April 19th, 2010 Padres 3 Giants 2

WP Tim Stauffer 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K, 7P

LP  Jeremy Affeldt 1IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 0K, 11P

Ahh the classic David Eckstein walk off home run....wait what?  Leading off the bottom of the 10th, Eckstein connected on a Jeremy Affeldt fastball that just got over the left field wall to give the Padres another dramatic win.  Heath Bell gave Eckstein a chance for heroics after he gave up a game tying solo shot to Juan Uribe in the top of the 9th with the Padres up 2-1.  As with most Padre-Giant affairs, pitching was in abundance as both teams struggled to deal a major blow to either starting pitcher.  Clayton turned in another quality start, giving up one run in 6.1 innings but was bailed out of a jam by Luke Gregerson, who came in the top of the 7th with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out.  He then proceeded to strike out Mark DeRosa and Eugenio Velez to preserve the lead.  The lead would stay till Uribe’s home run, followed by Eck’s solo job to win in walk off fashion.

April 20th, 2010  Padres 1 Giants 0

WP Mat Latos 7IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 2K, 93P

LP  Jonathan Sanchez, 7IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 10K, 105P

They say a buck doesn’t go as far as it used to, but apparently a hit goes far enough to get you a W in the National League West.  The Padres got by with one hit by Chase Headley, a sac fly by Scott Hairston, and great pitching from Mat Latos.  Latos looked completely different from his previous start when he only went 4.2 innings against the Braves.  He was composed, in control of his stuff, and kept his pitch count down.  Padre fans got a glimpse of the potential that the young twenty two year old has, seeing the live arm put together with a solid approach to the Giants lineup.  For a game with a total of seven hits however, six of which were by the Giants, the game was not without it’s drama.  Both Mike Adams and Heath Bell had to pitch out of self induced jams with Adams giving up a lead off triple to Nate Schierholtz, and Bell walking Pablo Sandoval and giving up a single to Aubrey Huff to have runners on 1st and 3rd with one out.  Both kept their composure and got out of their respective quagmires with the lead intact, allowing Adams to pick up a Hold and Bell earning his 4th save of the year.  The victory gave the Padres their second series victory and kept the opportunity for a second series sweep with one remaining against the Gigantes.

April 21st, 2010 Padres 5 Giants 2

WP Jon Garland 7IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K, 93P

LP  Todd Wellenmeyer 4IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 3K, 87P

Jon Garland showed a flash of his old self and gave Padre fans hope that he is going to live up to that number one starter billing as he had his best start of the young season, going 7 innings and only giving up 1 run as the Padres swept the Giants out of Petco.     Garland was sharp, getting 12 ground ball outs and only walking 2.  Adrian Gonzalez led off the scoring with a solo home run in the 1st off Wellenmeyer, who really hurt himself more than the Padre hitters did.  In the 2nd he gave up 4 straight walks to bring in another run, making it 2-0 in favor of the Friars.  He was lifted after going four innings in favor of Dan Runzler who promptly gave up a two run dinger to Nick Hundley making it 4-1.  The Pads would get an insurance run they would not need n the 6th and would go on to win 5-2 as the San Francisco offense was shut down for a third straight game.

Series Heroes-The entire Padre pitching staff with a line of 28.0IP, 23H, 4R, 4ER, 5BB, 14K and an E.R.A. of 1.28.  That is a very impressive line for an entire staff over three games.  Does going against the Giants in Petco help those stats?  Probably but look at the self induced problem stats like walks and unearned runs.  Only 5 walks over the entire series and no unearned runs is going to help keep you in ball games no matter where you play.  The Padre pitchers have to be feeling very good as they go from San Diego to Cincinnati, and to a ballpark that is not as pitcher friendly.