Dodgers 1, Padres 0

We squeezed out Game 1 after a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning by Alfaro, which cut our magic number down to four. It's still four after the Dodgers silenced our bats for 10 innings. This is playoff baseball, really, when every out, every pitch counts. With the Dodgers, it is always a battle. Beat them one night, and you need to cure the hangover in time to try and beat them again. 

Urias, their guy, shut us out for six innings, Musgrove shut out the Dodgers for five. Only this time, Musgrove put on a Snell, 106 pitches in five innings. They made our boy work. Urias, too, would have gone longer, but it was a grind for him as well. Urias is just huge for the Dodgers. He is the anchor, although not necessarily the ace, of that staff. With the Dodgers already losing valuable man hours (Bauer, Buehler, May, most notably) from their pitchers, you have Gonsolin and Anderson stepping up in a big way to fill the void. Kershaw is no longer the dominator he once was, but he is a presence. Urias won 20 games last year, and it's 17 so far this year. That's no accident.

The Dodgers never beat themselves. They snuff out the enemy when it is needed, where it is needed, home or away. They don't give you extra outs, extra bases or commit those base running blunders that might end an inning. That professionalism and talent is hard to match for most ballclubs. When you look at the top of that lineup, Betts-Turner-Freeman, you just have to tip your cap. These guys were already champions before they signed with the Dodgers, it didn't really take much for them to buy into what needed to be done in LA. Betts is a sure fire HOFer, Freeman will get serious ink for it, and Turner is building his credentials as we speak. They know that they will probably need another ring or two to make that happen, and they are well on their way.

Too often, our players get lost in the moment when we beat the Dodgers. How many Game ones have we won, only to lose the series after realizing you need to bring that effort, that A-game every single day? You can't rest with the Dodgers, I think we've lost 15 out of our last 20 to them. The good news is that we would "only" have to win a best-of-five or best-of-seven in the playoffs against them should we advance that far. For all of their bluster, the Dodgers are vulnerable in the postseason. They won the 1920 World Series, and rightfully so, but the results before and after that are puzzling. They lost the World Series against Houston and Boston, then lost against the Braves last year before they could get another shot at winning it all. Even with those division titles and pennants, the Dodgers have won the World Series only once since 1988, which makes them postseason underachievers. And Dodger fans know I'm right. 

The Dodgers have already clinched the one seed and the right to Kumbaya for a weekend, but you knew they weren't coming to San Diego without all of their guns. They're going to keep that foot on our throats for as long as they can. 

On to the rubber game. Who wants it more?

Padres 13, Rockies 6

Two out of three at Coors, nice. It seems like that was the dragon we couldn't slay this or last season. It's an absolute horror when you can't hit a pitcher with a six plus ERA, then watch as their bats slowly grind away against our starters, as it's been the case for far too long. In Game 1, to absolutely nobody's surprise, Manaea got lit up again and didn't last four. What can you do? If you don't start him, you wear out the arms of the rest of your guys. Start him, and it will be four innings for the bullpen, possibly more at Coors Field. At this point, Manaea is absolutely useless. Hard to believe he still had a .212 BAA at the end of June.

In Game 2, a 9-3 victory, Darvish got his 16th win, which ties him for fourth in MLB. Darvish is a pro. He can give up one run, maybe two, but he will battle you until his last pitch. Clearly, the game has changed. MLB has only one pitcher with 20 wins, Atlanta's Kyle Wright, and he will be the only 20 game-winner in both leagues this season. And yet, Wright has pitched only 175 innings. In the 70s and 80s, you had relievers approaching that mark. We have only one pitcher, Miami's Sandy Alcantara, with more than 200 innings, at a whopping 220, although the Cards' Mikolas and the Phillies' Nola might join that exclusive club. Think they would have had 200 without the universal DH rule? Hard to tell, although I doubt it. Does all of this guarantee or even improve longevity for pitchers? Time will tell.

In Game 3, Clevy was knocked out after four, which didn't help, although 13 runs and 17 hits bailed him out. I realize there are fan favorites like Clevy and Myers, but they have been mediocre, at best. Myers has been here for eight years, but he's the batting equivalent of Mark Grant, the guy doing the color commentary in the booth for us. Averages of 50 RBIs and 16 HR are good for utility players, but not for everyday starters. Kim, is very popular with the fans, nice, but he's a career .234 hitter with a .304 OBP, although he has improved compared to last year. Call me old-fashioned, but I go for performance first. Manny is my favorite player on this team by miles. We shipped Hosmer, a consistent underperformer, out of here, but replaced him with another consistent underperformer. We need more depth on this roster.

