Black Sunday II

The Padres lose, not taking advantage of the opportunity to control their own destiny while keeping Jake Peavy lined up to open a Division Series. The Chargers go to 1-3 by generally stinking. I don't have anything left in me to write about this.

Message to both teams: Your fans want their last two Sundays back.

Seriously, I feel violated.

• Padres lose
• Chargers lose

Wild Irony Costs Padres Spot

With the post season just 1 strike away the Padres Hall Of Fame closer, Trevor Hoffman, faced off against Mr. Padre's son Tony Gywnn, Jr. Hoffman's 1-2 change up was laced down the right field line for a game tying triple, and the quest for the second season included extra innings.

In the bottom half of the 11th the Padres turned to ex-Brewer Joe Thatcher (for the 3 consecutive day) to face the heart of the talented Brewers line up. Rookie of the year favorite Ryan Braun doubled to lead of the inning with MVP candidate getting the intentional walk to put 2 on with no outs. After a brief meeting on the mound the young lefty coaxed a sacrifice fly out of Hart, and faced Vinny Rottino with 1 out and runners on the corners. One pitch later the champagne was taken off ice for at least one day as the young Brewer ended the game with a single to left field.


Break What Tie?

DIAMONDBACKS
The Arizona Diamondbacks have officially won the NL West with the Padres loss.

ROCKIES
The Rockies are still alive in the wild card hunt with a win tonight against the Dbacks. A loss Saturday or Sunday or a Padres win Sunday eliminates Colorado from the post season.

METS/PHILLIES

The Mets and Phillies enter the last game of the season in a dead heat and are both in contention for both the NL East and Wild Card titles. If one wins and the other losses the winner is the NL East champion. If both win or both lose they will have a 1 game playoff to decide the division winner (if they both win and SD loses then the wild card is still an option for the playoff loser).

PADRES

Win Sunday and they are the wild card winners. Friars also can clinch with Phillies, Mets, Rockies losses.

CRAZY POSSIBILITIES

Tie Breaker Schedule

If: Padres lose Sunday while the Rockies win Saturday and Sunday and the Phillies and Mets both win then...a lot of weird things happen! FF will publish the possibilities as they apply.

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.

Frairs Take Advantage of Brewer Errors

Jack Cassel lasted just 4 2/3 innings, but the Padres took advantage of five Brewer errors on the way to scoring 4 unearned runs to win 9-5 Thursday night. Joe Thatcher pitched an impressive 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Scott Hairston continued his hot streak with by adding 3 RBIs while Khalil Greene took over the team RBI lead by knocking in a pair to bring his season total to 93. Kevin Kouzmanoff's 20 game streak of reaching base came to an end.

The victory kept the Friars 2 back of DBacks in the NL West and a game up on both Colorado and Philadelphia in the Wild Card.

Peavy Domination Tour Makes 19th Stop; Cy Young Next

Jake Peavy closed out his final scheduled start of the 2007 campaign with another masterful performance, treating Friar fans to an 11-3 spanking of the Giants for his 19th win. The probable NL Cy Young award winner and certain Pitching Triple Crown winner tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball, allowing just one walk against a single punch out. He also went 2-4 to raise his season average to .229 (26 points higher than Terrmell Sledge). Peavy hugged Barry Bonds after Bonds' final at bat in the game, a transgression that FF is willing to overlook - but just this once. With one more win, the 26 year old Peavy will tie Padre legend Eddie Lee Whitson for 3rd on the franchise's all time win list at 77 victories.

On the flip side of the ball, the Padres collected 17 hits, led by Josh Bard's 4 knock night. Scott Hairston continued to relish his role as Giant-killer with yet another home run against the club (7th out of 10 on the season). For the 20th consecutive game, Kevin Kouzmanoff reached based. He has hits in 17 of those contests.

Most importantly, the win kept the Friars on top of the also victorious Phillies and Rockies in the Wild Card race. The Diamondbacks lost to bring the Padres withing a single game in the NL West with 4 games remaining the season.

