Tonight is beyond crucial. We need this win bad. Peavy is the only pitcher that inspires confidence. Without him our season would be in ruins. Thank goodness for Jake Peavy.
The Padres lost two games in the late innings over the weekend. Two games that would have taken a considerable amount of pressure off of them. It's weird how this team plays tricks with your head. You keep expecting a different or better team to show up and start playing. But the simple fact is this is our team. This is how they've played since June 1 and this is how they are going to play through the end of the season and into the playoffs. Teams just don't magically become great, unless it's May 1. We just need them to be great in key situations. Which they really haven't done all year either, but that's what we need.
They need to know that tonight is key. They need to buckle down and play with an intense focus. Peavy has the focus and when he pitches the rest of the team usually follows him. A win tonight brings the magic number down to two. Then we breathe an ever so small sigh of relief and finish them on Tuesday. Let's not play back and forth games, handing runs to the opposition.
I'll tell you right now the key to this series is hitting. It's just a shame that we don't have it. Can an entire team learn to hit at the last minute? Can Peavy put this team on his back and carry them to the playoffs? Tonight we find out!