A Sixto Mention Is Always Welcome

Watching the Marlins' TV feed of tonight's Marlins-Padres game and the Fish announcers have already mentioned Sixto Lezcano and Kurt Bevacqua during the broadcast.

I don't know who these announcers are, but I like their style.

In other news, I have to roll out of town for the next ten or so days and may not have a lot of time to blog. I may get a few posts up in the interim, but look for my return on August 3.

The Return of Tim Stauffer

The Return of Tim Stauffer, a.k.a. "Stauffer's Return," continues tonight against the Marlins.

I will be pleased if the Padres win.

The Debut of Mat Latos

Today is Mat Latos' debut as a Padre.

Some other notable debut starts by Padre pitchers:

Jake Peavy: June 22, 2002 v. the Yankees at Qualcomm: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB
Andy Benes: August 11, 1989 v. the Braves at Qualcomm: 6 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 7 K, 4 BB
Randy Jones: June 16, 1973 v. the Mets at Shea: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 K, 0 BB
Clay Kirby: April 11, 1969 v. the Giants at Qualcomm: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB

Good luck, Mat.

The Padres Have Diapers And May Still Be Breastfeeding

The Padres are really rolling out the youngins this evening against the Rockies.

Here is tonight's lineup and their respective ages:

SS - Everth Cabrera (22)
CF - Tony Gwynn, Jr. (26)
1B - Adrian Gonzalez (27)
3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff (27)
RF - Will Venable (26)
LF - Kyle Blanks (22)
C - Eliezer Alfonzo (30)
2B - Edgar Gonzalez (31)
P - Kevin Correia (28)

I'm no mathemetician, but that's an average age of 26.5. That may not seem too young on first glance, but when you delve a bit deeper you can see the inexperience in this lineup. The two oldest dudes - Edgar and Eliezer - are journeyman who have never held down regular jobs. Edgar, in fact, was a 30-year old rookie just last season. Then you have Venable, a 26-year old rookie, and Gwynn, who at 26 has never spent a full season in the Bigs. Blanks and Cabrera are wee babes. Only Kouz and Adrian have legitimate big league track records.

Query if Bud Black has any passafires in the dugout.

"Josh Geer is living on the side of a mountain."

That's what the Rockies announcer said a few minutes ago anyway, a reference to Josh's working behind in the count to nearly every Colorado hitter. That's usually not a good sign for a pitcher. Sure enough, Josh has given up 3 runs to the Rockies through 3 innings tonight.

Josh's changeup has a big 12-to-6 break tonight and he's been throwing it for a strike on 2-0 and 3-0 counts. That's a nice ability to have in the arsenal. Unfortunately it's an ability that matters little when you can't locate your 88 mph fastball, as Josh can't tonight.

Gaudin = The One

The fate of the free world - or at least tonight's baseball game between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies - rests on the capable shoulders of Chad Gaudin.

I like the world's chances.

Heath Takes the All-Star L

No worries, Heath. Upton should have caught that Granderson triple anyway.

Now let's focus on playing .600 ball in the second half.