Padres Drop 4th Straight, Drop to Wild Card Tie

The Padres' problems grew Monday as the club dropped its 4th consecutive game 9-4 against the San Fransisco Giants . Young, who was staked a 2 run lead early, gave up 7 earned runs over five inning while walking more batters than he punched out. Cla Meredith was later tagged for a pair of runs - the last coming on a Bruce Bochy-called squeeze. Kevin Kouzmanoff had 2 hits and was hit by a pitch to extend his steak of reaching base to 18 games. He is now tied with Adrian Gonzalez - who added 3 hits of his own - with a .277 batting average. Only Josh Bard's .282 average is higher than the current 3-4 hole Friar hitters.

The loss dropped the Padres into a Wild Card tie with the idle Phillies. They have now fallen 3 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West with just 6 games to play.

Black Sunday

The Padres lose, not taking advantage of the Phillies loss nor the large lead the Dodgers had over the DBacks as of the time of this post. The Chargers go to 1-2 by not holding a lead with just under 3 minutes to play. I don't have anything left in me to write about this.

Message to both teams: Your fans want their Sundays back.

• Padres lose
• Chargers lose
  

Padres Drop 2nd Straight, Bats Continue to Whimper

The Padres dropped their second consecutive game to Rockies, 6-2 at Petco Park Saturday night. Jack Cassel allowed 3 runs in just 2.1 innings before Bud Black yanked him in favor of Justin Hampson. Kevin Cameron later allowed run with Justin Germano giving up a pair of the unearned variety in the 9th.

Offensively, the Friars collected just 5 hits against 3 walks. The top 4 spots in the lineup accounted for just one walk. Khalil Greene hit his 24th dinger of the season while Josh Bard added 2 hits. Kevin Kouzmanoff extended his streak of consectuve games reaching base to 16 with a shattered-bat base hit with 2 gone in the ninth. Prior to his hit, Khalil Greene fouled a ball off his inner calf, warranting a visit by the trainer. He stayed in and grounded into a double play. The Padres potentially could have busted the game open, but instead left the bases juiced in the 5th.

The loss puts the Padres 2 1/2 games back in the NL West. With the Phillies winning, the Black's club now enjoys only a 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card. The offense will have to wake up in support of recent stopper Greg Maddux to put the skids on the current two game losing streak on Sunday. Black may need to really consider his placement of switch hitter Milton Bradley in the lineup as Bradley cannot yet swing from the left side of the plate.

Peavy Dominates, Padre Bats Whimper

Jake Peavy went 7 innings, recording 8 punch outs and allowing just one run on Friday night. That line itself invokes the assumption that the Peavy Domination Tour would make its 19th stop of the season - but the other half of the Friars game couldn't come up with 2 runs to support the NL's likely Cy Young Award winning, as the Padres lost to the Rockies 2-1 in 14 innings. The loss put an end to the club's 7 game winning streak and was countered by a DBacks win to push the Friars back a game in NL West while bringing the Rockies a game closer in the Wild Card race. The Phillies lost to remain 1 1/2 games out.

Bud Black choose to leverage favorite weapons Cla Meredith, Doug Brocail and Heath Bell for 2 innings apiece before turning to Joe Thatcher, who gave up the game winning bomb to Brad Hawpe. The move will likely strain the Padres bullpen over the next couple of days and force Black to go to less comfortable choices - something he has seemingly been uncomfortable in doing so far in 2007. Only time will tell how the Friars lack of offense affects their bullpen over the remaining 9 games of the season.

Milton Bradley returned to the lineup after sitting out nearly two weeks with an oblique injury. He was 0-4 while playing a solid left field.

7th Straight Pulls Padres Within A Half Game

Kevin Tower has been called a sludge merchant in the past. When he jettisoned David Wells, we at FF considered it a wise move. But as time went by and it became clear that Towers had effectively traded Wells for NL West castoff and former Friar Brett Tomko - we had to cringe a bit. But this move has Towers looking like a genius once again - especially in light of Tomko's 6 inning, 6 strikeout performance in San Diego's 6-3 win on Thursday afternoon. Their seventh consecutive victory extended the Padres' 2007 campaign's longest streak and brought the club within 1/2 game of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. Philly kept pace with a 7-6 win over the Nationals to remain 2 1/2 games back in the Wild Card. Offensively, it was the usual suspects of late doing the damage for Bud Black. Khalil Green and Scott Hairston each knocked in a run with Kevin Kouzmanoff pitching in a pair of hits and RBI. Michael Barrett also made a splash with RBI twins. The bullpen saw Doug Brocail, Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman each silence the Pirates for an inning. Hoffman earned his 40th save of the season - extending his own MLB record for 40 save campaigns to 9.