So that was our final road game. We finish with three games each against LA, the White Sox and the Giants. We are the five seed now, although I would prefer the six seed, as I like our chances against the Cardinals better than anybody from the NL East. It is essential that we keep our people healthy, above all things. If we lose Darvish, Snell or even Musgrove, that will put a dent on any aspirations we might have had going into the playoffs. Same with Manny, can't lose him. We aren't the Dodgers who can continue to steamroll, no matter who's at the wheel. Our margin for error is that much thinner. 

Padres 1, Cardinals 0

Five in a row, Compadres. That's three straight in Arizona on the road, plus two straight shutouts of the Cardinals at home.

Granted, one run and five hits on offense doesn't make for mind-blowing entertainment, but that hardly matters with the way Snell is pitching now. Seven innings, one hit, no runs, no-hitter through 6 2/3. Hard to believe this is the same guy who didn't win a single game until July. This is someone I had all but given up on, now he pitches seven in back-to-back games, down the stretch and with the playoffs approaching. As it stands now, that's Darvish anchoring the staff, followed by Snell and Musgrove. That's more in line with what our goals were when we acquired Darvish, then Snell, then Musgrove before the 2021 season.

It appears we're going with a four-man rotation toward the end of the season, with the occasional day off allowing our pitchers to have at least a full four days' rest. Manaea is not helping us now, he is getting flung all around the ballpark with his pitches over the middle of the plate. Maybe we can use him in long relief. At this point, I don't anticipate him being part of the rotation, unless something drastic happens. Clevy, admittedly, bounced back with 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball, but he is inconsistent and really just a fourth option at this point. Too bad, really, the guy we got from Cleveland in 2020 came with a lot of hype. I mean, this guy used to deal.

We are four games up on the Brewers with 13 games to go, plus we are 1 1/2 ahead of the Phillies, which I am not too crazy about, because this means we draw either the Mets or the Braves. Even though we played both clubs well this year, I am not sure I would want to meet either team in the playoffs at this point. On the other hand, I know we can beat the Cardinals. We've done very well against the NL Central this year, and we go for the sweep tonight with Musgrove taking the bump.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge has hit 60 home runs, one shy of the Yankees' club record. I will never accept any of the roiders' seasons, be it Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, or Barry Bonds. If Judge breaks it, it should be his record, whereas the roiders can rot in asterisk hell, as far as I'm concerned. What I don't get is why the Yankees haven't re-signed him yet. The offer he received from them was 213 mil over seven years. Should have upped that, New York, because now you're in a bidding war.

Padres 6, Diamondbacks 1

Following our trip to Seattle, we took three out of four from the Diamondbacks after a series opening shutout to Drey Jameson (ever heard of him?). We looked flat in that game, Manaea was his usual average self, and Milwaukee gained a game on us by beating the Yankees at home.

From Game 2 on, we dominated. Snell pitched seven (I know, right?), the offense put on a clinic, and we won, 12-3. In Game 3, Musgrove shut out the Snakes for six, Hader got the save, and pitcher MVP Nick Martinez bridged the gap with two shutout innings, as we blanked them, 2-0. No ground gained, though, as the Brewers stuffed the Yankees again. Game 4, a similar script. Darvish pitched six shutout innings, and Suarez and Morejon mopped up in a 6-1 victory. The Yankees salvaged the last game of their series with the Brewers, so that we now have a 2 1/2 game lead over them with 15 games to go.

Now this is where it could get tricky. We have an off day, followed by Clevinger facing the Cardinals at home. They've got Waino in Game 1, but it appears Manaea's start will be skipped with the off day, and Snell will face St. Louis in Game 2 on a full four days of rest. Well, at this point we need to deliver, every game will count even more. No rest for the weary after that, though, as we go to Coors Field after that. The Dodgers come to San Diego after that series, and we can only hope that they might experiment a little after they have all but landed the one seed for the playoffs.

As a side note, we went 14-5 against the Diamondbacks for the year, a team we traditionally struggle against. Manny had a two-run homer (who else?) and Soto went 3-for-4 with a dinger in yesterday's game. Drury is back in the lineup following his concussion, and he gave us an immediate boost. Campusano, recalled from the Minors, has hit well, so that we now have an alternative to Nola and Alfaro behind the plate. Azocar has been starting in Grish's place, and I like the results so far. Think we might get rolling at the right time here?

I heard something about the skipper getting loud following our Game 1 loss in Phoenix, so let's see what happens from here on out. We are guaranteed at least a .500 record this season, something we haven't had since 2010. Darvish is 15-7 on the year, a nice comeback from last year. He will need to continue to pitch like an ace if we want to make a run in the playoffs. Snell has certainly turned it around in the second half of this year, which I didn't expect. Profar has been slumping, which is not good. We might need another leadoff hitter soon if he folds.

Mariners 6, Padres 1

Well, at least we got one in Seattle, which is all we can ask for these days. 

