Maddux goes 7 strong in win over Giants

Greg Maddux shook off a rough first inning and retired 19 of the last 20 batters he faced in his 7 innings of work in a 8-4 win over the San Francisco Giants in their home opener, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out five.

It was a different feel at the ballpark, a face Giants fans had gotten so used to in his tenure is no longer there and now see their team moving in a different direction. Barry Bonds was not in the Giants lineup, his face was gone from the left field wall, as was the home run counter towards right center field. A good thing for the Padres as Bonds seem to wear out Padre pitchers in the past, homering 8 times off last night's starter Greg Maddux.

Adrian Gonzalez had a big night for San Diego, going 4-5 with a HR, 2 RBI's and 4 runs scored. Khalil Greene went 2-3 with a triple and driving in 3, Jim Edmonds also had his best night thus far going 2-5 with a pair of RBI singles.

The Padres jumped on Giants' starter Matt Cain early, and often. In the 1st inning, Adrian Gonzalez hit his 2nd HR of the season, a 2-run shot to left center after a Tad Iguchi double. In the 3rd, Edmonds would single home Iguchi, Greene would follow with a sac fly that would score Adrian Gonzalez, then Kevin Kouzmanoff would score on a throwing error off the bat of Scott Hairston.

For the Giants, the only real bright spot was catcher Benjie Molina who went 2-4 with 3 RBI's. Starter Matt Cain really struggled in his 2nd start of the season, going 4 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs (4 ER) on 7 hits, striking out 5 but he also walked 5 batters.

The 2 teams will face off again tonight at 7:15pm, Randy Wolf (0-0, 1.50 ERA) will go for San Diego. The Giants will go with young right-hander Tim Lincecum (1-0, 2.25 ERA).

Padres drop 3-2 decision in series finale

The San Diego Padres had plenty of opportunities to put the Dodgers away, but the same problem this team had last year, came up to bite them again. In more than 3 innings, the Padres had runners in scoring position, but failed to bring them in.

Not only that, but Brian Giles was thrown out twice at the plate. The first time coming on a fielder's choice in the home half of the 1st inning, then again in the home half of the third. Both came off the bat of Tag Iguchi.

Starter Chris Young had his typical good outing for the Padres. Going 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks and striking out eight. Only problem is, Dodgers starter Derek Lowe matched him, going 6 innings giving up 2 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits and striking out six. Both starters didn't factor in the decision since the game was tied at 2 after 7 innings.

In the 8th, Heath Bell worked his way out of trouble and the Padres handed the ball to Trevor Hoffman in the 9th. For the 2nd time in 4 appearances, Trevor couldn't hold a team at bay. Dodgers' catcher Russell Martin would open up with a leadoff single and would be sacrificed over to 2nd. Then Chin Lung-Hu would single, scoring Martin from 2nd and giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, which was secured by closer Takashi Saito for his first save of the 2008 season.

The Padres will board a charter plane tonight bound for San Francisco for a 3-game set against the Giants. Greg Maddux, Randy Wolf and Justin Germano are all scheduled to pitch this week.

Wolf pitches 6 scoreless in 4-4 tie

Randy Wolf seems to be pitching himself out of the funk he's been in lately, today was the best day he's had thus far.

The Padres' left-hander went 6 innings today against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and was not scored upon, giving up just 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out two. Glendon Rusch, who came in in the 8th inning, continued his impressive pitching. He pitched a perfect inning, striking out 2 and lowering his spring ERA to 0.79.

Offensively for San Diego, Khalil Greene went 2-for-2 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Tony Clark and Tadahito Iguchi also collected 2 hits each for the Padres, Clark had an RBI. Brian Myrow added a HR in the 8th inning, his 1st of the spring, upping his spring batting average to an even .400.

The Padres will stay in Peoria to face the Kansas City Royals, game time will change to 7:05pm. Justin Germano will get the start for the Padres and is scheduled to go 6 innings.

4-run first paces Padres 11-5 win over Giants

The Padres offense wasted no time getting to Giants young right-hander Tim Lincecum.

After a Jeff DaVanon single and Tad Iguchi getting hit by a pitch, Barrett would singled home Jeff DaVanon from 2nd for a 1-0 Padres lead. Tony Clark would single to load the bases but Lincecum got Greene and Ambres out on strikes, which set the stage for Chase Headley. He hammered a bases clearing double to center to extend the lead to 4-0. It was Headley's only hit of the day in 3 AB's but he made it count.

Also having big days for the Padres, offensively, were outfielders Jody Gerut and Paul McAnulty. Gerut hit his 2nd HR of the spring, a solo shot in the 7th inning off Giants' reliever Erick Threets. McAnulty his his 3rd of the spring, a 3-run blast off Brad Hennessey in the 8th inning.

On the pitching side, Chris Young didn't look nearly as sharp as he has his previous two outings, but I'm sure getting little sleep with a newborn in the house is a legitimate excuse. CY gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in 4 innings of work. Enrique Gonzalez, Cla Meredith and Joe Thatcher combined to no hit the Giants over the final 5 innings, striking out 4.

Up next for San Diego, they will travel to Mesa to take on the Chicago Cubs. Jason Marquis is scheduled to start for the Cubs, opposite Greg Maddux for San Diego. The Padres also have Wil Ledezma, Kevin Cameron and Mark Gardner scheduled to pitch tomorrow as well. Game time is 1:05pm.

Rangers quiet Padres offense 5-2

In the first night game of the spring training schedule, the Padres offense was finally quieted, this time by the Texas Rangers in a 5-2 loss on Monday night.

Justin Germano got the start for the Friars, throwing 4 shutout innings, giving up just 2 hits. He looked like he did through his first 5 starts in 2007, going 5-0 to start the season. The Padres offense, however, didn't help out much tonight.

The Padres got on the board first when Scott Hairston was hit by a pitch. Hairston would proceed to steal 2nd, advance to 3rd on a sac fly by Tadahito Iguchi and would then score on a wild pitch to Kevin Kouzmanoff for a 1-0 Padres lead.

The lead would hold up until the 5th inning, when the Rangers scored 3 runs off left-hander Shawn Estes, they would add 1 more in the 7th and 1 in the 8th for a 5-1 lead. The Padres would get 1 of those runs back in the bottom half of the 8th on back-to-back doubles by Paul McAnulty and Jody Gerut.

Some of the team, including 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez and closer Trevor Hoffman, will pack their bags tonight for an early morning flight bound for Beijing, China. The rest of the team will remain in Peoria to face the Los Angeles Angels tomorrow afternoon at 1:05pm.

On Friday and Saturday night, the Padres will face the Los Angeles Dodgers from Beijing, China. Padres Channel 4 will have the coverage starting at 10pm PST on both nights.

Maddux effortless in Padres' 9-6 win

At 41 years of age, Greg Maddux shouldn't be making it look this easy and absolutely effortless, but that's exactly what he did this afternoon in Peoria.

Maddux threw 2 scoreless innings in his first start of the spring, needing only 18 pitches to get through both innings as the Padres defeated the San Francisco Giants 9-6.

Offensively, the team was led by newcomer Tony Clark who had a 2-run double as well as Paul McAnulty who hit his 2nd HR in as many days. New addition Tadahito Iguchi also had 2 hits for the Padres today.

Next up for San Diego will be the Oakland A's at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Randy Wolf will get the start for San Diego, he should be followed by Shawn Estes and Justin Germano. First pitch scheduled for 12:05pm.