1993 Phillies Scorebook Retrospective: Game 82 7/4/1993

Ben Revere gets it
Done in Seven; the Padres
Have no where to go

1993 Phillies Scorebook Retrospective: Game 80 7/2/1993 (DH #2)

Delayed, didn't start
'Til the 3rd - Mitch ends it just
After 4 a.m.

5/18/2013 Washington Nationals 1, San Diego Padres 2

Petco Park, San Diego, CA
Game 2 of 3

To simply state that a change of scenery has no effect upon a pitcher's performance is one of the greatest of all fallacies.  Sure, we can't measure how this works...we can only analyze in hindsight how a park, a coaching staff, a change in mechanics, or even a pitcher's general health can count among the many factors that ultimately draw a big composite red line between time period A and time period B.

Eric Stults is one of those pitchers; a buff, pre-geriatric tough-guy type of pitcher from Indiana who posted a career 4.84 ERA and an 8-10 W-L record with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006-2009.  After spending 2010 with the NPB Hiroshima Toyo Carp, his 5.07 ERA, 6-10 record didn't necessarily scream "BUY" when he opted to return to the States, but the Colorado Rockies gave him a chance in 2011, signing him to a Minor League deal that found him on the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox roster as a reliever, appearing in 52 games (primarily in middle relief).  In July of that year, the MLB club purchased his contract, and a few weeks later DFA'd him, sending him back to AAA for the remainder of the season.  The Chicago White Sox came calling in 2012 with another Minor League deal, albeit short-lived...the Padres selected him on waivers after Chicago DFA'd him and he posted a formidable 8-3 record with a 2.92 ERA in 18 games (4 of them as a reliever).

Stults suddenly became a fairly reliable and consistent part of a rotation that needs more mercy than it can afford; he's off to a somewhat uneven start in 2013, entering today's game with a 3-3 record and 4.57 ERA in 8 starts.  

But hey...it's only the middle of May!  Plenty of starters are experiencing the same exact thing, right?  Well, Jordan Zimmermann isn't.

Stults faces Washington Nationals ace Jordan Zimmermann, which is not great news (he's 7-1 in 8 starts with a remarkable 1.69 ERA, and the Nationals have won every game he has won), but Stults is holding his own in May (1-1 with a 2.95 ERA) and the Padres' defense has committed no errors in the past few weeks.

The Padres get to Zimmermann early, with a lead-off HR in the second inning by Yonder Alonso...a tater that makes it all the way up to the Porch in deep right field.

Everything is cool immediately thereafter, but the Nationals put the recently-stellar Padres defense to the test in the top of the 3rd, and the result is, literally, a no-go, and then a go...2 Nationals runners in scoring position with one out quickly develops into an inning-ending LIDP of the weirdest kind.

To set the stage, Danny Espinosa (he of the worst swing in baseball) is called out on strikes.  Kurt Suzuki finds Stults behind the count and walks on a 3-1 pitch.  With Suzuki on first, Zimmermann squares up to bunt, and knocks the first pitch he sees cleanly to Stults, who throws a low sinker to Jedd Gyorko, covering the bag...

...and Gyorko misses the catch, it goes "right through the wickets"!!  

It's Gyorko's first MLB career error. 

Also, hopefully, his final Bill Buckner moment.

Zimmermann cruises to second base, Suzuki to third, and now skit is gettin' real.  Denard Span looks at ball one, called strike one, and ball two before he smacks a liner, straight into Stults' torso!

Still not having touched the ground, the ball caroms neatly into the glove of Alonso, who touches the bag to record the out on Span...

Without even blinking, Alonso suddenly bolts across the infield...whassup, Yonder?

It happens too fast for us to catch it, but when he checked the runner at second, he found there was, indeed, no runner at second at all...

Suzuki is running back to third, and Zimmermann has made it there already, and is just kind of standing around behind Chase Headley (who now realizes why Alonso is making tracks his way)...

We can see it now...Zimmermann, Suzuki (who is now thinking about going...back to home?!?), and Alonso is gaining on them...Headley is like, "whadup?"

This next screenshot is worth it's weight in laughter gold...Alonso is ready to pounce on one of these guys, and seeing as how he's gaining on them to within an arm's length, Suzuki changes direction again, heading back to home, and now Zimmermann finally begins to move....and Headley is just hanging out, waiting for the pizza and beer to show up for the party.

Alonso darts left, tags Suzuki...

