April 23rd, 2010  Padres 10 Reds 4

WP Kevin Correia 5.2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K, 97P

LP  Bronson Arroyo 3.0IP, 8H, 8R, 8ER, 2BB, 0K, 88P

Nothing like a change of scenery to change the Padres offensive production.  While no one is going to complain about a six game winning streak, the Padres were doing it with pitching and timely hits in the vast expanse of Petco.  At the Great American Ball Park on Friday night, the Padres did it with an offensive onslaught against starter Bronson Arroyo, who got chased after only going 3 innings and giving up 8 earned runs. 

The scoring started for the Padres in the 2nd with a Matt Stairs double to right, brining in Chase Headley and Will Venable, who had doubled to almost the same spot in the previous at bat.  Tony Gwynn Jr. followed that up with a home run to right, a spot that the Padres left handed hitters were abusing early.  Giving starter Kevin Correia a 4-0 lead, the Padres would add on with a 6 spot in the 4th. 

After Nick Hundley and Tony Gwynn Jr. started off the inning with singles, Kevin Correia drew a walk to load the bases.  Correia was trying to get down a bunt and Arroyo kept trying to get him to fish out of the zone but Correia was not biting.  The at bat turned into a very entertaining game of cat and mouse as KC worked a full count by showing bunt and drawing back each time Arroyo tried to nibble off the plate.  This was followed by Everth Cabrera singling in Hundley and Gwynn to make it 6-0.  That was the end of Arroyo who was replaced by Micah Owings, a former DBack.  Jerry Hairston Jr. singled to reload the bases and Adrian Gonzalez sent Owings first offer into the bleachers in right field for his second career grand slam, making it 10-0 good guys. 

That would end the Padres scoring but it was more than enough.  Correia had a no hitter through five but was chased after giving up two runs in the bottom of the 6th and Tim Stauffer came in to relieve with his sparkling E.R.A. of 0.00.  He came in, pitched a solid 2.1 innings while giving up nothing to the Reds in terms of runs.  As someone who has always liked Stauffer as a spot starter, I have wondered about the decision to not put him in the rotation after CY went down, and well, frankly I am still wondering as he looks the best he has as a Padre.  Never overpowering, but he consistently gets outs without wasting too many pitches.  Then again what do I know. 

The only other blip was Sean Gallagher giving up two inconsequential runs in the bottom of the 9th, as he is still struggling to find his stuff early in the season.  Joe Thatcher came in to get the final out and it was nice to see him get a strikeout in his first appearance of the season, as he should fill the void of lefty out of the pen very nicely as he has done in the past.

April 24th 2010  Padres 5 Reds 0

WP  Wade LeBlanc 6IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 3K, 89P

LP  Johnny Cueto 6IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 1BB, 5K, 89P

Well it sure is easy when you get pitching like that.  Wade LeBlanc was dominate on the mound, giving up only 3 hits and shutting out the Reds in his 6 innings of work.  The key to his success is his ability to change speeds and with a differential of about 10 MPH between his off speed pitches and his fastball, LeBlanc had the Reds hitters baffled.  In the two games so far In Cincinnati you can see the Padre pitchers approach to the ball park has been followed very well, listening to the mantra of keep the ball down. 

Correia kept almost all of his hitters in the infield and LeBlanc followed that up with an almost identical performance.  As for the hitting, well, the lineup keeps producing and Adrian Gonzalez is starting to get hot, hitting a solo jack in the 1st off started Johnny Cueto for his 3rd straight game with a homer.  Yorvit Torrealba, getting the start at catcher, had a two run double in the 4th to make it 3-0, and Will Venable crushed a two run homer with Chase Headley on base to make it 5-0 good guys. 

Headley went 3-4 with a double to continue his hot hitting and his case for staying in the cleanup spot.  The only real negative of the day was the continuing struggles for Kyle Blanks.  Blanks struck out 3 times, and just does not look comfortable at the plate, swinging at terrible pitches and taking the good ones.  Hopefully he can figure it out soon and get it together, but for now the Padres have won 8 in a row, are first place in the NL West and have the best record in the NL.

April 25th, 2010 Padres 4 Reds 5

WP Arthur Rhodes 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K

LP  Mike Adams 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K

Well it was to bound to happen eventually I suppose, although the Padres were in a position to win this game in the late innings which makes it that much more frustrating.  The highlights were Adrian Gonzalez hitting his 6th of the year to make it four straight games with a homer, and getting some productivity from Kyle Blanks in the form of a two RBI double. 

Clayton Richard pitched decently, but Padre fans had become spoiled after the two previous outings from Correia and LeBlanc, and expected the Reds to continue their offensive impotence.  Richard gave the Padres the opportunity for victory and it was the bullpen uncharacteristically, namely Mike Adams who lost the game.  Adams has looked shaky at times, but has gotten himself out of jams like the one at home against the Giants. 

This time he gave up two runs with the Padres up by one to lose the lead and the game.  The Pads did mount a rally in the 9th and did get the tying run to 3rd but could not capitalize.    This loss should not overshadow the eight game winning streak and the first place position they are in.  They go to Florida to take on the Marlins and should be focused on getting at least two out of three.