SAN DIEGO PADRES (1-2 , t3rd NL West)
Rockies' 2009 record against Padres: 10-8
Friday-Sunday: 3-game series @ Coors Field
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 9 April 2010, 2:10 MDT: Clayton Richard vs. Jorge De La Rosa
Clayton Richard arrived in San Diego during last year's trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox. He made two September starts against the Rockies. The first came on 13 September 2009 when he allowed three runs in five innings, but did not factor into the decision. He also struck out eight. On 24 September 2009, Richard started in Coors Field and was on the hook for the loss when he left after the sixth inning. Unfortunately, Jason Hammel, Franklin Morales, and Matt Daley couldn't hold the lead in the seventh inning. Beimel and Betancourt allowed two more runs an inning later.
Before he started to pick up wins in June, Jorge De La Rosa reached an ignominious 0-6 on May 31 with a loss to the Padres. He went 0-1 in five starts with a 5.68 ERA against the Padres in 2009.
Saturday, 10 April 2010, 6:10 MDT: Mat Latos vs. Jason Hammel
Mat Latos made his major league debut in a start against the Rockies on 19 July 2009. ATF wrote a good recap of that game:
Mat Latos (0-1, 4.50) struck out four of the first seven men he faced, allowing no runs and no hits the first two innings. Carlos Gonzalez proved the Rockies were not Latos intolerant by manufacturing the Rockies first run all with his toolsy grittiness. He singled on a bunt, advanced to second on a Marquis sac bunt, stole third and advanced home when Jose Lobaton threw the ball away.
Latos still looked to have a chance to keep San Diego in the game, but he was pulled after four innings due to being kept on a strict pitch count. He had thrown 75 pitches, just 24 less than it took Jason Marquis to polish off his eight innings of work. Towering home runs by Ian Stewart (off Latos) and Brad Hawpe (off Mike Ekstrom) gave Marquis all he needed.
Jason Hammel had four no-decisions in four starts against the Padres.
Sunday, 11 April 2010, 2:10 MDT: Jon Garland vs.Ubaldo Jimenez
Jon Garland allowed six runs (two earned) in the season opener against the Diamondbacks on Monday. He left in the fourth inning ended, having surrendered a two-run inside-the-park home run to Stephen Drew in the inning.
Ubaldo Jimenez picked up the Opening Day victory over the Brewers on Monday, allowing a run over six innings and striking out six. Oddly enough, U-Ball made only one start against the Padres in 2009, a July 17 victory in which he struck out 10 in seven innings.
Expected Lineup
- CF Tony Gwynn
- 2B David Eckstein
- 1B Adrian Gonzalez
- LF Kyle Blanks
- 3B Chase Headley
- RF Will Venable
- C Nick Hundley
- SS Everth Cabrera
- Pitcher
Closer: Heath Bell
After the jump, jbox from Gaslamp Ball answers a few questions.
Both the Rockies and Padres are coming off Opening Series losses. Rockies fans are already grumbling about how Jim Tracy has managed to screw up the consistency of the lineup. How do Padres fans feel after losing two of three to Diamondbacks?
I think in general Padres fans have a reason to be optimistic about this team. This roster hasn't been together for very long, so we haven't seen them reach their full potential. Everybody is picking them to finish last but those predictions are rarely correct, the Rockies know that from experience. They have just as good a shot as anybody.
Tell us a bit about Saturday's starter, Mat Latos. He faced the Rockies in his major league debut in 2009, but we didn't see him after that.
The only thing keeping the Rockies from being completely devastated by Mat Latos on Saturday is the fact that he'll be on a pitch count. Even then he may breeze through the game in 75 pitches. Truth is that Padres fans haven't seen a lot of Latos either, the Padres shut him down early at the end of last season. Everybody with the Padres organization has a pretty high opinion of Latos and seem think he has the highest ceiling of any pitcher.
Are Padres fans enjoying the time they have with Adrian Gonzalez before he's traded?
I think we're just enjoying Padres baseball being back. Although Adrian is arguably the team's best player he is also only one cog in the machine. If he is traded I think most rational fans realize that the team will be getting comparable value back from any trade that might be made. He's off to a hot start though with two home runs in the first 3 games, so yes we're enjoying him.
What type of beer or other alcoholic beverage might some Padres players be?
We had to throw this question out to the community and we didn't really come up with any real consensus and nobody was giving reasons, but here are a few:
Heath Bell = Fat Tire
Mat Latos = Jager
Kyle Blanks = Fosters
David Eckstein = Natty Light
Matt Stairs = Old Milwaukee
Chase Headley = Coors Light
In any case we've always enjoyed Purple Row and think you guys have one of the better SB Nation communities, looking forward to this series.