Zimmermann looks back, "wait what"...

Alonso points to Suzuki so that 3B umpire Vic Carapazza can see "hey, bro, I tagged 'im" - Carapazza points at Suzuki...

...and gives him the FIST of OUT!  TOOTBLAN! (Tag, not throw)

One of the weirdest double plays you'll see all season, trust me!

SCOREKEEPER'S NOTE: How was this scored?  LIDP 1-3, and here's why...the ball never touched the ground (even after the Stults carom, BTW yes, he's OK, thanks for asking), and Alonso was the last receiver to handle the ball, Suzuki tagged out at home.

The Nationals still can't find a way to score, not until the top of the 6th when Left Fielder Steve Lombardozzi scores Suzuki on an RBI single to tie the game.  The Padres add an unearned run to Zimmermann's line when Pinch Hitter Alexi Amarista reaches on a fielder's choice bunt, then scores on a pick-off attempt error by Zimmermann attempting to catch Cabrera (who reached on a single) stealing second base.  The 8th inning ends with the Padres up 2-1, and both Stults (8IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K) as well as Zimmermann (8IP, 7H, 2R, 1ER, 6K, 1HR, 1HB) are done for the day.

Huston Street walks Lombardozzi to bring the Nationals within threat distance to lead off the 9th, but Lombardozzi is erased on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out play with Ryan Zimmerman swinging through desperation.  Street follows by walking Adam LaRoche, but Ian Desmond pops out to Gyorko to end the game.

I watched the Fox Sports SD broadcast with Dick Enberg and Mark "Mudcat" Grant.  #shadows mentioned 7 times.

My scoresheets, using my new pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

8/29/12 Columbus Clippers 4, Louisville Bats 2

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 2 of 2

It's our last game of the season, as I bring both Chihiro and Kei to Slugger Field by redeeming a pair of unused season tickets and splurging for an extra seat, all in the lawn section, where I enjoy sitting from time to time.  The Columbus Clippers are back in town, we saw them here last week as they fell to the wayward Bats 10-7.  Tonight, as we make our way around the concourse and the starting lineups are being posted, I notice a familiar face on the Pepsi Vision jumbotron...a friendly, smiling face staring down at us, larger than life, pictured in his Padres cap...that face belonged to Aaron Cunningham; it was this very same shot:

Yes, Aaron was a Padre...but not anymore.  I had lost track of him, and was genuinely shocked to see his face way up there.  As we took our seats and I shriveled with glee over Cunningham in the lineup, my girls wanted to know why I was so excited...beyond the fact that he was a Padre, that is.  They aren't really much into statistics, but in Cunningham's case, that story isn't a good one.  

As the game ensues, and Cunningham prepares for his first plate appearance in the 3rd (the game is still scoreless), I've reviewed Cunningham's numbers and my daughter Kei notices by abject cringing.  Sure, hew was a Padre, and gave that his best shot, but he batted .243/.301/.396 in 2 years and 105 games in 2010-2011...his 2011 season alone he posted a dismal .178/.257/.367 in 52 games, and was pretty much on his way elsewhere when he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in late 2011 for Cory Burns.  Cunningham spent the better part of 2012 with the Indians, again choking at the plate to the tune of .175/.245/.247 in 72 games, heading to the Clippers to clear a roster spot in late July.  As of tonight's game, he's not doing any better, hitting .135/.237/.173 in 16 games.  

As I'm explaining OBP, SLG, and OPS to Kei (and trying to think of some other way to defend my adoration of Cunningham other than his lowly OPS), Cunningham is working Bats SP Pedro Villareal into a full-count.  On the 6th pitch, Cunningham connects for a lofty HR to left-center, one that fell in the left-field boxes, only a few feet from where we were sitting.  One more ricochet off of an empty seat, and we would have had a serious chance at catching that ball.

It was more than interesting that this event occurred just as I was using Cunningham's performance of record to not only explain why he was batting 9th in the lineup, but also to explain why nobody could count on him to do anything outrageous tonight.  As to further send my review and dissertation of his tendencies to my daughter, he promoted his feats at the plate by eventually nearly hitting for the cycle, a triple shy of doing so. He was not eligible for this opportunity as he approached the plate in the top of the 9th, with one on and no outs, and was instructed to bunt...which he effectively did.