Looking at Juan Soto and Josh Bell, I am concerned but not terribly so. We know these players, we know what they can do. They could bust out at any time, most notably in the playoffs, should we make it there, so we know these guys have plenty of game in them. 

What a shame about the offense is that we just don't look good. Everybody sucks at once, or there will be a hot streak by a player here or there, but essentially, we stink. Could the playoffs raise our game? Who knows? The more look at them, the more I believe there is a discord between the players and everybody else. You have a great fan base, dozens of sellouts, a good roster on paper, but few results to show for it. There is a complete disconnect somewhere, and anybody who has watched team sports over the years knows what I mean.

Of bigger concern should be the pitching. Clevy got whacked for six runs over five innings, including three in the first. At this point, Clevy is little more than a long reliever, because he is not helping us on the mound. I know he is one of the more popular players, but at this point he simply can't hang. He and Manaea are not good enough for this staff, so we will need more pitchers in the off season. Remember when we traded for Clevy? We had him and Denilson Lamet, and everything was going to be hunky dory going into the playoffs? We lost Clevy quickly, then Lamet went down to rob us of our last hope. 

We have a knack for picking the wrong pitchers, it seems. Either they get hurt, we trade them, or they become average. How many ace pitchers have we developed in our franchise history? Go on, I dare you. The Dodgers develop one per draft, it seems. They have Kershaw, Detroit had Verlander and Scherzer, St. Louis has Wainwright, the Mets DeGrom. We thought we had MacKenzie Gore, but we were off on that one, it appears. 

We need better player development, which falls under, ding, ding, ding, what the GM does. Our GM better hope for a pennant, because that's him gone if we don't.

Padres 2, Mariners 0

Way to start a road trip, especially after the Brewers had already beaten the Cardinals and further threatened to cut into our lead.

Darvish went eight, giving up two hits and no walks while striking out seven. He has been lights out down the stretch, unlike last year, when he collapsed with the rest of the team. He has 14 wins, the only Padres starter in double digits. That brings us to the rest of the rotation: who comes after Darvish? Musgrove, formerly our ace, is now average, at best. Snell could probably bring it in the playoffs, but he can pitch six and then it's fingers crossed for the bullpen. MacKenzie Gore was the secret sauce earlier in the season that had us dreaming of bigger and better things, but he is gone and figures to play a key role in the Nats' future. He was the one player I didn't want to give up. On the plus side, Hader got the save while striking out the side. He might just be a weapon for us yet.

Which brings us to the Nationals we received in the big trade. Both Soto and Bell have been a trainwreck and planewreck, and I'll let the Friars faithful decide who is which. Maybe they are waiting for the playoffs, although I hope they realize we need to make it there first, which is no gimme when you look at the remainder of our schedule. All things considered, I applaud the trade, although it hasn't panned out. Both Luke Voit and Eric Hosmer were dead weight, we thought we could do better and acted accordingly. But if all that buys us in the end is a six seed and a first-round exit, then Uncle Pete will need to make some decisions. 

I have a nasty feeling about our manager, Bob Melvin. It seems that he and the team don't click. Okay, so Melvin could always play with underachievers and low budgets, but now his billion-dollar ball club is underachieving and can't even play the most fundamental winning baseball. The clock might be ticking for him, too. Something about him and the GM just doesn't feel right on this team.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have clinched the division with 20 games left to go, and they deserve it. Their playoff history concerns me somewhat, 2020 aside here, and it looks like their starting pitching might be vulnerable. It seems to me they and the Braves are destined to meet again for the pennant. Everybody, including the Mets, are a cut below them. 

Dodgers 11, Padres 2

I don't know about Musgrove anymore, but ever since he's gotten paid, he has stopped pitching. 9 and 7 after starting 8 and 0, including an All-Star berth. Musgrove was our ace, he was dependable and could always give you quality innings. Now he is hanging pitch after pitch over the plate, usually a bad idea in the majors, and even more so against the Dodgers, the primus in our division. 

Throughout the series, Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner have absolutely destroyed us. That trio at the start of the lineup, Betts-Turner-Freeman, is simply devastating. Those guys can do everything: hit, run, power, average, steal a bag. Anyone of those guys could win the MVP award, whereas we have Manny and Manny alone now to bail us out of jams. Even with Bell and Soto around, it's still Manny's team. Crone has chipped in with some more key hits, so his numbers are up, but that's all we have at the moment.

But back to the pitching. With Musgrove decidedly average, I have no idea who would be pitching in a playoff series for us. Darvish, yes, but what then? Snell is hot and cold, Clevy average, Manaea is downright garbage. We just don't have the pieces yet, the players don't complement each other, nor do they pick each other up. The Dodgers could care less what our troubles are. They will be the one seed in the league, and the pennant will be theirs to lose. They have Urias and Gonsolin and Kershaw and God knows who else. They are a machine during the regular season, now they need to prove they can do it in the postseason. They certainly have the horses, so it will be hard to bet against them. I just wish we had a steady rotation, which was a given in the first half.

