9/26/11 Chicago Cubs 0, San Diego Padres 2

Petco Park, San Diego, CA
Game 1 of 3

Casey Coleman is a GREAT pitcher. I believe in Casey Coleman.

The final series of the 2011 season finds the wayward Cubs in Petco Park to face the Padres, who very much like the Cubs are looking at a losing season with barely 70 wins and nearly 90 losses apiece. When I hear the baseball pundits complain about teams who “aren’t in the race” at the end of the season and how this may or may not affect their performance on the field, I think about games like this and I’m glad that I don’t subscribe to this way of thinking. The Cubs and the Padres both played as if they had a chance; especially Casey Coleman and his opponent Mat Latos.



Pretend for a moment that you are not aware that both of these teams are mathematically and metaphysically out of the running for a postseason appearance. The Cubs need Casey Coleman to continue his 2011 performance in the years to come…the same goes for Mat Latos, whose 2011 wasn’t quite as stellar as his 2010 campaign, but he (as well as Coleman) are damn good pitchers, and are both young enough to improve. Perhaps that’s what is driving them to excellence tonight, where they stare each other down for 5 straight innings of scoreless baseball; the greatest tangible advantage being the no-hitter that Latos has going on through those 5.

I fly my “Pitchers who can hit are sexy” flag fairly high and prominently, and I can’t imagine a day, time, year, or dissertation that could ever persuade me otherwise. That being said, Coleman breaks up Latos’ no-hitter with a 1-out triple in the top of the 6th. That’s just plain down and dirty awesome. As you may be able to tell from this photo, Coleman looks a bit peaked standing at 3rd after a run like that. Pitchers who hit well, I love it and I promote it. The same may not be said for pitchers who are aggressive baserunners…most Cubs fans still have a wince on their face from when Carlos Zambrano yanked a leg muscle a few years ago running to first to beat out a grounder and missed several starts. Here, the impact is more immediate; as soon as you can say “wow, did he really just do that??” Len Kasper and Bob Brenly immediately speculate on how Coleman’s hard drive to 3rd may affect his work on the mound in the bottom of the 6th. After all, they could be wrong…but there’s a point to be made there, couldn’t he have kept it to a double and be done with it?

Bottom of the 6th, Coleman yields a solo HR to Will Venable on a 0-1 pitch. Jason Bartlett grounds out to Coleman right after, but it seems as if the Padres have found his sweet spot as Jesus Guzman reaches on a ground-rule double that was nearly another HR. Nick Hundley strikes out swinging, but Cameron Maybin doesn’t, with a seeing-eye line drive down the left field line for a run-scoring double. The Padres are on the board, Coleman’s triple run seems to have revealed the truth in Kasper and Brenly’s statement, and Rafael Dolis gets the final out of the inning in his MLB debut.

Casey…please…next time, buddy, make it a DOUBLE.

Latos, in the meantime, stays in through the 7th inning and finishes with 9K and 1BB. Chad Qualls and Heath Bell administer 2 perfect innings and the Cubs are done for the evening.

Carlos Peña earns his 100th free pass of the season and is the 1st Cub since the 1900s to walk this many times in one season. Starlin Castro extends his hitting streak to 9 games and his on-base streak to 38 games. In addition to Dolis, Steve Clevenger makes his MLB debut.




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8/11/11 San Diego Padres 3, New York Mets 2

Citi Field, Queens, NY
Game 3 of 4


Cameron Maybin…by golly, in case you hadn’t heard he’s a PADRE now!!

I have to admit, with everything that’s been going on this season, I haven’t done my due diligence in following the Padres as I have the past few years. Of course, I continue to be challenged to only seeing games on TV if they are on FOX, TBS, or MLB Network (remember, I said “no” to ESPN a long time ago). Of course, I can listen to any games via Gameday Audio, and I’ve done that a few times in the past couple of years, but there has been some displacement with an increase in MiLB and Independent League Baseball this season.

And no, it’s not because Adrian Gonzalez is gone. I always knew he wouldn’t be around much longer. That being said, here (in August, crikey!!) is the first Padres game I’ve watched in several months. And I have to tell you, not just because of one game, but because of one guy and his impact on this young team: the future for the Padres is looking good. I believe that and so should you.

A-Gon is “Gone.” That’s it, get over it. And arguably in a much better place. Yes. The signing of Cameron Maybin was a question mark in my mind, but let’s face it: he delivers. He’s 3rd on the team for AVG, 7th in OBP, 5th in SLG, and 2nd in games played. With now-gone Ryan Ludwick leading the team in homers, Maybin is right behind him and is the current HR leader for the Padres, not having reached double-digits yet. His OPS is better since All-Star break.

So Statistically, what I’m saying about Maybin’s impact on the team doesn’t really hold a bunch water…and I never want to go on record as saying one person alone makes a difference…I am a “team” guy and always will be. This game is a small sample size, true…but in this game alone I see something I didn’t see a lot of last year when Mat Latos wasn’t pitching…and that is some residual electricity coming from a player who has the experience to galvanize the whole staff, and today, that somebody was Cameron Maybin, and I think it’s a good thing to recognize this.



Not wanting to discount the Mets…their problems are in magnitude severe compared to the Padres problems (which are in some ways similar to, but still not as bad as the Cubs’ problems but closer to the Royals’ problems). I was just as surprised to see the Mets and their candor on the field and their support of SP Jonathon Niese…even to the point of SS Ruben Tejada’s 2 errors in tight situations. The Mets aren’t laying down, and in the first 2 games of the series handed the Padres consecutive rounds of defeat.

Game 3 changed the tone of the series, and Maybin made things happen today, with a solo HR in the 5th to finally put the Padres on the board and some sexy baserunning in the 8th to help the Padres get their game-winning run in. True, Tejada’s error allowed Maybin to score from 3rd, but Maybin was there in 2 successful stolen base attempts after a lead-off single. You could feel the lineup’s confidence increase when Maybin got on base to start the inning…these guys knew the chances were good that Maybin could make it if they all did their part and eked out a run to break the 2-2 tie.

And they did. And that’s really what mattered. Padres bullpen looked good, and the Mets pitching staff did an enormous job of ‘doing their best’ to keep the Pads down. Hats off to Padres SP Cory Luebke, my first time seeing him and he was impressive.

I hate to be one of those guys that keeps saying “next year…” but then again I never hesitate to say it, and if this game is any indication…I have every right to. Here's hoping Cam stays on for a few more years and further entrenches his role on this team as an ignitor.