Cardinals 6, Padres 3

You knew this wasn't going to be easy playing an afternoon game after a travel day with no day off, but those are the things we do for our troops. Afternoon games on Memorial Day should still mean something. The Cardinals had the advantage, and they used it.

There is no doubt this team knows how to hit. What they don't know how to do is score runs. 11 hits are a lot, but the juice right now does not equal the squeeze. That plate appearance by Machado in the seventh was heartbreaking, when he struck out after eight pitches, even though he did come back with a clutch hit in the ninth. Again, Compadres, we have relied on Manny for far too long. There will be a dip in performance at some time. Maybe we can improve here. Cron got two hits, as did Nola. Profar got three from the leadoff spot. Even Azocar got two, plus one walk. If we went by hits, we would be leading the NL West. Sadly, some jackass decided that games were to be decided by runs, so here we are. We got our customary two runs, just good enough to lose. We got one hit from our 2-3-4 guys, who didn't get the memo that the other guys in the lineup were on base. Then the back breaking double play by Hos. It happens. We gave their closer a scare in the ninth, so you can't accuse us of not battling.

Nick Martinez gave us a quality start. Six innings, three runs, the type of performance you want to see from your #5 (and I'd even argue #6) starter. Keep us close, let the offense do their job. The flipside of the coin is that three runs may be one too many, which was the case today. We'll need to tighten the screws a little more. Let's go for a FQS (Friar Quality Start), which translates to, say, two runs over six innings. Then revisit. If your guys can't score two runs, lower it to one. One run in six innings is what our starting pitcher is gunning for today, cool. Still no runs? Gun for seven innings and one run. Then eight and one. All the way down until our pitcher must throw zeros (see Gore yesterday) to even have a chance.

The bullpen has been good, but we'll know more about them as the season progresses. Steven Wilson already gave up the lead in Atlanta with our guys ahead by three, today a dinger to Goldschmidt iced this one. How much we can rely on him remains to be seen. The bullpen needs to be extra fine if we are to hold our opponents to three runs or less, the absolute margin for error at this point. I really believe we could have beaten them if our bullpen had held them down. As far as I'm concerned, Wilson lost this game for us, not Martinez. The way Wilson is going, he will be a mop-up guy if he can't put up zeros. His ERA is at five and climbing, Tim Hill's is at almost seven. But hey, there's always El Paso, if people can't pitch in America's Finest City.

Games with the Cardinals are always fun. For a long time, the Cards greased us at will. I remember Whitey Herzog's teams in the 1980s with their rabbits (Coleman, McGee, Smith, Herr) setting the stage for their one big smasher, Jack Clark. We know about Ozzie's history with the club, but we can't blame the Cardinals for that. In the 1980s, the Cardinals were doing some serious teambuilding, while we kicked that habit around 1985. I have always admired former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog, and his autobiography White Rat is still my favorite book written by any manager. Herzog was always a straight shooter and got down hard on himself for a long time. People may not remember Whitey's Kansas City Royals teams in the 1970s, but I sure do. That might have been an even better team than the Cardinals of the 1980s. George Brett, Frank White, Dennis Leonard, McRae...talk about team building! Whitey's only sin was to meet the New York Yankees in the playoffs every year. Look at Whitey's record with the Royals, and you'll know why he's in the Hall of Fame.

There's Tony La Russa, but we'll talk about him in another post. Game one goes to the Cards. Get used to it, guys. There will be no easy games on this entire road trip. Come back tomorrow and give them a series. Keep the faith. On Memorial Day, I'll have a scotch and soda for the troops. Cheers.

Padres 4, Pirates 2

With our guys, it seems like every game will be a struggle. We finished the home stand at 3-3, and each game was a dogfight. Each one, whether this was the Brewers or the Pirates.