Certainly tonight's performance isn't going to signal a turnaround for the 26-year-old, who needs to find something to grow on very soon or else his career will be in greater jeopardy...but for a guy like this, tonight was definitively a game he could truly hang his hat on.  As for me, it justified in many ways why I really really adore some players, even if their numbers don't add up to anything more than a bomb and a few goose eggs.

During the 5th inning, we noticed many empty seats in our usual spot in the upper deck, so the girls persuaded me to pack up and move on up there to join our friend Jimmy for the rest of the game.  Foul balls were literally raining in our section, and a lot of souvenirs made a lot of folks happy.  Jimmy was kind enough to share some of the great photos he's been taking with me, here are a couple from this game.

Denis Phipps in the 1st inning, as he cracks a lead-off double to left field.  Photo by Jimmy Bessar.

Didi Gregorius strikes out swinging.  Photo by Jimmy Bessar.

It's worth mentioning that I was lucky enough to see Loek Van Mil pitch an inning for the Clippers.  At 7' 1" he is the tallest player in professional baseball, right now...or so I'm told.

We all played the Mystery Rookie Card game, of course.  My pick was a dud, this 2008 Topps Chin-Ling Hu RC.  Chihiro picked another one of his cards earlier in the season, I kinda teased her a little about it...so I suppose this is payback. 

Chihiro picked this 2006 Bowman Mike Pelfrey RC.  Sweet.

Kei has a prime component of the Rookie Card game worked out...I always let my guests pick first, and Kei knows not to pick by color, but by weight.  She nailed a bonus, first of all, this 2007 Bowman Dennis Dove RC.  Dove was a 3rd round draft pick in 2003 by the St Louis Cardinals, and spent 5 seasons in their Minor League system with a 14-24 record and 4.54 ERA before getting called up to the Majors after the tragic death of Josh Hancock in an auto accident.  Dove needed something better than his two pitches to succeed, but never found them in time before injuries sidelined him, appearing in only 3 games and accruing a blistering ERA of 15.00; the Cardinals optioned him back to AAA at the end of the season and he hasn't pitched professionally since.

Kei's bonus card in her envelope was this 2007 Topps Carlos Guillen AL All-Star Copper Parallel, number 14 of 56, with a book value of $6 or so.  She wouldn't trade this for my Chin-Lung Hu card...I think she's on to me.

Fun times, fun season...despite the failings of the Bats.  Thanks again to Jimmy for sharing the photos!

Official Program #4, featuring Didi Gregorius...still misspelled, inside and out. 

Official Scorecard #3, featuring Corky Miller, and autographed by Corky Miller.

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats (never mind they meant nothing to Aaron Cunningham tonight)

8/27/12 Atlanta Braves 0, San Diego Padres 3

Petco Park San Diego, CA
Game 1 of 3

When I heard that Casey Kelly was scheduled to make his long-awaited debut with the Padres tonight, I cancelled the rest of my pressing affairs and stayed up late to watch this event.  As San Diego looks to win their 8th straight game, my expectations were high...even though they were facing the Braves and one of my favorite pitchers, Paul Maholm.

I would not be disappointed...Kelly showed up ready to go, and summarily blew me away.

There was little doubt how good Kelly was going to be; as a key part of the trade in late 2010 that sent Padres hero Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox, he spent all of 2011 with the AA San Antonio Missions, compiling an 11-6 record with a 3.98 ERA in 27 games...a nice bounce-back from his 3-5 5.31 ERA season with Boston AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs in 2010.  At 22 years old, he's still got a great deal of development to go; perhaps he's not Major League-ready yet, had battled right elbow inflammation to start the 2012 season in AAA Tucson that saw him miss some service time through most of July.  All the same, in 8 games between the rookie league AZL Padres and the AA Missions, he compiled a 0-2 record, 3.35 ERA, and saw his WHIP dip below 1 for the first time since his single A days with the Red Sox organization.

Kelly held it all together and showed anything but a hint of questionable promise as a future starting pitcher, and had some help from Yasmani Grandal along the way.  Maholm held the rest of the Padres handcuffed as he couldn't afford anyone other than Grandal to emerge from the gate, but the Padres prevailed, with Kelly and the bullpen keeping the Braves scoreless and earning his first MLB Win.

8/22/12 Pittsburgh Pirates 2, San Diego Padres 4

Petco Park, San Diego, CA
Game 3 of 3

Andrew Werner's MLB Debut and 1st MLB Win.  Tommy Layne's first MLB Save.

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.




If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter
(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!