Actually, the game wasn't all that intense.

The opposing pitcher, Adam Wainright held the hitters down pretty good and the Padres couldn't score.

There should be a classification for when the Padres pull that move as they've done in half their games. I would guess that half the Padres' games are kinda played that way, where the offense doesn't pop and the defense doesn't quite show up the whole time while the pitcher performs well.

And then there's like 20% losses where we shoulda/coulda had a win, 10% wins where we coulda had a loss and 20% straight up wins.

Does that add up to 100%?

The other thing to note here was how Edinson Volquez started getting pissed after the John Baker "I thought it was a force out at the plate" couldn't apply a tag and get the Padres out of an inning. Between that and players almost crying over losses, I'm guessing the clubhouse isn't taking this season too well.

I wonder though, if you're on the team, do you identify yourself as the person who's not performing? Like if you were Jason Bartlett, it's pretty obvious, but if you're Jesus Guzman or Miguel Cabrera Everth Cabrera, do you identify yourself as the one who's not up to par?

Roll call after the jump...

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Our Padres were so close last night, but in the end they couldn't pull it off. But that's just how it goes sometimes and we are certainly used to having winning streaks cut short after just two consecutive wins. Tonight the boys will try to start a new winning streak as they take on the Cardinals in game 2 and try to even up the series.

Edinson Volquez has the task of getting our Padres back in the win column tonight. Unfortunately he hasn't had much success against the Cardinals in his career. He pitched five games against them as a member of the Reds and has an 0-3 record. He is also coming off one if his worst pitching performances of the year. On Thursday against the Dodgers at home, he managed to strike out six batters, but it wasn't very helpful as he also gave up five runs (a season high) on seven hits and three walks. He will be looking to redeem himself against St. Louis and help the team avoid a losing streak.

Pitching opposite Volquez will be Adam Wainwright, who missed last season due to elbow surgery and still hasn't quite found his stride on the mound. Over his last two starts, combining for 10 innings, he gave up a total of 10 runs on 15 hits and 9 walks. So he, too, will be looking to redeem himself tonight. He, however, has fared better in his career against our Padres than Volquez against the Cards. In three starts against San Diego, he has gone 2-1 with a 0.82 ERA.

Wainwright will have to watch out for Yonder Alonso, who has been hot the past month. He has hit safely in his last four consecutive games and in 20 of his last 23. Also, Everth Cabrera has gone 2-3 with a double in his career against Wainwright and Will Venable has gone 4-7 with a double. Venable has also been pretty hot lately, batting .333 with six extra-base hits in his last 12 games.

Padres lineup 5/22: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Alonso 3, Guzman 7, Baker 2, Amarista 4, Cabrera 6, Parrino 5Volquez 1

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 22, 2012

Let's see if Volquez can bounce back from his last start and keep the hope of a series win alive.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

• Padres Trail: A night with Baseball Prospectus
  Padres Trail has all the happenings from Baseball Prospectus night at Petco Park over the weekend. Good to know that even BP peeps also wonder about the Padres TV deal and why they traded Adrian Gonzalez.

• insidethepadres: Why on Luebke
  Cory Luebke's TJ surgery may have been a result of trying to throw too hard and love too deeply.

• The Kept Faith Podcast Ep. 25: "The Gwynncentennial!" | The Kept Faith
  One of these days I'm going to listen to a Kept Faith Podcast, until then I'm going to admire the fantastic advertisement they found for the Old Globe featuring Gwynn and Garvey.

• "Commie Ball" Is A Step in the Right Direction for Padres - 619Sports
  I've been thinking about "Commie Ball" for the last couple of days and I'm beginning to conclude that just like real Communism it won't work. The current Padres lineup now has two small and scrappy middle infielders and two quick and athletic outfielders. You're not going to find fast players at any other position. You still need guys that can consistently hit even in Commie Ball and those players are even harder to find at Petco Park.

• insidethepadres: Review and Preview
  "It's my understanding Maybin has refused to make any adjustments with his lead arm," the scout said. "He's got his elbow stuck almost in the strike zone and he's blocking off his back half. You can't get the back half of your body into it if the front half is stopping it."
• The Vocal Minority: Fat Guy Trudging Up A Mountain
  Hiking Cowles Mountain as a metaphor for Padres fandom.

Gaslamp Ball will occasionally provide endorsements and judgments in the world of baseball and beyond. Should Gaslamp Ballers need to cast a vote or require an official opinion, look for Gaslamp Ball Proclamations first to see what our official stance is. Thank you.

Gaslamp Ball officially believes that the Petco Park fences should be moved in for the primary reason of ending the bickering about whether or not the fences should be moved in.

