The Padres finally won another game, alleviating concerns in San Diego that this scrappy upstart would finish the season with a record-setting losing streak.
The Padres lost 10 games in a row. The Rockies gained 6½ games in the standings during that stretch. The Giants picked up 5½, reviving the National League West race.
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports had this take: “The Padres became – how to put this gently – the Padres. Instead of having just enough to win, they played just poorly enough to lose . . .The offense that nobody ever really believed in scored a little more than two runs a game. The pitching everybody believed was on the raw side gave up five runs a game.”
Old friend Ryan Ludwick hit .194 during that span. Hitting mostly third in this lineup, the former Cardinal is batting just .220 with three homers and 14 RBI in 123 at bats for San Diego.
Alas, the Padres finally stopped their epic skid by scratching out a 4-2 victory over Dodgers.
“You would never have thought that winning one game would be so important,” Padres reliever Mike Adams said, according to The Associated Press. “That’s the biggest win that we’ve had maybe all year. I’m kind of lost for words on it. The past 10 days, nothing went our way. We couldn’t catch a break. To come out tonight and get that win out of the way, hopefully that changes the tide a little bit and we’ll get on a little roll now.”
San Diego owns a slim one-game lead over the Giants. Colorado lurks 4 ½ games back, so the Padres can’t relax too much.
“I think there was a big exhale,” Padres manager Bud Black told reporters afterward. “But I think our guys know that 20 hours from now they have another game. They know what month we’re in and where we’re headed.”
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while Mark Clayton gets up to speed on the Rams offense:
Will Matt Leinart grow up while caddying for Matt Schaub in Houston? Or will he head off to the nearest hot tub party and continue squandering career opportunities?
Life has been hard on Cards fans of late, but how would you like to be a Marlins fan?
Why does every NFL team try to use the old underdog angle to its advantage? Don't the Rams have exclusive rights to it?
Shouldn't college football players be more careful when giving coaches the time-honored Gatorade bath?
Does anything beat crowd watching at a college football game?
BCS CONTENDER, OR JUST B.S.?
No. 3 Boise State entertained us with its comeback 33-30 over Virginia Tech, but did the Broncos clinch their berth in the BCS Championship Game?
They needed to make a big statement in this game before returning to their otherwise unimpressive schedule.
This victory played to mostly good reviews:
Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com: “Win two Fiesta Bowls and begin the season with a No. 3 ranking. Check. Concoct the worst kind of neutral-site-in-name-only situation you can think of, like a New York lawyer in a Mississippi courtroom. Check. Blow a 17-0 lead, fall behind 30-26, then win the game with the kind of two-minute touchdown drive that would make Peyton Manning get off the couch and bow with respect. Check. Check. And check out Boise State . . . With this victory, the Broncos bought themselves national attention that will last as long as they keep winning.”
Brett McMurphy, FanHouse: “Will the Broncos also use a season-opening victory against Tech as a catapult to the national title? We'll have to wait and see. But no matter where you stand in the great debate -- would 12-0 Boise State be BCS title game worthy? -- there is no debating the Broncos deserve to be in the conversation after rallying past the Hokies.”
Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com: “Don't call the Broncos a BCS buster. They haven't busted anything. On Monday, they propped up the system. The BCS will take this victory and spin it like the Bush administration sold us the Iraq war. Back then Bush and Cheney were trying to sell us weapons of mass destruction. Over the next four months BCS executive director Bill Hancock and the boys will be telling us that the BCS works, that there is room for the little guy. Without the BCS, Boise would be playing in some no-count bowl sponsored by a truck stop consortium or an auto parts company. With the BCS, Boise needs only to beat Oregon State at home in a couple of weeks before easing into a WAC schedule that includes Utah State, San Jose State and New Mexico State. That's the bottom end of WAC schedule that has one high end -- Boise.”
Stewart Mandel, SI.com: “Boise continues to show up ‘big’ in its biggest games -- milking the suspense for good measure. There was no Statue of Liberty this time, no fake punt or game-sealing interception. It wasn't the Broncos' prettiest performance, either. Two lost fumbles set up Virginia Tech touchdown drives, and a running-into-the-kicker penalty (one of 11 infractions on the night) gave the Hokies' new life prior to another score. But the night will be remembered more for plays like D.J. Harper's 71-yard touchdown run, Tommy Gallarda's diving one-handed TD in the first quarter and Moore buying time, then floating a 14-yard sideline out on the game-winning drive. Defensively, they held the Hokies to a modest 314 total yards, including, most notably, 2.9 yards per rushing attempt.”
MEGAPHONE
“When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted. I am taking that in stride and playing my final year out and whatever the future holds is what it holds, but it is kind of a bad feeling -- feeling not wanted. It is not like my production has gone down. I am speaking from an individual standpoint. I don't know about Tom [Brady's] or whoever else's contract. I am a little older and understand the nature of the business -- the older you get the more your skills supposedly diminish, but I think I am getting wiser in how to use my physical skills. That's the frustrating part when you put so much heart and desire into things and feel like you are not wanted."
Patriots receiver Randy Moss, whining to CBSSports.com.