Hairston Hammers Home Victory (Again)

Scott Hairston seemed like a Kevin Towers reach when he was acquired on July 27th - but he came through HUGE yet again - this time striking a 3 run walk off home run with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth off Pirates closer Matt Capps - powering the Friars to a come-from-behind 5-3 win. It was Hairston's second walk off home run since joining the club. Understandably, the Padres' post-game telecast gave viewers the choice for player of the game between Scott Hairston, Scott Hairston or Scott Hairston.

Chris Young pitched 6 innings, allowing 3 runs. Another Towers mid-season pickup, Joe Thatcher, dominated in two innings of relief, seeing the minimum of 6 batters while punching out a pair. A resurgent Cla Meredith tossed perfect ninth to earn the win. In winning their 6th consecutive contest, the Friars set their season mark for more back-to-back wins.

The Friars kept pace with the Dbacks, who pulled out a victory against former skipper Bruce Bochy's woeful Giants while gaining a half game on the Phillies. The Dodgers lost again to the Rockies, ending there season for all intents and purposes.

Friars Roll to 5th Straight Victory

The Padres remained perfect on their home stand, winning their 5th straight contest with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greg Maddux survived a 2 run first and lost his walkless streak just one out shy of 60 innings. But the Padres immediately rallied, plating a trio of runs in the bottom of first to permanently take the lead. The first 5 batters in Bud Black's mix-n-match lineup had at least 2 hits, with Khalil Greene recording 3 knocks and a pair of RBIs. Kevin Kouzmanoff once again manned the 3 hole with Brian Giles getting the night off against tough lefty Tom Gorzelanny. In the leadoff spot, Scott Hairston filled in admirably with Brady Clark recording another triple while manning right field. The bullpen boasted 3 scoreless appearances by Cla Meredith, Doug Brocail and Trevor Hoffman, respectively. Hoffy recorded his 2nd save in as many nights and now stands just a single save short of 40, which would surpass his own record for the 9th such season in his career.

The DBacks won to remain a game ahead of the Pads in the NL West. Meanwhile, the Dodgers lost a doubleheader to the Rockies, pulling both teams even at 4.5 games back of the Friars in the Wild Card. The Phillies won in extra innings to remain 1.5 games back.

Pads Win 4th In A Row With 20 Shutout

Four Padres pitchers combined to scatter 10 hits in shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. Rookie Jack Cassel (1-0) earned his 1st big league win by tossing 6 flawless innings changing speeds and hitting his spots. Doug Brocail, Heath Bell (who has appeared in 4 straight games), and Trevor Hoffman each threw a scoreless frame in the victory. Hoffman notched his 38th save with his perfect 9th. The Friars got a run in the first after Mike Cameron's double scored Brian Giles who reached via a walk. Khalil Greene topped off the scoring with his 23rd bomb of the year ~ a towering blast that reached the seats in left.


Blank You:

The Padres set a franchise record with their 20th shutout of the season. The eye popping 20 goose eggs is especially impressive when considering the Padres have turned in only 1 complete game (Greg Maddux). This mark shows the quality and depth the Pads have to toe the rubber.

NL West:

The Giants got to the Dbacks bullpen late scoring 5 runs with homers by Pedro Feliz and Randy Winn. The Arizona loss (their 4th in 5 games) has them up only 1 game over the San Diego Padres.

Wild Card:

The Friars 4th straight keeps them 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies who held on the beat the Cards 13-11. The idle Dodgers drop to 3 games back of the wild card.

