News
Padres seeking happy end to long stretch
San Diego (35-49) at San Francisco (46-38), 7:15 p.m. PT
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
07/08/09 9:38 PM ET
PHOENIX -- The Padres finish their sprint of 20 games in 20 days with a four-game series against the Giants beginning Thursday night at AT&T Park. They enter the series having lost 11 of their past 16 games. The Padres are playing without their top two pitchers, their top two catchers, their starting second baseman and their veteran right fielder. That's about $23 million of their nearly $44-million payroll currently unavailable, if you're counting. The team is playing hard. It just keeps coming up short. But don't expect any big team meetings conducted by manager Bud Black this week. He expects his thread-bare team to keep battling. "These guys are playing their hearts out," Black said after Wednesday's 6-2 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field that came apart for the visiting club in the seventh and eighth innings. "They really are. We're not getting blown out. These guys are playing hard. A lot of them are cutting their teeth in the big leagues. There are guys with service time elsewhere who are getting an opportunity here. I'm proud of how hard they're playing." The point is to keep the team from reaching that tipping point where it doesn't care anymore. And that's something that happens when losing over the course of a long season becomes a habit. "You go out there and compete every night," Black said. "I communicate with my guys all the time, individually through the course of the day from the time they arrive in the clubhouse and into the dugout, the whole time. I'll have my share of meetings. But in this game, when you play 162 and 30 more in Spring Training every year, you can't have an NFL-type pep talk every Sunday. You have to let them play." Pitching matchupSD: RHP Josh Geer (1-3, 5.46 ERA)
Geer tossed 6 1/3 innings while allowing two runs on seven hits in his last start, a 7-4 Padres win against the Dodgers at PETCO Park. Geer walked none and struck out one in his fourth consecutive quality start. He allowed one home run -- a solo shot by Manny Ramirez in the first inning. Geer said the pitch was a hanging changeup that Ramirez took advantage of to launch his first home run since returning from a 50-game suspension. SF: RHP Tim Lincecum (9-2, 2.23 ERA)
Tim Lincecum hasn't allowed a run in 23 innings. Heck, he hasn't even allowed a runner past second base in 18 frames. The National League Pitcher of the Month for June got off to a great start in July, tossing seven shutout innings against the Houston Astros on Saturday. He struck out nine batters and allowed just three hits. Lincecum is 0-1 in two starts against the San Diego Padres this season. Tidbits
It might be hard to conceive of in this day and age of deep bullpens and short pitch counts, but on July 7, 1976, Padres starter Randy Jones tossed a complete game for his 16th victory of that season, setting an NL record for most wins before the All-Star break. It was his 15th complete game in 21 starts, leading to a 16-3 record prior to the break. Jones won the NL Cy Young Award that year, becoming the first of four Padres pitchers to do so in their 40-year history. The others: Gaylord Perry (1978), Mark Davis ('89) and Jake Peavy (2007). ... Peavy, by the way, is about two weeks away from having that boot removed again from his right foot so doctors can get a feel for what's happening with that strained ankle tendon that put him on the disabled list June 19. If all goes well, Peavy could be available to pitch for the Padres again by late August or early September, Black said. ... The skipper also said Wednesday that he still hasn't designated a starter for Saturday's night game at San Francisco to replace Walter Silva, who was designated for assignment Tuesday. Black said that decision wouldn't be made until Friday. Tickets
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• XPRS 1090, XEMO 860 (Español) Up next
• Friday: Padres (Josh Banks, 1-0, 5.60) at Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 2-8, 5.30), 7:15 p.m. PT
• Saturday: Padres (TBD) at Giants (Matt Cain, 10-2, 2.42), 6:05 p.m. PT
• Sunday: Padres (TBD) at Giants (Barry Zito, 5-8, 4.43), 1:05 p.m. PT
Barry Bloom is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
