Bell's Mr. Hyde Performance Sinks Padres

The Padres looked to have the Mariners on the ropes with a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. Then the typically sturdy Heath Bell, who had struck out the first 2 batters he faced in dominant form, quickly loaded the bases before allowing a 2 run double to give Seattle a 3-2 lead it wouldn't relinquish. Newly added to the starting rotation, Shawn Estes pitched 6 1/3 strong innings, punching out 2 while allowing just 2 hits. The Padres managed 8 hits, with 3 coming off of the white-hot Brian Giles' bat. All Friar runs came on another Adrian Gonzalez home run. The 7 strikeouts by the Friars continues a pattern of poor at bats. We're too disgusted to spend any additional time describing the latest mid-game implosion, let's turn the the page to Wil Ledezma's start tomorrow.