Peavy Domination Tour Makes 18th Stop

The Jake Peavy Utter Domination Tour made its 18th stop on Sunday and was kind enough to bring out the brooms to formally clean up the San Francisco Giants with a 5-1 win and series sweep. Peavy was once again masterful, striking out 10 against 1 walk and 4 hits over 7 1/3 innings on the way to his 18th win of 2007; it has been 9 years since Kevin Brown tossed 18 victories for the World Series-bound Padres. Heath Bell and Cla Meredith tidied up for the Friars' 81st victory of the season.

Kevin Kouzmanoff occupied the 3 hole for the first time in his career as Mike Cameron drew an off day. I have been privately urging this move to FF insiders for a while, so his 3-4 performance was gratifying on a number of levels. Also notable was Josh Bard's 2 hit day - including one crushed homer batting left handed, his less-apt side of the plate.

Practically assured of 2 more starts (perhaps three), Peavy has a shot at winning 20 games. Even if he stands pat, Peavy is clearly FF's choice for Cy Young. He continues to be positioned to win the NL's Pitching Triple Crown by leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Sunday's win kept pace with the Diamondbacks while adding a game lead in the Wild Card race over the Dodgers. The Phillies also won to stay 1.5 games back.

Tomko Impresses, Frair Hitters Produce

The Padres pitching has been struggling of late - but Brett Tomko put forth an exceedingly solid effort, allowing just 4 hits over 6 shutout innings with 5 punch outs and zero walks, pacing the Friars to a 6-0 triumph. Brought in to start the 7th, Doug Brocail nearly reversed all of Tomko's work, loading the bases while recording just one out. Bud Black lifted Brocail in favor of sidewinding lefty Joe Thatcher, who promptly induced an inning ending double play. Heath Bell and Justin Hampson each tossed scoreless innings to close out the Friar's 19 shutout of the season, besting the '85 club's former record of 18.

On the flip side of the ball, the Padres managed 6 runs on 7 hits. Highlights were a 2 run Mike Cameron blast in the Padre bullpen and an Adrian Gonzalez triple (yes, you read that correctly), aided by uncalled fan interference and Barry Bonds tweaking his leg. The injury eventually forced Bonds to leave the game an inning later. Geoff Blum added a pair of doubles and Khalil Greene notched another 2 bagger to assist the Friar's slugging onslaught. Cameron also set a 37 year old franchise mark with his 151st strikeout of the campaign.

The wins proved big for the Friars. The Dodgers had already defeated the DBacks, so the Padre win pulls them back within 2 of the NL West lead. In the wild card, the win kept the Dodgers and Phillies each 1.5 games back.

Tonight the Peavy Domination Tour looks to bring out the brooms on the Bruce Bochy's lowly Giants. It also seems that only Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux are assured of making their starts for the rest of season, as Black moves to a "fluid" rotation.

Pads Open Homestand With Dramatic Walk Off Win

The San Diego Padres pulled out a 5-4 win over the division dwelling Giants in 10 innings. Khalil Greene hit the Padres 3rd bomb of the night to send the natives home with smiles on their faces. The Padres slugging shortstop was mobbed at the plate after his 1 out shot ended the game (we are waiting to see a different camera angle to verify the rumor that Khalil actually broke a smile). San Diego scored 2 in the 9th via a wall scrapping homer by Scott Hairston and a 2 out game tying double by Geoff Blum. The Pads came close to winning in their half of the 9th when both Brian Giles and Mike Cameron just missed clearing the wall. Rookie third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff continued his torrid hitting doubling in his first at bat and sending a blast over right center field wall to even the game at 2 in the 4th.

Chris Young pitched well allowing 3 runs through his 7 innings of work. Young had his velocity up in the low 90's throughout the game and looked more like the All Star hurler rather than the second half model we have seen in the second half. Having Young healthy down the stretch will be enormous for the Friars.

With the Phillies winning and the Dodgers winning at time of post the Padres will remain 1.5 games ahead of each while gaining a game on the Rockies who dropped their contest with the Marlins. The Dodgers win means the Pads do pick up a game in the NL West and climb to 3 back of the Snakes.

NOTES:

Slump Buster:
Adrian Gonzalez broke out of his 0-18 slump with a broken bat single ahead of Kouzmanoff's 2 run shot in the 4th.

