard. All I could do
was back-pedal, and I couldn't get to it."
But Peavy wanted to spread the blame among all the
Padres.
"It's time for everyone in here to look in the
mirror," said Peavy, who allowed five runs (three earned) in six innings despite
giving up only four hits and two walks against 10 strikeouts.
"We're not doing anything good," the pitcher
continued. "We're not playing like a first-place team. We're not hitting,
pitching or playing defense. Every part of the game right now, we're not getting
it done. If anyone takes offense, let them talk to me. All 25 of us have to get
better. We have to get on track."
After retiring the first eight Tigers he faced,
Peavy gave up three runs -- two on a 428-foot homer by Brandon Inge -- before he
got the last out in the third.
Padres manager Bruce Bochy gave high marks to
Peavy, who continued in the game despite a one-hour, 43-minute rain delay in the
bottom of the second inning.
"Not going back out there after the rain delay
wasn't an issue in my mind," said Peavy. "There was no doubt in my mind that I
was going to pitch and we were going to win that game. I can't stand losing. I
felt like I was in absolute control other than four or five hitters."
--CF Dave Roberts was back in the lineup Tuesday.
Roberts had missed six games because of pain in his right shoulder, which he
described as bursitis or tendinitis. "The last two days made a big difference,"
said Roberts, who had considered playing Sunday. The Padres were 2-4 without
Roberts last week. After Tuesday's loss, the Padres are 26-12 when Roberts
starts and 10-16 when he doesn't. He was 0-for-3 Tuesday.
--2B Geoff Blum returned to the lineup Tuesday. He
fouled a ball off his left knee Saturday night and missed Sunday's game. X-rays
were negative. He went 0-for-4. Blum is 0-for-13 over his last four games and
4-for-30 over the last eight games.
--Steve Violetta resigned Tuesday (effective June
24) as the Padres' executive vice president of business affairs. He had been
with the team since August 2002.
--Through the invention of interleague play, the
Padres are in Detroit this week for the first time since they lost three
straight to the Tigers in the 1984 World Series.
As for the World Series ... "It happened so
quick," said Flannery. "We were in the World Series and then it was over. They
kicked us out. The Tigers were awesome."
"I just didn't know enough about it to realize how
good the Tigers were," said Tony Gwynn, who was completing his second full
season with the Padres. "That was the first time I had played in an American
League park.
"I remember walking onto the Tiger Stadium field
for our workout before game three. Kirk Gibson was yelling at me that this was a
'real ballpark.' I remember walking across the infield and thinking 'this is the
best infield in baseball.'"
But once the games started, the Tigers jumped all
over the upstart Padres.
"It seemed like they scored four runs in the first
inning of every game," said Flannery. That never happened. The Tigers twice
scored three runs in the first and tallied nine first-inning runs in the five
games. The four-run inning came in the second inning of the first game in
Detroit.
Gwynn remembers making the last out on a fly to
left. "I almost got trampled by fans coming out of the stands to celebrate," he
said. But within an hour, the celebration had turned into a riot.
"It was not good on the field or off," recalled
Padres manager Bruce Bochy, who was a reserve on the 1984 Padres team that lost
three straight in Detroit as the Tigers won the World Series in five games
before a crowd that went from jubilant to nasty to scary.
"At first, the celebration seemed like fun," said
Padres broadcaster Tim Flannery, who was also a reserve on that 1984 team. "Then
it escalated and got scary. They flipped a police car over and set it on fire
and they were rocking our bus. I thought they were going to flip it over."
--RHP Trevor Hoffman suffered two losses in three
appearances and was scored upon in his last four straight games, something that
hasn't happened to him since he allowed a run in six straight games in his
rookie season of 1993. And over his last six appearances, Hoffman has given up
eight runs (six earned) on 13 hits in 5 2/3 innings. And in five games in which
he has pitched in a non-save situation, Hoffman has allowed six runs (five
earned) on 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
--Manager Bruce Bochy placed the Padres on a
full-time five-man rotation. As the No. 5 starter, rookie RHP Tim Stauffer will
get just as many opportunities as everyone else. Stauffer earned the full share
after he allowed the White Sox only one run on three hits Saturday.
--The Padres have signed LHP Cesar Ramos, who was
taken out of Long Beach State with the 35th pick in the draft. Ramos, who was
acquired on a sandwich pick granted because Boston signed LHP David Wells as a
free agent, was given $950,000 to sign.
--The Padres have had only one All-Star Game
selection each of the past three seasons -- second baseman Mark Loretta (2004),
outfielder Rondell White (2003) and closer Trevor Hoffman (2002).
And while no Padre is close to leading the voting
this year, at least three Padres were making strong bids going into this week.
Right-handed starter Adam Eaton was 9-1 with a 3.18 ERA, and the Padres were
11-2 in his 13 starts.
Catcher Ramon Hernandez led all major league
catchers in hits (64) and RBIs (32), ranks second in batting average (.290) and
third in slugging percentage (.454).
Right-handed starter Jake Peavy led the National
League in ERA last season (2.27) and was 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA after 12 starts
this season. The Padres were 10-2 in his starts.
And Hoffman, although he had struggled of late,
became only the third closer to reach the 400-save milestone earlier this season
and ranked among the NL leaders with 17 saves on the season.
"I think you could make arguments for all four,"
Padres manager Bruce Bochy said last week. "I think Peavy's on the map. And
everyone knows what Hoffy and Ramon can do, although his season on both sides of
the ball is as solid as you can get from a catcher. Adam has really stepped it
up this season."
Last season, Eaton didn't win his ninth game until
Aug. 26. At the All-Star break he was 4-8 with a 4.54 ERA. The big difference is
a tighter and sharper curve that Eaton worked on throughout spring training with
pitching coach Darren Balsley.
Hernandez, who is a free agent at the end of the
season, had a fairly significant game Saturday night against the Chicago White Sox. First, he saved the Padres a run with a tag at the plate that prevented the
White Sox from taking a 2-0 lead. Then in the bottom of the ninth, he tied the
game with a solo homer. The Padres won moments later, 2-1.
"And it's not just the homer and the tag," Bochy
said. "Hernandez won us that game with his work behind the plate and everything
else he does.
--Manager Bruce Bochy expects 3B Sean Burroughs to
play better now that his leg problem (strained quadriceps) is behind him. "I
think from this point on, we'll see some improvement from Sean," Bochy said.
After 175 at-bats, Burroughs has only three doubles, one triple, one homer and
eight RBIs. "Now that his legs are back, we're hoping to see more of Burroughs,"
said Bochy. "There does come a point when we do need to get some production
there."
--Manager Bruce Bochy said he's seen major
adjustments and improvements in Damian Jackson over his first two stays with the
Padres -- although the player is now a reserve rather than a potential starting
shortstop or second baseman. "He's comfortable in crisis situations now," said
Bochy of Jackson, who has three game-winning hits for the Padres.
BY THE NUMBERS: 5 -- Runs allowed by the Padres
bullpen in five innings Sunday after entering the game with a NL-leading 3.28
ERA. 1-2 -- Padres' record in all three of their interleague series thus far.
3-8 -- Padres' record in June after a franchise-record 22-6 mark in May. 2 --
Consecutive extra-inning losses for the Padres over the last six days, dropping
them to 4-3 in extra-inning games on the season. 191 -- Strikeouts by the Padres
bullpen, the highest total in the majors.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Sometimes I am a victim of being
my own worst enemy." -- CF Dave Roberts on his nagging injury problems.