And Grish is the hero of the game, as if on cue! Two run dinger in the tenth, ballgame. I’m happy for him, we need him to pick it up in the worst way. We have the worst outfield for hitting overall, which is alarming. Our offense is not as good as it was last year, AND we have the DH, which has not helped, either. Well, Compadres, what do we do? Trade away more prospects? Wish upon a star?

Yesterday, it was Musgrove who was robbed of a win after allowing one run in six innings. Gore did him one better: nine k’s, no runs over seven. But, alas, our bullpen blew it, this time Crismatt...no soup for you, Gore! Sorry, but that’s the way the ball bounces when you can’t generate any serious offense in the majors. Even the four runs were the result of home runs. I really miss the sustained rallies. Single, single, single, walk, etc., just dink the pitcher to death. That’s just not there, the cohesiveness throughout the lineup that allows a lineup to destroy the soul of a starting pitcher. Our batters don’t complement each other. There is no moving runners around, no sacrificing at bats for the greater good. The Dodgers don’t need to do that. They can mash away at their hearts’ content, and you can only cross your fingers if their pitchers are on, which they usually are. We just scored 15 runs in six games at home, for an average of 2.5 runs per game. Against the Brewers, that might be understandable. Against the Pirates, it is clearly not.

As far as Grish goes, he was on my naughty list for a while, after homering during a victory over the Dodgers in 2020. Perhaps you remember what happened. Chest pounding, a lot of pointing and talking at the L.A. bench. Look, I get it. There is an energy on this team that is fueled by more animated gestures, like talking, yelling, dancing, etc. I get it. The only problem is, that can fuel the opposing team, too. After Grisham's declaration of war on the Dodgers, their fan base and their pet club, we got shut out for the rest of the season. Two in that series at home, then the sweep in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that we get to play ball with the Dodgers again, that they don't walk all over us. We just need to be smart about engaging the enemy, and do it on our terms. We are not there yet, Boys. The Giants and the Dodgers, both established winners, are who we are trying to be. And you can bet every penny you just paid for that ticket that our cousins from So- and NorCal will keep trying to hold our heads under water for as long as they can. So far, we have mostly delivered W's for them. Now they need to earn those. That's progress. 

We hit the road for two tough series with the Cardinals and the Brewers. All right, fellas. Let’s see if we can get the bats going on the road. 

Pirates 4, Padres 2

Dang, Rogers finally blew one. He’s human. He’ll be back tomorrow, no doubt, ready to go. Closers were built to take abuse.

I’m pretty sure that we never would have needed Rogers to begin with if our guys knew how to hit a ball. Manny was rested, and we paid for it. 10 hits, seven walks, two runs to show for it, at home, against the Pirates. Kim was supposed to spell Machado at third base, instead he spelled LOB. He got two hits, but pissed himself with the bases loaded, multiple times. Tatis being out already is a real handicap for this team. Take Manny out, and the visiting team can recruit one of their peanut vendors as a starting pitcher, and our offense would still manage to pop out with the bases loaded and less than two out.

I hate to admit it, but not having Tatis is killing us. More than anything, I’m disappointed in Tatis, that he doesn’t seem to have the commitment to win us a WS. How many motorcycle accidents did he have? Do you think the fans care? Is there more to Tatis than hitting 40 dingers and seeing his chest pounding strut on ESPN? Tatis needs to mature (as in today) and understand this isn’t all about him. He needs to think about the fans here. They’re the ones being shortchanged here, while Tatis keeps every cent of his salary. C’mon, Tatis. Earn it. You are quite possibly the best talent we have ever had. Give the fans the commitment they deserve, and you’ll get it all. The trophy, more bling, a statue, and the Coronado Bridge named after you. The Tatis Bridge.