Old Threads:
Trevor Hoffman and Doug Brocail both wore the Padres throwback unis while with the club in the late 1990's. The pin stripe blue and orange must have made them feel younger as they both tossed scoreless innings, Hoffman getting the win

Greene, Kouzmanoff Cannot Lift Padres

Despite collecting 3 hits each out of the 5th and 6th spots in the order, Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff didn't get enough support to power the Padres past the Dodgers. The 6-1 loss pushes the Padres 3.5 games back in the NL West and shrinks their lead to 2.5 games in the Wild Card over the Rockies, Dodgers and Phillies. Kouzmanoff has now gone 6 for his last 6 with pair of walks, giving him a season high .262. batting average. Mike Cameron may be due a day off after striking out 5 times - a career first; his inability to drive in a run was hardly unique Wednesday night with Adrian Gonzalez, Michael Barrett and Terrmel Sledge all coming to bat with at least 4 men on base with nary a productive at bat to show for it. For the umpteenth times in recent games, the Friars managed just a single extra base hit. To make matters worse, the Dodgers teed off on starter Justin Germano. He allowed 6 runs (5 earned) over 5 innings.

Tomorrow, the Padres will look to ultra-hot Greg Maddux to tame LA. The big question is which Padre offense will show up to play with him...

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.

Young Stung Early, Padres Drop Series

Chris Young looked closer to his old self on Sunday, but was stung for 3 runs with 2 outs in the 1st inning, as the Friars dropped the rubber match of the series to the Rockies 4-2. He cruised through the next 4 innings, amassing 8 strikeouts against 3 walks. Unfortunately, the Padres offense wilted, once again stung by baserunning blunders that have plagued the team over the entire 2007 campaign, scratching out just 2 runs on 9 hits and 6 walks. Marcus Giles, possibly the team's best baserunner, returned from the DL and had a pair of hits with a couple of walks on the side. Like last night, the Padres managed just one extra base hit. They will get a needed night off on Monday, then play through the remaining 20 games without an off day. The Phillies picked up a game in the Wild Card race on the Friars, while the Dodgers remained 2.5 games back, with the Rockies popping back within 3 games. Meanwhile, the Diamonbacks picked up a game and now lead the NL West by 3.

Greg Maddux is The Stopper

Greg Maddux continued his string of excellent pitching, halting the Padres' losing streak at 3 games by leading the Padres to a 3-1 win over the Rockies. It took Maddux just a hair over 11 pitches an inning to tame the Rockies, using just 67 bullets over 6 innings. He allowed just 3 hits en route to extending his streak of walk-less innings to 54 1/3. Doug Brocail and Heath Bell each posted solid relief performances to earn holds; Trevor Hoffman looked like his pre-August self, notching his 37th save with a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts. His first strikeout marked number 1000 in his storied career.

Khalil Greene brought the lone Friar extrabase hit, a double, and an RBI to the party. He also supplied a fantastic play in the field at shortstop in the 8th to save a run for Heath Bell. The screamer took a nasty hop and appeared to be head hunting the young shortstop. Greene conjured images from the Matrix as he seemingly stopped time, changed his body's axis and deftly snagged the ball. His throw was a little late at first, but simply fielding the ball held the runner at third. Kevin Kouzmanoff added an RBI.

Notes:

• Brady Clark started for Milton Bradley, who is listed day-to-day with a strained right oblique.
• Adrian Gonzalez's ninth inning knock marked 11 consecutive games with a hit.
  
• Scott Hairston was activated from the Disabled List, but wasn't quite ready to start Saturday night. He is available for pinch hitting and running. Marcus Giles is expected to be activated Sunday.
  
• Arizona snuck past the Cardinals 9-8, maintaining their 2 game lead in the NL West.
  
• The Padres win dropped the Rockies to 4 back in the NL Wild Card race. The Dodgers and Phillies both won to keep pace at 2.5 and 4 games back, respectively.
  

