Peavy Domination Tour Makes 17th Stop

Jake Peavy rebounded from his worst outing of the season in fine fashion, pitching the team to his 17th victory of the season as the Padres topped the hated Dodgers 9-4. Peavy, who continues to distance himself as the de facto NL Cy Young candidate, recorded 5 strikeouts against 2 walks while allowing 2 runs over 7 innings. He was helped out along the way with 4 big flies. Brian Giles yanked a dinger to right field in the second on 3-0 pitch - continuing his recent power surge. In the third, Khalil Green and Kevin Kouzmanoff supplied back-to-back jacks to push the Friar lead to 4. Finally, Geoff Blum became just the 17 hitter in the history of Chavez Ravine to hit a monstrous-enough bomb to reach the lodge seats. Kouzmanoff would finish 3-3 with a walk and a pair of RBI, raising his season average to .257. He has quietly hit around .290 since his slow start to the season.

The win gives the Friars a 3.5 games lead in the Wild Card race over both the Dodgers and Rockies, who lost beat the Phillies on Tuesday night. The Phils now sit 2.5 games back. The Diamondbacks also lost, bringing the Padres within 2.5 games of the NL West lead.