Category: Notes

Series talk

The Padres take on the Rockies today in the finale of a three-game series with RHP Dustin Moseley facing RHP Aaron Cook. Moseley is coming off four straight starts in which he has allowed two or fewer earned runs, posting a 2.22 ERA (6 ER/24.1 IP) over that stretch.

With a win this afternoon, the Padres would take the series from Colorado, giving them their fourth straight series win (previously WSH, ATL, HOU). In addition, it would be their third straight series win over the Rockies dating back to last year. In franchise history, the Padres have only taken three straight series from the Rockies on two other occasions:

9/4-6/06 – three game sweep; 4/6-8/07 – won two of three; 4/20-22/07 – won two of three

7/10-13/97 – won three of four; 9/17-18/97 – two game sweep; 7/3-5/98 – three game sweep; 7/13-15/98 – won two of three

Minor League Awards for May

The Padres today announced their minor league award winners for the month of May:

Offensive Player of the Month: Lake Elsinore Storm INF Jedd Gyorko 

Pitcher of the Month: Ft. Wayne TinCaps RHP Zach Cates 

Base Runner of the Month:  Ft. Wayne TinCaps OF Rymer Liriano

Defensive Player of the Month: Lake Elsinore Storm INF Jeudy Valdez

Big day in Padreland

On the field, the Padres are rolling. Three straight wins, three straight series wins and 7-2 in their last nine games. Today the Pads welcome the Rockies to town for the second matchup with the division rivals.  San Diego took two of three in Colorado 5/13-15.

Off the field, the Padres have a big opportunity with the 2011 First-Year Player Draft kicking off today. Round 1 as well as Compensation Round A will take place this evening, beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT. The Padres have five of the first 58 selections in what Vice President/Assistant General Manager Jason McLeod calls “one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.”

Here is a summary of the Padres first five picks:

10th – Compensation for unsigned first-rounder in 2010 Draft (Karsten Whitson)

25th – Padres regular first-round selection

48th – Compensation for free agent Jon Garland

54th – Compensation for free agent Yorvit Torrealba

58th – Compensation for free agent Kevin Correia

Stay tuned to either the Channel 4 SD or XX 1090 broadcast this evening. Jason McLeod will visit both booths in-game, following tonight’s Draft action, to discuss the Padres selections.

For your viewing pleasure, take a look at last week’s video when we asked Padres players to recall their Draft Day experiences.

Back on track

The Padres snapped a brief two-game skid with a 3-1 win last night, improving to 6-5 in their last 11 games. Over that stretch, the Padres pitching staff has posted a 2.52 ERA with starters working 7.0 or more innings on six occasions.

Dustin Moseley picked up the win yesterday after 7.0 innings of one-run ball. A victim of bad luck all year long, Moseley is now 2-6  despite lowering his ERA to 3.00. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is one of just 23 qualifying pitchers with an ERA of 3.00 or better but is the only one of those pitchers who does not boast a winning record.

On the offensive side, Chase Headley extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games, Ryan Ludwick has now hit safely in 17 of his last 21 games and Chris Denorfia belted his fourth home run of the season.

Notes on last night’s game

Chase Headley knocked an RBI single in the third inning last night, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. With that hit, he extended his career high and passed Orlando Hudson for the longest hitting streak by a Padre this season.

Ryan Ludwick drove in one run last night, giving him 36 RBI on the season. He leads the team and ranks tied for eighth in the NL. Luddy has now hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games.

The Padres drove in two runs on sacrifice flies in the seventh last night. The last time they had two sac flies in a single inning was 7/23/10 at PIT (top 2). Since the start of the 2007 season, the Padres have accomplished the feat just one other time (9/7/08 at MIL – top 7).

We’re going streaking!

The Pads did it again, winning 5-4 over the Braves last night and extending their winning streak to a season-high four games. Each of the four wins have come by one run (2-1, 5-4, 3-2, 5-4). It is the longest winning streak for the club since taking five straight 8/15-19/10.