Pitching Falters Again, Pads Drop 3rd Straight

The Padres dropped their 3rd straight contest Friday night in familiar fashion, with starter Justin Germano tagged for 5 runs over 3 innings. Kevin Cameron and Cla Meredith combined to allowed 5 runs over 2/3 of an inning in the 8th, padding the Rockies lead to the final score of 10-4. The bad news for the club is that they have now allowed 28 runs over their last 3 games. Who could have possibly guessed 3 games ago that Chris Young's line 5 ER of 4 innings would be the best effort a starter would put forth over that span - but it was. No starter has surpassed 12 outs over that span. In fact, the starters have surrendered 6 doubles, 1 triple and 5 bombs in those games; add another 5 effective doubles if you include the times second base was swiped, extending a single or walk.

NOTES:

• The Padres lost ground in the Wild Card race. The stand 2.5 games ahead of the Dodgers and 3 games up on the Rockies.
• The Padres are now 2 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.
• Season-ending tie breaking scenarios are now set

Padres Struggle, Peavy Allows 8

The Padres had a rough night in Phoenix on Wednesday, dropping the game 9-6 to fall out of a first place tie in the NL West. Jake Peavy was roughed up for 8 runs over 4+ innings, striking out 4 while walking 3, despite cruising through the 2nd and 3rd innings with a total of 14 pitches. On the flip side, the Friars scratched out 6 runs on dingers from Adrian Gonzalez and Khalil Greene.

It's unclear what was more disturbing about the game, the loss or having to listen to the Arizona telecast. On a fly ball out just barely to the warning track with Padres on base with 2 outs, the broadcast team called the out as if someone climbed the wall and leap an additional three feet to make the grab, BaseballStars-style. Maybe that flies on the radio, but the rest of us watching know a can of corn when we see it.

In other Padre news, AA San Antonio catcher Colt Morton was a surprise September call up for the Friars. He will add a bit of catching depth during the stretch run.

Dodgers Avoid Sweep With Shutout

Chad Billingsley (10-4) was outstanding Sunday striking out a career high 9 Padres who fashioned a Sunday lineup that featured Terrmel Sledge in left, Morgan Ensberg at the hot corner and saw the return from the DL by catcher Michael Barrett. Justin Germano (7-8) mixed his pitches well over his 6 innings of 1 run baseball. However Germano's effort wasn't enough as the Dodgers took the game over in the 7th against rookie Kevin Cameron, who struggled and did not record an out in the Los Angeles 4 run inning. Los Angeles' 5-0 win allowed the Dodgers to avoid a 3 game sweep.

The Padres did have their chances in the 8th inning as they loaded the bases for Mike Cameron, who had hit a Grand Slam the night before. Different day different story as Cameron struck out swinging on a high fastball. With 2 outs Adrian Gonzalez went down on strikes to leave the bases loaded.

NOTES:
Progress:
Wil Ledezma pitched a perfect 9th inning striking out 1.

90 feet:
Padres catchers continue to struggle throwing out baserunners as the Dodgers went 4-4 on Sunday.

Rockie Mountain Refreshment:
The Colorado Rockies helped the Friars Sunday by beating Brandon Webb (14-10) and the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3

First Place Show Down:
The Friars open an important 3 game set against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix Monday, where Greg Maddux will look for his 3rd career victory when he and the Padres face Micah Owings

Peavy Domination Tour Makes 16th Stop

Jake Peavy was dominating Saturday night - even for Jake Peavy. He allowed just 2 hits to go with 9 punch outs over 7 innings. Along with a Mike Cameron grand slam, the Padres sailed to a 7-0 win over the Dodgers, staying a game ahead of the Diamondbacks in the process. The staff's 18th shutout of the season is the high water mark in the Majors over the last 5 years. A 19th shutout would tie the franchise record, set by the '85 club. Jake Peavy lowered his league leading ERA to 2.10 - but, according to Padres.com, Peavy stated, "...once again, wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be". We at FF can't wait to see what he does when he is sharp by his own standards.

Cameron's bomb came after Dodger starter Derek Lowe walked Brian Giles to load the bases. In the second, Adrian Gonzalez slugged a 430 foot HR to right center, while Greene padded the lead later in the game with an RBI single. While the team lacks a big hitter already at the 100 RBI plateau, Gonzalez, Greene and Cameron do have 78, 75 and 73 RBI, respectively. With 27 games remaining in the regular season, it conceivable that one or more Padre could end up reaching the mark.