Some observations from the weekend:
- Note to Freddy Garcia: Stop giving up 3-run HRs in the first inning. It puts your team in a hole. Check that, Don't give up 3-run HRs (period)
- I missed the first couple of innings, So I can't really comment on how Freddy looked all game. In the 5th & 6th, however, he pitched like a scared little school girl out there.
- Earlier in the series, I was going to note the poor range of the Padres outfielders, but since Dave Roberts is the usual centerfielder, I didn't say anything. Well Ozzie found a way to put guys with even less range as his starting outfield Sunday.
- In the sixth, Scott Podsednik played a single into a double by not taking the proper angle to cut the ball off. Then he broke in on a ball that ended up over his head for a double. If Rowand had been playing out there, it would have been a single and an out. I can't beleive we actually thought about starting Podsednik at center in spring training.
- I have to give some props to the Padres.
- Their starting pitchers had a very good idea of what to do against most of our team. They made Crede look like a fool for most of the weekend. (That's a breaking ball off the plate Joe. Don't swing at it.)
- Normally, I'm looking forward to getting into a teams bullpen. Even though we got the victory against them on Sunday, that wasn't the case with the Padres. Chris Hammond sold his soul to the devil to get guys out with absolute junk. Otsuka is nasty. Hoffman is one of the best in the game.
- The Padres hitters are a very patient bunch. Against Buehrle and Garland, who threw a ton of strikes, they were always deep in the count. Against Freddy, they refused to chase the breaking ball out of the zone.
- I think Frank Thomas' presence truly does have an affect on Juan Uribe's approach at the plate. Though he doesn't have much in the way of hits to show for it, Uribe was consistently taking pitches out of the zone that he would have swung at before. I still don't know how he laid off that last pitch from Otsuka. Look for Juan to go on a tear on the home stand.
- The Sox have a 12 game homestand over the next 2 weeks. D'Backs, Dodgers, Royals, & Cubs. We need to be looking at winning at least 8 games on the stand.