Master Jedi Maddux

What else can you say about this guy. He is the all-knowing, all-seeing Baseball psychic with a iron arm, a magic glove and a brain hard-wired for the game. Maddux will mesmerize you with his voodoo ball trick. He can throw and make you hit the ball wherever he wants. It can be both frustrating to watch and a pleasure to behold. At 42 years old, he is truly a master.

Unfortunately, he had to face our Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. It was a hot day. Hotter than the sun some would say. Billingsley, who was shelled the last time out, was to be our starter. If we had any hope of victory it would have to start with Chad.

The game began well enough, with Maddux and Billingsley going through the batting order the first time through with relative ease. The second time around, though, Billingsley made a key mistake. He started off the top of the 4th inning by walking Edmonds. Soon to follow was a double by Kalil Green and a sacrifice fly to right field by McAnulty to score the run.

That was all the Padres needed as they beat us 1 to 0.

The Dodgers staff pitched a great game. Park, Broxton and Beimel recorded 6 strike outs in their 4 innings of shutout work. Billingsley was the unlucky man in the room having given up just 4 hits while recording 8 strike outs.

For the season, we have now split 6 games with Padres. We took the series last weekend in San Diego by winning 2 out of 3, but the Padres did likewise to us this weekend. At least we are playing better against them this year.

Upcoming, we finish off this homestand with a 3 game set against the Pirates starting tonight. Hopefully we can right the ship against some east coast teams.