Jorge "Georgey" Cantu Goes Yard For First Time As Padre

According to Baseball Reference, the biggest play of yesterday's game was Will Venable's two-run single in the top of the 8th to turn a 6-5 Padres deficit into a 7-6 Padres lead. The Padres would never look back and, despite some drama by Heath Bell in the ninth, finished the day with a victory.

No doubt Will's hit was big. But for my money I'll take Jorge Cantu's monster 2-run jack off Brett Myers in the top of the 5th. At that point the Astros held a 4-1 lead and, with their ace on the mound and with the anemic way the Padres have hit this young season, that lead felt insurmountable. Jorge's blast brought the Padres back to within a run and rallied a cry of hope down from the mountaintops.

All in all a big hit.

Two Nights In Houston

Kudos to Ryan Ludwick for his big 2-run single on Friday night And to Chris Denorfia for hitting a home-run and a double. Those hits, and solid performances by Aaron Harang and the bullpen, led to a 4-2 victory over the Stros.

Last night things didn't break so well for the Padres. Mat Latos only gave up 4 hits over 6.1 innings but one of those hits was a two-run bomb to Chris Johnson. Another was a reaching swing by Hunter Pence that fell for a double scoring Michael Bourn who had reached on an infield single. Trouble also arose when Bud Black sent Latos back out in the 6th and, after striking out Brett Wallace, he walked back-to-back batters that would both later score. Another in a line of winnable losses by the 2011 Padres.

And, as we look ahead to this afternoon's games, I'll leave you with this list of Padres and their current batting averages:

Brad Hawpe - .143
Jason Bartlett - .132
Ryan Ludwick - .116
Will Venable - .146
Jorge Cantu - .167

If You Can't Score Runs At Minute Maid Park, Maybe You Can't Score Runs

The title of this post is negative, but the post itself will focus on the positive from yesterday's 1-0 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Here's what I liked from yesterday's game:

- Orlando de la Noche's continued run of impressive at bats. Orlando walked twice and singled yesterday (and stole his 6th bag of the season) to raise his average to .326. He couldn't drive in the tying run with a runner on third and one out in the 8th, but you still have to like Orlando's approach so far this season.

- Ryan Ludwick's catch and throw to double up Brett Wallace at second base in the second. Ludwick had misplayed a Brett Wallace double on the play before, but he made up for it by catching Bill E. Hall's liner and firing a strike to second to double up Wallace. Doesn't quite make up for his 0-4, 3 K performance, but still, a nice play.

- Dustin Moseley's outing. Dustin pitched 6.2 innings and gave up 1 run. He only struckout 1 guy, but he limited walks and induced 18 ground balls (as opposed to 8 fly balls), a very important statistic at a place like Minute Maid. On the season Dustin is 0-3 with a 1.83 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. If he finishes the year 0-18 but with a sub-2.00 ERA, you have to give him a Cy Young vote, right?

Latos v. Oswalt ... Future Teammates?

Our boy Maty Lats goes up against the venerable Roy Oswalt this evening out in San Diego.

You know, I wonder if the Stros' GM would take a couple mid-level prospects and a bag of balls for Oswalt later this month. Say Cory Luebke and Ced Hunter for a few months rental of Roy.

I mean, if we aren't going to go for Cliffy Lee, we might as well see what Oswalt looks like in a Drino uniform.

Am I right?

Jablonski "Rico" Noel ... Greatest Name Ever?

A few years ago, among my friends, I coined the term "jablonski" to describe someone who was, shall we say, kind of a mix between a dick, a nerd, an ass and a tool. For example, one might say, "Tim came into my office at 5:oo on Friday and gave me some work to do over the weekend. He's such a jablonski."

The term caught on and gained wide usage among my advisors, including such stalwarts as Tatt Mareeco, Father D.P. McGillicutty, JJ Geleaux and Tam O'Flannell. So imagine our jubilation this month when the Padres drafted none other than Jablonski "Rico" Noel in the fifth round of the June MLB Draft. Oh my were we stunned and amazed.

Imagine for a moment if Jablonski someday reaches the Bigs in a Drinos uniform. He has the potential to completely change the meaning of a word. Forever on Jablonski will have made "jablonski" cool.

The implications are enormous to say the least.

So here's to wishing Jablonski Noel success as he moves up the Drinos farm system. As of today, after only a handful of professional games, the Padres have already pushed him to low-A ball in Fort Wayne.

That's a positive sign even a jablonski could appreciate.

Three Games In Twoston

The Padres open a three-game series in Houston tonight, and I'm going to take this opportunity to predict three straight wins for the Padres.

Tonight, in Game 1, the Padres put up Mat Latos (1-3 5.47) who is due for a nice outing. I predict a W.

Tomorrow, in Game 2, we're looking at a Jon Garland (3-2 2.06) - Felipe Paulino matchup which translates to one letter for the Padres: W.

And on Sunday, in Game 3, the Padres offer Kev Correia (4-2 3.97) against the Stros' Roy Oswalt. Though the Padres have yet to beat an opposing team's ace all season, I'm thinking they'll make an exception in this case. So, W.

Better Days

Kev,

The Padres could have used you and Cammy and Wally and Quilvio and Trevor and Tony and Greg and Steve this weekend in Houston.

You were good in Houston.

Best,
Bevormo