San Diego Padres: Giving the Broom after Getting the Broom

I know I've been gone for the last few days, but apparently I need to be gone more often. The Padres go from getting the brooms handed to them by Houston and Chicago for three games a piece, to handing Cincinnati a three game sweep which included a walk off home run in the 16th inning from catcher Nick Hundley on Saturday night a complete game gem from Jake Peavy on Sunday afternoon.

A few things to take away from their series against the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds was first baseman Adrian Gonzalez homering in five straight games, that streak coming to an end on Sunday afternoon. He homered four times against the Cubs and hit his fifth straight on Friday night in San Diego against the Reds.

Also, the first complete game for the San Diego Padres pitched by ace Jake Peavy on Sunday afternoon in a 3-1 win over the Reds.

The Padres (16-22) still have a lot of work to do and a they face a tough road ahead. They will remain at home as they open a three game series against the NL West rival San Francisco Giants and then they welcome in the Chicago Cubs for three games, a team that just swept the San Diego Padres in Chicago last week.

You'll see Chris Young (2-2, 5.56), Chad Gaudin (0-3, 4.91), who's still in search of his first win as a Padre, and Kevin Correia (1-2, 5.06) on the hill for the Padres in their three game set against the Giants.

One thing I will say about Gaudin and Correia is, they are better than their numbers suggest, although Gaudin didn't help my point when he walked seven batters in their finale against the Cubs last Thursday. A loss that prompted a closed door meeting between Bud Black and his players.

Correia has given up his share of runs, but if you look back at his starts, the one thing you can say is he has been consistent. Regardless of how many times he's given up at least three runs, he's at least kept the Padres in games instead of putting them too far behind.

Chris Young is the one guy that Padres fans have to be the most concerned with. In three of his eight starts in 2009, Young has failed to pitch past the fourth inning and in those games, he's given up six runs or more. The Padres need him to be the strong #2 man that he's been in the past, if his struggles continue, look for the Padres to pull him from the rotation and possibly put him on the disabled list until they figure out what his issues are.

Unfortunately for San Diego, they can't afford to do that to Young at this point, especially with Cha Seung Baek and Walter Silva still on the disabled list until later this week or possibly into next week. Baek could be out longer until they figure out the tightness he had in his elbow he felt during his first rehab start. His MRI came up negative for any internal damage, but don't expect him back in the rotation before late June.