The Padres went down fighting with their best.
In losing 3-0 in San Francisco Sunday, the Friars were unable to complete the sweep necessary to enter the National League playoffs. Atlanta's nail-biting 8-7 victory over Philadelphia gave the Braves the senior circuit's wildcard spot. But after taking the first two games of the weekend series at AT&T Park, they made Giants fans sweat.
P Mat Latos allowed a measly two runs when he couldn't afford to give up any, Yorvit Torrealba hit into a key double play and Miguel Tejada struck out on a wicked slider with runners on base. These are three of the major contributors to a Padres season that fell just one game short of magical, leading a team that many "experts" in April predicted to finish fifth in the National League West. If you're going to go down, it's with those guys out there giving it their best shot.
Alas, there will be no playoff game at Petco Park Monday, nor a potential wildcard tiebreaker in Atlanta Tuesday. All that would have been fun. But this regular season was five months of fun, capped by a little more than a month of frustration. The Padres came up short but the Giants, with a superior September, actively won the division fair-and-square.
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While everyone would have liked to see the Padres in the playoffs, entry into the tournament was only going to be an invitation to lose to the Phillies. With Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in the rotation, it will take a major upset for another team to keep them out of the World Series...I'll write more during the week, but I think this off-season is going to be fascinating. The Padres not only need more hitting, but offense that fits the constraints of Petco Park, something that GM Jed Hoyer under-estimated when he picked up Tejada and, especially, Ryan Ludwick in his mid-season deals. And they have pitching to burn. It will be interesting to see who is still in the rotation next April, and I would bet offers to other teams will include either seventh-inning reliever Luke Gregerson or eighth-inning specialist Mike Adams. You have to give up quality to get quality and all that...How would the Padres have fared if 1B Adrian Gonzalez had gotten surgery on his injured shoulder at mid-season, taken two months off, and come back healthy in September?
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My Sunday attention was all on the Padres. The Chargers? Well, we know what they can do at home against bad teams. Nothing more to say, other than I wonder if the Spanoses are looking for ways to put a hold on RB Darren Sproles' paychecks...Nine sacks. Nine?...I like the milestones of TE Antonio Gates becoming the seventh player at his position with 500 receptions, RB Ryan Mathews with his first pro TD, Mike Tolbert's first 100-yard game and LB Shaun Phillips career high four sacks...The Cardinals collapse since their Super Bowl appearance is a lesson for AJ Smith-haters. The Chargers consistency during his tenure is remarkable. I know a lot of people would trade some just-miss seasons for a Super Bowl appearance, but if the Bolts keep coming close, it improves the odds of an eventual breakthrough.
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