What started out as a rant about the offense finally got cooked down to its bare essentials, which is my frustration at Tatis being on the DL. We still have a very decent record—with our payroll, I’d expect nothing less. But the GM needs to up his game. Big trades and big free agent signings are part of the game, but where are the team building skills? Look at what the Rays do year in, year out. Look at the A’s, although not necessarily yet this year. If you have a good GM, then payroll becomes secondary. What, so he’s going to swing a trade for Juan Soto? Stop it already. Start developing the right people on the farm. No more stop gap solutions, not after eight years on the job. One more bad move, and the Padres fans will vote to trade the GM. And don’t think they wouldn’t.

We need a hero to step up. Manny probably won’t  hit .360 forever, Hos’s average is already dipping. Grish? Do you want to take over? That go-ahead RBI single was a start. Nola, perhaps? It doesn’t have to be everybody at once, only a hit at a time. No hit, try a sacrifice fly. No fly? Bunt it. Something.

C’mon, Padres. After that terrific road trip, you want to stink it up for the fans now? I have an idea, since we have already decided to give the fans more power, as in trading the GM. For each man left in scoring position, you get to pick the fan of your choice to bat for you the next time around. The results will be the same, but at least it will be far more more entertaining. If the fan should get a hit, he gets to keep Tatis’s salary for the month. Win-win for everybody.

Padres 4, Pirates 3

Another grinder, and at home against a subpar team, no less. That's okay. This is the Major Leagues. These are all professional ballplayers, which should be incentive enough for each player to approach each game the same way.

Manaea was shaky, but gave us the gutsy outing we needed. Seven innings pitched, and our bullpen is still well rested after the off day. There were some really good defensive stops...Manny Machado comes to mind here. I may be biased here, but I still don't think there's a better third baseman in the game than Manny. Arenado gets all the ink, but I feel he hits the deck more often than he needs to, whereas Manny is more likely to simply pick the ball, meaning he's read it well before the ball reaches him. Look at Manny day in and day out, and how he goes about his business. Defense, fundamentals, hit the ball the other way...the man knows how to play, period, has a high baseball IQ. I can almost forgive him for getting picked off second base in the fourth inning.

It was good to see Luke Voit finally contribute. Three run homer, tie game. He came up again in the eighth inning with two men on and two out and popped out, though. Again, that's a wasted out, especially in a close game. Think Luke Voit is going to bunt? Not in the year 2022, not with so much money being made. Today, it's dingers and RBI's that count, as all of the players’ agents will proudly confirm. The only person who still appreciates the bunt these days is the manager.

Luckily, we didn't need that extra run, as Taylor Rogers slammed the door shut for his league leading seventeenth save. One thing the Padres have never lacked over the years is a good closer. In fact, I can't remember us ever having issues in the ninth inning. Going back, I remember Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Craig Lefferts, Mark Davis, Trevor Hoffmann, Heath Bell, Brad Hand, Craig Kimbrel, Mark Melancon, etc. If we go back to the year 1969, when the Padres were born, we probably have one of the highest save conversion rates in the league. 

One thing we have lacked over the years is a steady diet of starting pitching. I remember Randy Jones in the 1970s. Gaylord Perry won the Cy Young Award for us one year. But after that? There was Jake Peavy, who was lights out in the regular season, but would crumble in the postseason. I never can recall a horse who would regularly put up numbers like a Verlander, Kershaw, or Scherzer. That's one thing the Padres have lacked over the years. A true franchise ace who can put up 15-20 wins and 200 innings a year. No idea why we never had it. Perhaps we were scouting only closers. We've played in some pitcher friendly parks, so you would think that we could land an ace or develop one in the minors. If you looked at our pennant winning teams, our ace in 1984 was Eric Show, who was nowhere to be seen in the postseason. In 1998, it was Kevin Brown, who made the most of the one season he pitched with us. Other than that, it's the other clubs with all of the pitching. Kluber, Keuchel, DeGrom, Wainwright, Cole...where is our stud? We definitely have a good staff. Who is our ace? We have a couple of candidates with Musgrove and Gore, but I'm still waiting for that one workhorse-ace pitcher to give us that particular edge every fifth day. 

