Stranded in S.F.

Webb Wrings Win, Zito Zapped

Yesterday’s date was 511, so it seems only fitting to discuss baseball in the 511. San Francisco, area code 511, hosted the first place San Diego Padres Tuesday. The Giants have been on the losing side of four games against the Pads this season. San Diego arrived in the Bay Area to face a team coming off a 6-5 win at Citi Field Sunday. The Giants and Mets stranded 23 runners total in that game and the pitchers produced 16 walks. San Francisco carried that tone back home as the hometown hurlers issued 12 walks in a sloppy effort. Barry Zito lost for the first time this season as the Padres drove the lefty’s pitch count up. Zito struggled with location and labored through five frames and a career high seven walks. The Padres prevailed 3-2 to pad their NL West lead to 1 ½ games over the Giants. It wasn’t a celebratory 511 in the 511 because the baseball team was clipped and the ace pitcher was tagged for his first loss.
Twenty-four year old, Ryan Webb, picked up his first win by tossing 1 1/3 innings for the visiting San Diego club. The Padres grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning off Zito. Oscar Salazar had two hits, including a one-out single in the second. Jerry Hairston, Jr. followed Salazar’s slap with a ground rule double over the Bay Area centerfield fence. Zito loaded the bases with a pass to Scott Hairston and David Eckstein scraped together a base hit to drive in a pair of runs. San Francisco got a run back in the bottom of the third as Pablo Sandoval tripled and scored on Aubrey Huff’s base hit. Huff went 2-for-4 with an RBI for San Francisco, but the Giants stranded 11 base runners in the defeat. San Diego wasn’t better, leaving 15 on board. Pitcher, Wade LeBlanc, was charged with six hits, two runs and four walks through four plus innings for the Giants. San Diego added a run in the fifth. Zito walked Kyle Blanks with one out. Blanks stole second base and crossed home on backstop, Yorvit Torrealba’s hit to give the Padres a 3-1 lead. The Padres stole three total bases in Tuesday’s victory and Zito was done after 108 pitches. Zito steadied himself after allowing the runners waltz around the bases. He conferred with pitching coach, Dave Righetti, to get the final outs of the fifth. Zito contributed a hit at the plate, but finished the night with a 5-1 record on the hill.
Bruce Bochy’s Giants got within a run following Juan Uribe’s RBI in the home half of the fifth. The run was set up by Huff’s double a batter earlier. Huff cruised home to end the evening for LeBlanc. Eckstein reached base in all five at-bats and walked three times. Neither team would score again as run production came to a halt. Webb, Luke Gregerson and Mike Adams threw scoreless frames for the 20-12 Padres in relief, and Heath Bell earned the save with a hitless ninth. The Padres’ pitching has been phenomenal this season. San Diego leads the league in runs per game. The Giants are second in that category, which explains the low scoring affair between the California clubs Tuesday night.

Parting Points: Javier Vasquez is finally pitching a good game and the Yankees can’t score any runs.

It looks like LeBron and the Cavs may be ousted in Boston. Was Tuesday night James’ final as a Cleveland Cavalier?

Songs of the day: “Disarm” by Smashing Pumpkins and “Breathless” by the Corrs