Over the current win streak, Heath Bell has tied his career high by picking up four saves in four consecutive days. He also accomplished the feat 8/10-13/10. Bell is one shy of tying the club record for saves in consecutive days (Thanks to Channel 4’s Chyron Bob Wehrsdorfer for the research):

5 Saves

Mark Davis, 9/2-6/89

Rollie Fingers, 5/28-31/77 (two saves during doubleheader on 5/30)

4 Saves

Heath Bell, 5/28/11-current

Heath Bell, 8/10-13/10

Trevor Hoffman, 5/25-28/08

Trevor Hoffman, 7/5-8/06

Also of note, Mat Latos picked up another win with 6.0 innings of two-run ball last night.  He has won two straight and three of his last four, lowering his ERA to 3.97 on the year.

Ryan Ludwick continues to pound the ball, collecting four hits last night.  He is 9-for-14 over his last three games and finished the month of May hitting .314.

Rolling right along

The Padres took their third straight with an extra-inning 3-2 win over the Braves. Heath Bell picked up the save, his third in as many days. It is the third time in his career that he as picked up three saves in three days, also accomplishing the feat 4/16-18/09 and 8/10-13/10 (four straight).

Ryan Ludwick continues his tear at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI yesterday. Over his last 17 games, dating back to 5/11, he is hitting .364 (24-for-66) with four home runs and 19 RBI, raising his average 63 points over that span. With 22 RBI in May, Ludwick ranks third in the National League. He is tied for eighth in the NL on the season with 34.

Bring on the Braves

The Padres took two of three from Washington, sealing the deal with a 5-4 come-from-behind win today. Since the beginning of the 2004 season, the Padres have gone 34-12 (.739) against the Washington/Montreal franchise, posting a 13-2 series record.

The club begins a three-game set at Atlanta tomorrow with Aaron Harang taking on Tim Hudson. Harang has allowed just two runs (one earned) in his last two starts, working 15.0 innings. The Padres will be looking for their first series victory over the Braves since 8/25-27/09. That three-game series in 2009 is the only series victory for the Padres over the Braves since 2005.

Here are the probables for the upcoming series:

Monday – RHP Aaron Harang vs. RHP Tim Hudson

Tuesday – RHP Mat Latos vs. LHP Mike Minor

Wednesday – LHP Clayton Richard vs. RHP Tommy Hanson

Capitol Punishment

The Pads hit the road today for a six-game trip to Washington and Atlanta. After today, the club won’t have another off day until June 16, following a stretch of 20 games in 20 days.

Since the beginning of the 2004 season, the Padres have gone 32-11 (.744) against the Washington/Montreal franchise, posting a 12-2 series record. Over that stretch, the Padres have hit .274 while averaging 4.7 runs per game and posting a 3.12 ERA.

Here are the matchups for the three-game set with the Nationals:

 Friday – LHP Clayton Richard vs. LHP John Lannan

Saturday – RHP Tim Stauffer vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann

Sunday – RHP Dustin Moseley vs. LHP Tom Gorzelanny

Silver lining

The Padres can still clinch a split of the season series against the Cardinals with a win this afternoon. They are 9-7 in series finales on the year. Today it will be Mat Latos taking on Chris Carpenter. Latos has not faced the Cardinals this year while Carpenter started against the Padres on Opening Day, a 5-3 extra-inning win for the Padres.

A few notes following last night’s game:

Aaron Harang has now worked 7.0-or-more innings in three of his last four starts and is 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA (10 ER/26.1 IP) over that stretch. He is 3-2 with a 3.40 ERA (17 ER/45.0 IP) in seven starts at home this year.

Chase Headley (1-for-3 last night) has hit safely in 18 of his last 24 games since 4/29, batting .316 (24-for-76) with six doubles during that stretch.

Brad Hawpe (1-for-4 last night) has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games with an at-bat, hitting .314 (27-for-86) with eight doubles and 13 runs scored in 25 games overall since 4/25 over that span.