With the way the Dodgers are playing now, you almost have to plan to beat them over seven games, not 162. The trouble is, we need to make it to that seven game series first. Teams like the Dodgers don't rebuild, they reload. I just look at that lineup, see Bellinger batting seventh and Chris Taylor in the eighth spot and think: Whoa, I'm outta here. If you have Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Trea Turner leading off for you, then you know it's going to be a long  day.

Got Musgrove going in Game 2. Let's rack up the wins, every one counts.

Humble Beginnings: The Friars in the 70s

On a day off, I thought I'd report about my humble beginnings as a Padres fan in the 1970s, which was one of my first lessons in humility.

While I was a kid attending Berry Elementary School in the South Bay area in the mid 70s, only a couple of miles from the border, it dawned on us kids that there was actually bigger sport in town than our Little League games. Actual Major League Baseball, where grown men get paid to play a boy's game. Wow! Okay, so the name (Padres) sounded kind of weird and one that needed to be explained to me, but heck. We had a team...allegedly. It wasn't like people were camping out overnight to buy tickets at Jack Murphy. And what the hell was a Jack Murphy anyway?

My older brother was the shrewd one and went with the Dodgers outright. Sutton, Garvey, Cey, Lopez, Baker...they made sure that their feet were on the Padres' throats for as long as my big brother's foot was on mine. They were merciless. Their goal was to win the pennant each year. Our goal was to win 70 games and sell 70 tickets. Like I said, humble beginnings.

My hero? Dave Winfield. I have loved the man all of my life. Dave Winfield at 6'7" not only resembled a superhero, but played like one with numerous superpowers. What couldn't Winfield do? Try me, I dare you. Power, average, speed, defense...in addition, the man carried himself with class, despite playing for a perennial loser. I remember my brother buying a pack of Topps Cards in '77...with a Dave Winfield card! My brother's friend bought that card from him for a buck fifty, and we all thought he was the richest kid on the block. Winfield, meanwhile, continued playing his heart out for us until he left for free agency in 1980. I'm sure nobody in San Diego saw that coming.

Jack Murphy Stadium was much too big at first, the way Petco Park was. I never went to a game as a kid because the stadium in Mission Valley was about 10 miles from my home, and we couldn't afford any tickets. Back in the 70s, you might have bought a ticket to see other teams play. Remember the Pittsburgh Lumber Company? The Big Red Machine? Lord, guys like Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench would absolutely feast on our pitching. 

Another guy we had in the 70s was a guy named Randy Jones. Perhaps you've heard of him. He was Mr. Cy Young in 1976, I believe. The problem was, he also pitched over 300 innings and eventually left SD by 1980. He was fun while it lasted. Remember Ozzie Smith? Billy Almond? Mike Ivey? Gene Tenace? Bob Owchinko? Only the incorrigible die hards do.

Brewers 2, Padres 1

So we finally know what it's like to lose a series again. No worries, if we continue to score one run a game, we'll lose plenty of series.

Darvish: he gets a pass. Do you think Melvin would have run him out there in the seventh if he were that confident about our bullpen? I think Melvin actually believed our chances were better with Darvish starting the inning. It's really the same game as yesterday, when you think about it. One run, we take the lead, watch us blow the lead, and, for the grand finale, witness our popgun offense try and stage a comeback. Five runs in three games at home. And no, the Brewers pitchers weren't that good. We didn't even face Woodruff, who seems to have our number. This is kind of what playoff baseball looks like. Good pitching, good defense, every out counts. We are not there yet.

We are wasting some big at bats with Profar in the three spot. Yesterday first and third, no outs, and he grounds into a double play. Now bases loaded, one out, and we get one. We don't have that killer instinct that is required to come through in key situations. Need a groundball? We get a popout or a strikeout. Okay, so it doesn't help that half our lineup has forgotten how to hit. 

