Tomko Back, Padres Lose 6th Straight

The San Diego Padres gave Friar fans a familiar feeling Friday night by losing to the Seattle Mariners 5-2 and bring Brett Tomko back for a 3rd tour of duty. The Friars made room for Tomko by sending lefty Justin Hampson to AAA Portland. FF can't get too excited about this move, but not only does Tomko provide Bud Black a swing-man in the bullpen he may also gift SD with an additional draft pick next summer.

FF feels the pain of all Padres fans. What has made this season more difficult than the horrendous record of 32-49 is the fact that the Padres are bringing up the rear in the worst division in baseball. If the Friars are a distant last in this weak division, exactly how bad are they? We'd invest in puts if we had the chance.

Pads Bullpen Cracks Again

The Padres squandered yet another game in this lackluster 2008 season, this time dropping a Saturday night contest to Detroit Tigers 7-5. Brian Giles, who has been playing very well this season, sat out the evening, with Edgar Gonzales sliding into the 3 hole. Paul McAnulty took over in right field. Cha Seung Baek had his moments, both good and bad, though he wasn't helped by a Magglio Ordonez homer that centerfielder Jody Gerut accidentally pushed over the wall while bracing for contact. At the end of the day, Justin Hampson would surrender a bomb to Marcus Thames, who has now hit home runs in 8 of his last 9 at bats. Long story short - we've seen this game numerous times this season. The Friars must right their ship to regain the form that had led what seemed like it would be a successful June.

Friar Fragments:

• Michael Barrett continued to show signs of heating up, hitting his second bomb of the season.
• Heralded rookie Chase Headley captured another hit, accounting for a 5 game mini-hitting streak. He also punched out twice, bring his total to 8 in 20 at bats (vs. 7 hits). We're sure that Chase will cut down the number of strikeouts, but its a scary proposition for a .300 hitter to strikeout more than he hits. Nonetheless, Headley is sporting a 1.050 OPS since being called up from AAA Portland.
  
• Headley manned third base again while Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to recover from a stiff back.
• Gerut had another solid night at the plate, accumulating three base knocks to pull his average to .278
• Giles was out of the lineup due to a sore hamstring, rather than the balky shoulder that required an MRI last week.