While the fences are where they are, there is debate and angst among the Padre faithful in San Diego. This angst is not good for the chi. If the fences were to be moved, the fans who are for their movement will be placated and the fans who are against their being moved will not be foulweather enough to blame their movement on any of the Padres' future ill wills. Whether or not the fences have any effect on the game itself is irrelevant to this proclamation.

XX Sports Radio: Tony Gwynn Interview with Darren Smith (MP3)

• The frenzy around Gwynn joining Thomas Tull's prospective ownership group has been unbelievable.
• Gwynn sat down with Tull last Tuesday. "I was just really encouraged with the things he had to say and the things he wants to do. I was just really fired up." Gwynn told Tull that he's in. That's been the extent of it.
  
• Gwynn's roll at SDSU is not going to change.
• Gwynn was approached by another prospective owner but Gwynn won't reveal who it was. It wasn't a direction he wanted to go in.
  
• Tull called Gwynn's agent John Boggs and set up a meeting. The meeting was supposed to be secret but they "got busted" when word of the meeting hit Twitter.
• Gwynn hadn't met Tull before. "The one thing that comes across when you talk to him is he wants to win. This guy is as competitive as they come."
• Gwynn became interested in becoming an owner when the Moorad situation came to a head. Gwynn sat down with John Moores to see what his role could be.
• "I think this is the right decision for me."

• "I'm not going to leave my post here at San Diego State. Obviously unless I get fired. This is where I'm going to be. For a little bit."

• Gwynn just wants to let people know so that people don't have to speculate.
• Gwynn's not going to run the Padres. That's not going to be his role. "My role, I think, will be just letting people know that things are going to be a little different."

• "I'm a San Diego Padre, that's the biggest thing. I started with this organization and I finished with this organization. There hadn't been a whole lot of guys that have done that. You know you want to embrace your history but you also want to have these guys when they first start out to realize that it's really an awesome thing to put that Padres jersey on. For a long time I hadn't gotten that sense. Thomas talked about that and that was one of the things that got me fired up."

• Gwynn says Tull is young, creative and going to be perfect for the job.
• Gwynn doesn't know what comes next in the process. "I just know it would be great to be part of this."
• Gwynn laughs when asked if he'd bring Gwynn Jr. back to the organization. Tony says Anthony is happy in LA and in a really good situation.
• Gwynn hasn't talked to Moores at all recently.
• It's been frustrating to watch the last couple of years but the team is young and Gwynn doesn't think they're that far away.
• Gwynn's been having trouble getting energy levels back. He has a blood clot in his right leg.
• Gwynn says Stephen Strasburg had the worst home run trot he's seen.

I really thought they had it.

Clayton pitched good enough to win after hitting good enough to win last night, but Andrew Cashner couldn't quite Andrew Cashner the ball enough and gave up the lead on a home run late.

After that, all it took was Jason Motte to do his best NHL goalie impersonation, first with a glove save to rob Li'l Alexi Amarista and then with a skate save to deny Will Venable.

The Padres try again tomorrow, but for now, three wins in a row remains a pleasant dream for the early evening.

Roll Call

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It has felt great to be a Padres fan these last couple of days. Greater than usual, I mean. With a two game win streak and winning homestand fresh on our minds, a .500 record in May now, and the Rockies behind our Padres in the NL West standings, the Friar Faithful have a few things to smile about. Cardinals fans, on the other hand, are getting a taste of what it was like to be us in the beginning of the season. St. Louis has lost four consecutive games and eight of their last ten. While they still lead the NL Central, it is only by half a game, and the Reds are right on their heels.

So the Cards will be looking to snap their losing streak tonight against our Padres at Busch Stadium. They will send Jaime Garcia to the hill to try to get them out of their funk. In the two outings prior to his last start, he gave up a combined ten runs in 11.2 innings. However, he is coming off a great outing against the Giants, where he gave up just one run in 7.1 innings. Hopefully our Padres can fare better than our NL West foes in San Francisco.

Clayton Richard, whose pinch-hit heroics yesterday helped earn our Padres an important victory, will toe the rubber in tonight's series opener. As one of the heroes of last night's game, he will try to build off of the team's momentum and get us our first three-game win streak. He will also try to build off his last start, a win against the Dodgers, whom he held to two runs in seven innings last week to snap his personal five-game losing streak.

#Padres lineup 5/20: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hundley 2, Amarista 4, Cabrera 6, Tekotte 7, Bass 1

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 20, 2012

Both the Cardinals and our Padres have a lot to play for tonight. The Cards are on a downward trend that may cost them control of the NL Central and our Pads need to continue to win and stay out of that NL West cellar. Let's hope we can refrain from being St. Louis' slump buster and get that elusive third straight win.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!