PADRES VS. D'BACKS - LIVE BLOG

I am at Chase Field in Phoenix for game 3 of this scintillating early season matchup between San Diego and Arizona. Why? Because I can.

I parked in Level 4 of the attached parking garage. That's more for my information than yours. White Malibu, temporary plates. Got it.

The first thing I did was buy a Chris Snyder t-shirt. He's a Gunslinger, of course. I'm currently watching him play catch with a guy named Sherlock. He gets a rare start tonight, which worked out pretty nice.

My seats are two rows from the field down the left field line. If I'm ever getting a foul ball, this has got to be the game.

Padres lineup tonight:
Cabrera, SS
Eckstein, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B (the other Slinger in the house)
Blanks, LF
Headley, 3B
Venable, RF
Hairston, CF
Torrealba, C
Correia, P

For the D'backs:
Johnson, 2B
Drew, SS
Upton, RF
LaRoche, 1B
Reynolds, 3B
Young, CF
Parra, LF
Snyder, C
Kennedy, P

Correia was one of the few decent starters available in the 2010 draft. I think somebody has Kennedy, but I forget who.

I nearly lollygagged my way to a late arrival because of the curious Arizona non-daylight saving time zone.

The roof is staying open! I'm going to freeze my ass off.

The Mets are returning the favor tonight and getting pasted 6-1 by the Marlins.

Man, I have never been this close to a major league field.

Alexa Juarez did the National Anthem. I'm almost positive she was reading off the centerfield scoreboard. Play ball!

Top 1st
Ian Kennedy Circle-K's the side around a David Eckstein double. Eckstein stood on second base very grittily and possibly scrappily as well.

SDG 0, ARI coming up

Bottom 1st
Leadoff homer for former Brave Kelly Johnson, to straightaway center. Nice shot! Correia gets the rest in order, including a couple of 3-unassisteds to Gonzalez.

SDG 0, ARI 1

Top 2nd
A pair of quick singles by Headley and Venable, followed by a cheap homer to shallow left by Scott Hairston as the Pads take the lead.  Kennedy retired the final three, striking out two more. I'm pretty sure this time we really do get something free for five more K's.  Meanwhile gnats have descended en masse. I'd rather have Nats, although they would be more boring.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Bottom 2nd
Gerardo Parra doubled off the wall, but the rest of the Snakes hit routine flies, and left Parra stranded.

The Mets have made it 6-5, and are still batting! They won't win.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Top 3rd
Eck almost hit it here twice before grounding out.  The Mets tied it! They won't win.

A-Gon hit a double right in front of me. Kennedy struck out the next two, to give him seven. Now some kids in hot dog costumes are racing.  I'm taking relish. Mustard won. Typical.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Bottom 3rd
Kelly Johnson is halfway to the cycle with a single, and then erased on a fielder's choice. Another FC ends the inning.

K-Rod negotiates the top of the 9th for the Mets. They won't win.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Top 4t:h
Hairston hits a grounder to third, Reynolds boots it, and somehow it's scored a hit. Now Hairston is halfway to the cycle. Hairston is also erased on a FC that should have been a DP. Correia rips a single to
left. Hairston's reach-on-error is finally corrected. The Padres manage to not strike out, but don't score either.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Bottom 4th
Arizona wastes a single by Chris Young.

The Mets are still batting in the bottom of the 9th. They won't win.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Top 5th
I peed and then got a caramel apple. The Pads went 1-2-3 while I went #1.

SDG 3, ARI 1

Bottom 5th


Kelly Johnson screws up the cycle with...another homer! This one was a two-run shot, and the game is tied.

The Mets are trailing 7-6. They won't win.

SDG 3, ARI 3

Top 6th
Jordan Norberto now pitching for Arizona.

Guess what? The Mets lost.

Norberto gets two outs, and now Blaine Boyer is in there. I have no idea why they lifted Norberto. It's a little early for situational pitching changes. Only A. J. Hich knows.  Great play by Stephen Drew to his right! Pads out 1-2-3 again.