What grates on me even more is our team getting beaten by former Padres. Perdomo shuts us out in relief...where was he when we needed that? Boxberger, lights out. Urias starts the winning rally with a leadoff walk. All former friars. Nothing pissed me off more when we lost to Cleveland earlier this year, because Austin Hedges finally understood what that bat was doing in his hand and delivered. He was an out machine in SD, which made management even forget about his good defense.

What did the former Brewer, Grisham, do? Provided the final out to end the game. He is really looking bad at the plate. 

We need situational hitting more than ever, but it's not in today's player's makeup. Wait, you want me to give up an at bat so the guy can advance? No RBI? No chance to swing for the fences? With our limited offense, it would be a good idea to learn how to bunt or teach our guys situational awareness. Runner on second, no outs? How do I move him over? The guy's on third, less than two outs. How do I get him in? Today, it seems like it's all or nothing. Whiff or whack. Dud or dinger. No in between. Back in the day, 100 strikeouts were a lot. Today that's a given that most sluggers are approaching that mark by the All Star break. 

And no, I'm not nostalgic about the good old days, because they weren't any better. That goes for baseball as well. But sometimes, sometimes I wish a batter would know when to push and when to pull a ball. 

A day off, then the Pirates. We need to get those games back. And, more important, we need to start hitting the ball at home. In our last 13 games at Petco, we have scored 29 runs. Not enough.

Brewers 4, Padres 1

And the streak ends, just like that, at home, against a good team. We scored an early run in the first, and they shut us down the rest of the way. We just can't generate any consistent offense at home.

To me, Blake Snell is the weak link in this rotation. I might have been the only Padres fan who was not ecstatic when we landed him from the Rays. Darvish, yes. Proven starter, gives you innings, will put up plenty of goose eggs. Snell won the Cy Young Award in 2018 with a 21-5 record. What I didn't like about that record was that he pitched 180 innings. That's a lot of innings where you need your bullpen, and that pattern has continued here in San Diego, only with more predictable results. Translated, that means L's and a higher ERA. In SD, he's been average, at best.

Snell has a wide arsenal of pitches, yet he can't seem to get anybody out. Last night, it took him ten, eight and nine pitches to get three batters out. Snell usually racks up 90-100 pitches by the fourth or fifth inning, and then it's crossed fingers that the bullpen can hold on to the lead, provided he ever had it to begin with. I am certain Snell can win ballgames again, only I don't think he's a good fit in SD. Perhaps a trade back to Tampa, where he, according to his own admission, never wanted to leave in the first place? Snell is the one pitcher on this staff that gives me the fits.

He reminds me of a former Padre from the 90s, a guy named Sterling Hitchcock. Same pattern: throw a lot of pitches, put your teammates to sleep, out by the sixth or seventh inning. I recall him winning the NLCS MVP in '98, if I'm not mistaken, and he gave us some quality innings. That said, he, too, relied heavily on our bullpen, which managed to bail him out time and again. We rewarded him with a six million dollar a year contract, an enormous amount of bread at that time. He had one semi decent season in '99. and it all went downhill from there.

We also have too many batters who are not hitting. Grisham looks lost at the plate, as does Cron Zone. Nola, usually a reliable hitter, is at .216. And I don't expect any of those averages to go up anytime soon, at least not at Petco. We have a pitching staff that will keep us in games, but chances are we will not win too many games scoring one or two runs. It can't be just Manny and Hos carrying us. 

Profar's double play grounder in the first was huge, a real rally killer. Instead, we only got one run out of the deal, and that was all she wrote the rest of the way. Profar is not a cleanup hitter (or even a number three!), and frankly, he's lucky he's in the starting lineup at all. If you're in the batting order between Manny and Hos, I'm guessing you'll get some hittable pitches. And Profar is simply not delivering. We have two players hitting at over .300, one (Myers) at .241, and the rest at .220 or worse. Not good enough, guys.

13 games above .500, one and a half behind the Dodgers. Rubber game today. 

