San Diego Padres score two in the 9th to finish off Giants

by jbox on Aug 23, 2011 11:41 PM PDT

Beating the Giants has always come easy to the Padres. So it was no surprise when Mat Latos made a quality and effortless start. He barely worked up a sweat, due to the gentle breeze created by the opposing Giants' bats.

The Padres took an early lead thanks to Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks, then took the lead again for good in the 9th courtesy of Nick Hundley and Alberto Gonzalez.

The Giants don't seem to be a real contender this year in the NL West race. Now a full 2 games out of first place, it looks like they'll just have to be satisfied to play spoiler from here on out. Pretty much everybody in baseball saw their collapse coming, it was just a matter of time.

You have to tip your cap to them though, they looked like they really believed they might have a chance to take the lead in the 8th inning. The Padres middle relief still hasn't found their stride after the loss of Mike Adams. In turn, the Giants sounded a brief death rattle before finally collapsing in defeat. Heath Bell collected his 35th save.

With this win the Padres leap frogged the Dodgers and now hold sole possesion of 4th place.

Go Padres!

Final - 8.23.2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego Padres	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	7	9	2
San Francisco Giants	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	5	8	3
WP: Erik Hamren (1 - 0) SV: Heath Bell (35) LP: Ramon Ramirez (2 - 2)

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Win = Theres still a chance.

Padres Fan.

by MrDanielX on Aug 24, 2011 12:35 AM PDT reply actions

…still a chance… that I hit the over!

by RDM on Aug 24, 2011 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions

I was only able to follow this game a bit from gameday

Cause of teaching. I looked at it in my breaks, and it finished while I was in the middle of class – fortunately or unfortunately the computer was connected to the projector system at the time, and so when game-day played their highlight video to honour the conclusion of the game, it blared over the room’s speakers!

A bit embarrassing, but at least I knew the Padres had come back from the 8th inning to win.

queen of the rec fairies

by Aussie fan on Aug 24, 2011 1:57 AM PDT reply actions

Well, it's a well known fact

The world’s best people are Padres fans. Those students should have been proud to hear those highlights emanate from the magic projector. Maybe you made one of them a new fan! Great Job!

Why ask a failed romance to come watch your successful one? You know, that's like inviting the Seattle Mariners to a World Series game. It's just weird for everyone.

by Friar Fever on Aug 24, 2011 8:17 AM PDT up reply actions

We win. F*ck you, Giants.

Ehhhh, I don't deserve a signature...

by sdchicken on Aug 24, 2011 3:21 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Well said

Mat Latos is the real deal...Go Lakers, Pads, and Bolts

by mrbarneydangles on Aug 24, 2011 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions

modest correction

We were already ahead of LA (they won last night as well)

This division is very much up in the air. I think our hole is too deep, but I would not be surprised to see Colorado make this a three team race.

If it takes 85 to win the West (assuming continued anemia from the leaders), we have to got like 26-8 the rest of the way. And almost all of our games are against the West, so we have a modest shot but one that looks better after every win.

by jayman66 on Aug 24, 2011 9:08 AM PDT reply actions

to 85 wins, we would now need to go 25-7 the rest of the way

Scowling at Padres Losses since 1981

by Nater Tater on Aug 24, 2011 9:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Which with the last 5 wins would mean an .811 winning % over the final 37

….yeah totally doable. #sarcasm

by EvilSammy on Aug 24, 2011 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions

The Rockies are only 2 games ahead of us, and play 4 fewer games against the D'backs.

Their chances aren’t a whole lot better than us. Coolstandings gives them a 2.1% chance and us a 1.6%.

by Darklighter on Aug 24, 2011 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions

But its possible because we play NL West teams here on out, with the exception of a 2 game series with tbe sthupid cubs!!!
We could really do this!!!

by PullenHoseFriar on Aug 24, 2011 10:49 AM PDT via mobile reply actions

The other NL West teams also play each other,

so they can’t ALL collapse. Not gonna happen.

by EvilSammy on Aug 24, 2011 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions

JK

Padres Fan.

by MrDanielX on Aug 24, 2011 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions

KJ I mean

Padres Fan.

by MrDanielX on Aug 24, 2011 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Very much a long shot

But you really just need SF and Arizona to play a bit below .500, losing to the bottom three. We would have to play Colorado well to close our gap. I would not be surprised to see 85-87 wins take the division.

by jayman66 on Aug 24, 2011 2:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Brief death rattle?

Trust me, in the stadium, there was nothing brief about it. I was convinced we were finished.

by WestCoastPat on Aug 24, 2011 1:09 PM PDT reply actions

Whats amazing

is that even as long of a shot it is, we’ve pulled close enough to start dreaming about making it interesting. It in all likelihood wont come to fruition but still, we can dream

Scowling at Padres Losses since 1981

by Nater Tater on Aug 24, 2011 4:55 PM PDT reply actions

History

The ‘64 Cardinals came back from 8 1/2 back, but they had HOFers Bob Gibson and Lou Brock. The ’78 Yankees came back from 7 1/2 down, but they only had to pass one team and they had Reggie and Sweet Lou. The ’95 Mariners came back 12 1/2, but it was with 38 to play, they weren’t in last place and they had HOFer Randy Johnson. And of course the Rockies did it four years ago, but it was only from a six game deficit, and it was the wild card. Not trying to be a killjoy, but I tend to be a pragmatist, and the Padres are 10.5 back, with four teams to leap frog.

by EvilSammy on Aug 24, 2011 7:05 PM PDT up reply actions