During the game I marveled at how Maddux looked like he was playing catch in his backyard. He almost seemed a little bit bored by the whole thing. He only showed emotion occasionally like when he completely fooled Brandon Phillips and you could tell he was just about to sink his teeth into the jugular. Then Phillips fights off a bad pitch and singles. Maddux gave out a shout, pissed that his prey had escaped. Khalil and Giles rolled a double play but you could tell Maddux was a little pissed. Other than that his face didn't move except to blow on his hands or do that weird thing where he puts his tongue under his lower lip.
Jose Cruz Jr. had an excellent game in the outfield. Made a nice catch in foul territory reaching into the stands to start the game and laid out for ball that was cutting away from him towards the end.
Kouzmanoff had 2 hits and a sac fly. Cameron had a 2 run stand up triple that he did face first slide for good measure. On nights like last night, you realize that either the Belisle can't pitch or the Padres can really hit. I hope it's the latter.
Everybody in the lineup had at least one hit except for Adrian Gonzalez and Maddux. Maddux is excused since he tied the sacrifice record by laying down three perfect bunts on three pitches. Maddux's confidence was visible last night, you could see it in every pitch, bunt and defensive play. Gonzalez and Maddux made a couple plays at first that looked like they were choreographed for a ballet. Maddux just makes the Padres better, it's that simple.
I was listening to the post game interview on Mighty XX when they were asking Maddux a few questions about the game. I love the quiet whispering questions that they ask in these interviews. Why do they whisper? If they were speaking another language you would swear that it was a funeral or something, or that they were commentating a golf game. It's serious almost to the point of being comical. Maddux was giving all the credit to the rest of the team, saying that when the offense puts seven runs on the board, the pitching becomes easy. Then he corrects himself saying "well not easy, it's tough facing a line up like the Reds have". Obviously he didn't want to show up the other team.
I thought last night was a perfect time for Maddux to throw a perfect game. Jonny Dub is on vacation in Alaska and I knew he couldn't possibly jinx the no-hitter. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.