SDG 3, ARI 3

Bottom 6th


Chris Young the outfielder hits a two-out solo home run while Chris Young the pitcher watches in the dugout.

SDG 3, ARI 4

Top 7th
Aaron "The Big Suck" Heilman now pitching for the D'Backs. This should be interesting.  Heilman, just to piss me off, gets the Pads out in order.  I'm staying to see Snyder's next AB, and then I have to beat the
Suns/Spurs traffic from next door and get to bed by 10pm. I'm a wild man.

SDG 3, ARI 4

Bottom 7th
Snyder singles! And that'll end it on a good note. Blue Malibu, Level 3, right?

(The D'Backs went on to win 5-3 while I was driving all over creation trying to get back to the hotel.)

TEAM EVALUATIONS: ASSASSINS

Team: Assassins

Conference: Liberty

Division: North

2009 Record: 89-73, 2nd Place

Typical Lineup:

1B Derrek Lee

2B Alberto Callaspo/Luis Castillo

SS Jimmy Rollins

3B Pablo Sandoval

LF Manny Ramirez/Chris Dickerson

CF Matt Kemp

RF Ichiro Suzuki

C Jorge Posada/Chris Iannetta

DH Mark Reynolds

Great lineup.  The only hole is maybe LF defense, and the fact that Manny can't play everyday, but other than that, it looks solid as can be.  These guys will seriously rake.

Starting Rotation:

Johan Santana

Scott Baker

Jason Hammel

Aaron Cook

Ryan Rowland-Smith/Josh Outman

Probably the biggest weakness on a very strong team.  Santana is obviously an ace, but he only made 25 starts, meaning there will be too many starts by the other guys, who aren't nearly as good.  Rowland-Smith and Outman will combine for a very capable 5th starter.

Bullpen:

Burke Badenhop

Sean Burnett

Kiko Calero

Manny Corpas

Brandon Lyon

Ryan Madson

A lot of depth here, and other than Corpas, all capable of high-leverage innings.  Calero was a draft-day steal.

Closer:

J.P. Howell

Not a superior closer, but still should be more than adequate.

Minors:

None.

The Assassins will not be getting younger any time soon, so they better get it together this year.

I don't think the Assassins quite have what it takes to topple the Sawyers for the Liberty pennant, but they should at least get to compete for it.  I think they will win the North division on the strength of the lineup and lose in the Conference Championship series because of the lack of starting pitching.

Predicted Record: 92-70

AND SO IT BEGINS...AND SUCKS

The Gunslingers are off to a typical start for 2010.  Ramon S. Ramirez came in to face Derek Jeter, and gave up a single.  He retired Nick Johnson to end the 6th inning, but then came back in the 7th to ignite the Bombers third and final scoring rally of the night by giving up a leadoff walk to Mark Teixeira and a double to A-Rod before giving way to lefty Hideki Okajima.  Okajima allowed both inherited runners to score on a ground out and a single.  Thus, while Okajima's line looks good, Ramirez's looks like day-old doody (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO).  The vagaries of relief pitching strike again.  I wouldn't mind it if I also had Okajima and got the benefits of his "scoreless" inning of work, but of course, he is on another team.  I can't really complain, though.  My guy came in to face four batters and three reached base.  Any way you dissect it, it's not a good outing.

On to better news.  Here are the final Spring Training stats for the Gunslingers:

How about that Mike Trout?  Nobody has torn through the southwestern US like that at such a young age since Billy The Kid.  All four hits were for extra bases!

The offense and pitching both finished strong, if you recall from last week's numbers.  We raised the OPS from .830 to .868 and lowered the ERA from 5.05 to 4.24.  The WHIP is still pretty bad at 1.42, but I love the SO/BB ratio.  I'm still very concerned about Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Abreu.  Bobby had all sorts of aches and pains and could be in his first big decline year, and Adrian is only half-heartedly thinking about his future with the Padres, which should be brief.  I also don't like the looks of Kevin Millwood.  We'll find out a lot more about him this afternoon.