Padres-Dodgers: Padres' Free Fall Continues, Swept by Dodgers

It's been a long few weeks for the San Diego Padres, a few weeks they would rather forget they even played. When their offense put up runs, their pitching was giving up runs. When their pitching finally came around, it was their offense that fell apart.

Jake Peavy and Chris Young did their jobs on Friday and Saturday nights, but the Padres' offense decided to take both nights off, scoring just one run combined in the two losses, both were decided by just one run.

On Sunday afternoon, it was a completely different story. This time, the pitching and offense both couldn't get anything started. Padres' starter Chad Gaudin, after a good first start in his debut, got shelled by the Dodgers' offense. Gaudin gave up six runs on eight hits in just five and two-third innings in a 7-3 loss, getting only an RBI double from Edgar Gonzalez in the second inning in support. The other two runs came late in the game on solo home runs from Brian Giles and Jody Gerut.

So, the Padres will limp back to San Diego having lost nine of their last eleven games, included five straight. A team that was one of the surprises early on, jumping out to a 9-3 record and were sitting on top of the National League's Western Division, have now dropped back to earth with a resounding thud, currently holding an 11-14 record.

This team can't point fingers, both sides have been at fault for their free fall, both sides haven't done their jobs. Their bullpen is overworked, starters have only gone more than seven innings a few times this season and their closer, Heath Bell, has only pitched once in the last eight days. His last appearance was April 28th against the Colorado Rockies, a game the Padres won 4-3. You have to wonder why you don't bring this guy into a close game, he may be the only one that can shut a team down and keep the Padres in a game they can still win.

Instead, guys like Edwin Moreno, Edward Mujica, Luke Gregerson and Duaner Sanchez have been brought into close games, all four guys unable to hold leads, and those games eventually slip away.

The question now becomes, when will this frustration boil over for the players that have been here the longest. We all know the rumors about Jake Peavy being traded out of town, will it go from the Padres shipping him somewhere, or will Jake be the one to ask out of San Diego? What about Adrian Gonzalez? When will enough be enough for the Gold Glove first baseman? Can the Padres survive without one or both of these guys, because it could be a very real scenario of this free fall continues.

After being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres will return home to begin a four game home stand against the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks before going back on the road for six games against the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.

It could be very possible that the Padres could be a lot further out of the NL West race after the next 10 games than a lot of us want to even think about.

Don't be surprised that, if this free fall continues, the Padres may start to bring up some of their pitchers and position players from Triple-A Portland. We may see guys like Will Venable, Chad Huffman and maybe Kyle Blanks. Blanks would be the biggest surprise to see in San Diego after only a month of the season complete. But as well as the big first baseman is playing the Padres may not have a choice if they're wanting to keep themselves within striking distance of the front running Dodgers.

Padres-Pirates: Giles' Walkoff Single Lifts Padres Over Pirates

Brian Giles has been in one of his biggest slumps and in the position of the batting order that he currently occupies, it's created offensive trouble for the Padres.



But on Friday night, Giles picked the right time to come through for San Diego. In the eleventh inning, with Chris Burke on second base and David Eckstein on first, Giles ripped a Matt Capps fastball to right field, scoring Burke and sending the Padres and their fans home happy with a 4-3 victory. That win snapps the Padres' three game losing streak and also slowed the Pirates fast start, winning five of their first six including a sweep of the Florida Marlins.



Pirates' starter Ian Snell wasted no time in helping his own cause, hitting an RBI single in the second inning to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead.

That lead was short lived as Padres' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hammered a first pitch fastball from Snell over the left center field wall for a solo home run. It was his sixth home run of the year and third in his last five games. Gonzalez is currently riding a six game hit streak and even more impressive than that, has at least one hit in fourteen of the Padres' sixteen games, going hitless just twice all season long.

Padres' starter Kevin Correia looked like he was going to give his bullpen a break after all the work they've had to do lately. His pitch count was a lot lower than his previous two starts and was given a 3-1 lead, but Correia couldn't hold it as the Pirates would come back to tie the game at 3-3 with two runs in the sixth inning. Correia would end his night pitching five innings and giving up three runs on just three hits, but walks got him trouble as the right hander issued four on the night.

The game would stay 3-3 into the eleventh inning. Padres' Chris Burke would draw a pinch hit walk and would steal second after Jody Gerut popped out. Padres' second baseman David Eckstein would also draw a walk and that brought up Brian Giles.

Pirates' reliever Matt Capps had already thrown Giles three straight fastballs, two of which Giles could only foul off. On the fourth one, Giles got all he needed of it, lining past Pirates' right fielder Eric Hinske, scoring Burke from second with the game winner.

It was a hit that Giles, who came into last night's game hitting .159, desperately needed. Time will only tell if this will be the start of the Brian Giles that Padre fans know or if this slump will continue. If it does, it may not be long before the Padres look to Triple-A outfielders Will Venable or Chad Huffman to take over.

The two teams will continue their three game set tonight at Petco Park. The Padres will have right hander Shawn Hill (1-0, 3.60) on the mound against Pirates left hander Zach Duke (2-1, 2.95). First pitch will be 7:05pm.

Seven players optioned to the minors

The Padres made seven more roster moves this afternoon, optioning players to Triple-A Portland to their minor league camp.

Pitchers Josh Geer, Scott Patterson and Joe Thatcher, catcher Jose Lobaton, infielder Matt Antonelli and outfielder Will Venable were all optioned to Triple-A Portland.

In addition to those six, outfielder Chad Huffman was re-assigned to the Padres' minor league camp.