Friar Wild Card Tie Assured

Khalil Greene continued his torrid RBI rampage Friday night as he led the Friars to a 6-3 win with a trio of RBI. By collecting just 4 more RBI, he would become the first Padre to reach the century mark since Phil Nevin's 105 RBI in 2004; as it stands, Greene's total is the most by a Friar since the 2004 season. His 6th inning double drove in Adrian Gonzalez, who had also doubled, putting Bud Black's club up for good. In the 8th, Padre fans were reunited with their old friend, Scott Linebrink, who promptly served up a 2 run opposite field bomb to Greene, bringing back memories of games he had pitched for San Diego just a few months earlier.

Greg Maddux pitched 5 innings to earn the win while Cla Meredith had the fire and stuff of his '06 campaign in stifling the Brew Crew for 1 2/3 while also picking up Joe Thatcher. Heath Bell allowed a walk and plucked a batter to make things interesting in the 8th, but ultimately rallied to keep a zero in the box score. Trevor Hoffman looked as good as FF can recall in striking out the side with pitches that looked more like whiffleballs than baseballs.

The Mets ineptitude continued as they fell into the wild card bracket with a loss and a Phillies win. Coupled with the Padres win and the DBacks victory over Colorado, the Padres remain 2 back in the NL West while gaining a two game lead in the Wild Card. With just a pair of games to go, the club is now assured of a share of the Wild Card title.