Cesar Ramos Outduels Billingsley, Dodgers

Nice debut, Cesar.

In his MLB debut - against the first-place Dadgers on a night they could clinch the division title, no less - Cesar threw 5 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 earned run. He also K'd 2, including Manny to end an inning with runners on base.

It was only one start, but Cesar now becomes another young Padres pitcher that has earned a shot to make the 2010 rotation by way of a strong outing this September. All of a sudden it's a crowded field of candidates: Chris Young, Kevin Correia, Tim Stauffer, Sean Gallagher, Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Mat Latos, Cesar Ramos, Wade LeBlanc, Josh Geer, Edward Mujica, Cesar Carrillo, and probably a few others I'm not thinking of.

Jerry Coleman - or maybe it was Ted Leitner - said it the other night: Spring Training is going to be very very interesting.

Quite A Weekend For Former Illini Beasts

The current Illini couldn't get anything done on Saturday against Ohio St. That wasn't the case for a couple former Illini on Sunday afternoon in the League.

Pierre Thomas rushed 14 times for 126 yards and 2 TDs in the Saints win over Buffalo.

And you all know about Greg Lewis' stunning grab in the end zone on the game's final play as the Vikes beat the Niners.

Coupla beasts.

Stop. The. Run.

It's that simple today when the Bolts host the Fins in the Diego. If Vaughn Martin (pictured above eating a football), Ogemdi Nwagbuo, Luis Castillo, Jacques Cesaire and newcomer Alfonso Boone can't get penetration today and put some hits on Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, it's going to be a long afternoon at the Q.

I for one have confidence in the guys to get it done.

And I'll be watching from here.

I Have No Idea What Will Happen In the Illinois - Ohio St. Game

That's right. I have absolutely no clue about what will happen today when the Illini play Ohio St. at the Horseshoe.

First of all, it seems like forever since the Illini have played a game. They lost the opener to Mizzou, then came back a week later and won against Illinois St., a game that can't be considered a real contest. I didn't watch that game, and just read about the injury to Juice on the first play from scrimmage, the up and down play of Eddie McGee and the questionable defensive play, even against an ISU offense that is objectively terrible.

Secondly, even though the Illini are coming off a bye week, injuries raise a big question mark. Juice has the quad (or is it a hammy?) issue, and Benn has the sprained ankle he suffered against Mizzou. Martez is out for the season and a redshirt freshman, Evan Frierson, is starting in his place at middle linebacker. If Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes can't exploit that matchup, they aren't worthy of their AP #13 ranking.

All that said, the Illini have a lot of talent and have won in Columbus recently, against a better Ohio St. team no less. Here are the few keys I see for the Illini to be competitive:

1. the defense - especially Sirod, Josh Brent, Doug Pilcher and Corey Liuget on the D Line, and Evan Frierson and Ian Thomas in the linebacking unit - must contain Pryor when he leaves the pocket as he so often does;

2. Juice needs to complete a few passes downfield to Benn, Jeff Cumberland, Jarred Fayson or one of the other guys in the receiving unit, in order to open up the option run that Juice ran to perfection in 2007;

3. Juice needs to throw no more than 1 pick;

4. the DBs - I'm looking at you Donsay Hardeman - need to prevent Pryor from making a big play deep and, almost as important, avoid making foolish late hit personal foul penalties; and

5. the Illini can't give up. Against Mizzou they clearly were outclassed in terms of heart, drive and will to win. If the Buckeyes smack the Illini in the face early today, which they may very well do, the Illini need to stand right back up and throw a stiff forearm shiver right across the jaw of the Buckeyes. That's what a man would do, and that's what the Illini need to do today.

I'm looking forward to this.

A Word On The Padres

And that word is "good."

Yes, the Padres are good. They are now 14-7 in September with games against Arizona, LA and San Fran left to play. They just took two of three from Colorado. Since they turned the corner in late July, the Padres have won series against the Reds, Milwaukee, the Mets, Milwaukee again, the Cubs, Atlanta, Florida, Washington, the Dodgers, the Giants, Colorado (twice) and the Buccos. They've only lost to the red hot Cardinals (twice), the DBacks and Atlanta.

Quite a run. The only good team they haven't played is Philly, and Philly can't close out anything right now.

Bottom line is that if the Padres were inserted into the NL Wild Card, I'd bet they'd make a run. The Cardinals would, of course, be quite a hurdle, but the Drinos have shown they can compete with just about everybody for the past two months.

Kevin Correia on the mound tonight against the Snakes.

Venable ... Bomb

Our boy Will Venable already hit a bomb tonight against the Rockies. The Drinos lead 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Stauffer is pitching a gem.

The Drinos will need to stay vigilant, however, because these Rockies don't give up easily.

Man, they're annoying.

The Headster Brings His Hit Show To Colorado

Last night Chase "Headster" Headley helped the Padres win a critical series against the Pittsburgh Buccos by going 5 for 6 with a bomb, 3 dobles, a couple runs scored and a couple ribeyes. He had a shot at the cycle when he stepped to the plate in the top of the 11th, but was forced to settle for a go-ahead double because A-Gon was on the basepaths in front of him, and that's like being behind a slow Mexican-American dude.

Now the Padres head to the mountains to take on the NL Wild Card-leading Rockies.

I expect Chase will continue his barrage.