The way things stand now: we have just lost two of three against the Dodgers, we are at 77-64 and traveling to Seattle next, who are on fire. As the number six seed, which we will more than likely be, we would have to play the weakest division, in this case the NL Central leading Cardinals, who would like to make one more run at it with their dinosaur trio of Wainwright, Pujols, and Molina. I feel we match up well against them, so the emphasis is more on getting there. 

At 77-64, I'm sorry to say, we are still underachieving. We're going to need to win a pennant to save the GM's job, because he just gave away the whole farm for a few more big guns who have underachieved. I can't see him staying here, not with his lack of teambuilding skill. He showed guts, no doubt, when he pulled the trigger for trades and free agents alike, but they are not panning out. Again, here's to a long playoff run to prove me wrong. 

My History as a Padres fan

As a kid, life in San Diego was grand. It was the 70s, we had the beaches, and it was an easy-going time that saw the hippies slowly fade away or transition to life as adults in the working world. We had our house on the block not too far from the Mexican border, and a ten-foot palm tree sprouting in the front yard marked our home. No complaints there.

The Padres became my first love in sport, out of sheer loyalty for the hometown team. My older brother, opportunist that he was, became a Dodgers fan, a good decision for him, no doubt, although I still consider him a traitor for that, plus converting two of his kids, San Diego natives, to the dark Dodger blue side. 

As a kid (and later as a teen, adult, etc.), life as a Padre fan was hard. The big teams like the Reds, the Phillies, the Pirates, and yes, the Dodgers, would roll into town and pummel us. The Dodgers would pick on us the most, we couldn't touch them. This was Garvey, Cey, Russell, Sutton, Baker (as in Dusty), all headed by their manager, Tommy Lasorda, another guy in love with the camera. They would just hammer us, which is why I rooted against them when they played the Yankees in 1977 that included the three-dinger game by Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson.

Who were our guys? Randy Jones (the poor guy, we pitched him until his arm fell off). Billy Almond. Mike Ivey. Gene Tenace. Let's take the 1977 season, where we went 69-93. We went 6-12 against the Dodgers, 3-9 against the Phillies, and 2-10 against the Pirates. That was being a Padres fan in a nutshell. Wait for the other teams to come to town for some decent entertainment. Luckily, we had Dave Winfield, still my favorite Padre of all time. 

In a town that had everything, we didn't seem to think we needed a winning ballclub, and neither did our owner, guy by the name of Ray Kroc, perhaps you've heard of him. Until 1984, we had an overall won-lost record of 995–1372 for a .420 winning percentage. A record like that doesn't sell tickets, either. 

And then came 1984.

Padres 6, Diamondbacks 3

The situation in September? The Padres now are a mixed bag of treats, apples, toothbrushes and razor blades, and you just pray for that candy bar in the end. Since the trades that netted us Soto, Bell, Drury, and Hader, here are the report cards so far.

Hader: D-

His last few outings have redeemed him somewhat, but there's no doubt that, in our latest round of horse trading, we might have been dealt a horse that took a bullet somewhere. His erratic stretch in Milwaukee at the end was no aberration, Hader was all over the place when he first came here. Without a steady closer (which never happened in San Diego until Rogers, who is equally horrific in Milwaukee) in the playoffs, our chances are dim. 

Soto: D

Sorry, Juan (plus agent), but nobody is going to shell out 500 million big ones for six extra bases in 99 at bats. Although his OBP is still at around .400, it does us no good if there is nobody behind him who can drive him in consistently. The jury is still out on this trade, but I sure hope he comes around starting today. This is when games count the most. No worries, Juan, Padres fans are patient. We'll take a three-home run game against the Dodgers as down payment. That, or a World Series title. We're not too greedy, you see.

Bell: D

Although I believe Bell is starting to come around, the ugly numbers who just won't pipe it down read .193 batting average, plus three home runs in 32 games. Cue the loud droning sound of a buzzer when the candidate misses an answer. His walks still have him at a .324 OBP, but that won't win any games in September, let alone October. Bell will be a free agent following this season, but his performance will still matter down the stretch. We need Bell and Soto to clean things up, like yesterday.

Drury: D

Arguably our best pickup so far, but still underachieving. .220 average, plus a .262 OBP equal an out machine. Some timely homers when he first got here, plus a flexibility in the field endeared him to Friar fans, although he is looking more and more like a utility guy moving forward. Drury seems like he can be the DH on the days he doesn't play in the field. Again, we'll have a final grade after the final game.

Granted, we are well on our way to making the postseason, but to win in the postseason, we will need better efforts. Otherwise, I don't see the Gm keeping his job beyond this year. At this point, we're a five or six seed, nothing more.