Padres 3, Brewers 2

Following an absolute marvel of a road trip...seven and two, with series wins against the Braves and Phillies, plus a sweep of the Giants, the sweet cherry on top, we returned home to play the Brewers, always a tough matchup. In the end it was 3-2, good guys, which makes it five in a row, 14 games above .500 and STILL that typical half-game behind the Dodgers.

But first things first: the road trip. A series win against the World Series champs in Atlanta was big after we split with them earlier in the season at Petco. The Braves are battle tested, those guys know how to win games, and it showed. That second game we blew hurt, with the bullpen coming undone. But we answered with a comeback of our own the next day and won, 7-3, after trailing by three early. Gut check, big game.

On to Philly. My Compadres can correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of a single team from the NL East since I have followed the Padres that has given us more fits. Atlanta? Maybe, but we've had our moments with them. The Nats? Maybe when they were the Expos, then they were a regular pain in the small intestine. The Marlins? Nope, haven't been around long enough, even with their two titles. The Mets? As if. I still think the Mets are the only team in baseball we have a winning record against, not counting interleague and teams that came after us in the league. 

People who know San Diego will also know at least one Philly fan in America's Finest City, and I've known scores of them. Back in the 70's, they would regularly lay the wood to my young and green Padres. I admired that team: Carlton, Schmidt, Luzinski, Boone, McGraw, Bowa...the perfect combination of skill, experience and attitude. We had a bit of a reprieve against them in the 90s, but since the 21st century started, they have been picking on us again. Of course, the Phillies have their regular share of Californians on their squad to make things even more annoying. Remember Chase Utley? Home boy Cole Hamels? Lord, they would just hammer us, every time.

The Phillies qualify as what I call a "tent" game. In other words, not really a home game with so many Phillies fans in the stands, but a tent, something that is passable and will give you a chance to brave the elements, but is unsatisfying in the grander scheme of things. 

Compadres know what I'm talking about. Same for Mets "home games", Cubs, Dodgers, take your pick...tent games, all of them. But the Phillies have annoyed me for decades now, so it was big winning a series at Philly. 

When we lost a series earlier in the year in SF (whoops...a worse part of me wanted to call it "The Stick," which wasn't even in the same neighborhood, or planet), I was really steaming. They were laying it on a little thick, perhaps running up the score in that second game. Which is why I was double pissed when we lost the finale of that series by a run. That wasn't the reaction I had hoped for, not against the guys that had just tried to drown our dignity in the bay. Still, games with the Giants have always been fight, fight, fight. You need to meet the fight they have on that team (plus pitch well and play D, admittedly) and eventually hope class can kick in, if it exists. I was overjoyed by the sweep this time around in SF. Somehow, I don't think the Padres will have the meltdown they did last year under Tingler. Not with Melvin. Forget about it.

For all Compadres who are following...recently, we have been starting Clevinger, Snell, Darvish, Gore, Manaea, Musgrove and Martinez. That's a seven-man rotation. Of course, Clevinger is down, and Snell doesn't seem to be right. Still, even with a six-man rotation, you need to like our chances. Give somebody (probably Gore) an extra day off every now and then and presto...you have the best staff in baseball. And it will be one you can use for a long season, as well. Translated, that means playoffs. Let's put all humility aside here. That's what we are gunning for. Within three years, I wish to see a World Series Parade in downtown San Diego, which I will come home for.

Last night: Martinez was shaky, but in the end allowed two runs in five innings. All we need is for our pitchers to give us a chance, which Nick did. And the Brewers might be the toughest team we have faced all year, aside from L.A. It won't get any easier. We have the Mets coming up, plus the Cardinals, Giants, etc. No time to rest. 

Major kudos to Grisham. He is not griping, despite his bad average. I love those bunts, they are helping us win ballgames. If the dingers and doubles aren't there, go for the dinks! Ditto for Cron Zone. Not hitting? How about playing stellar D? These things win ball games. We know it. They know it. The damn baseball does.