Undefeated in June! Oh yeah! Last night's game was a fun one that resulted in a 7-1 Padres victory to open up the homestand. Now we will see if the offense can keep up for the rest of the series.

After a six-game losing streak on the road, Edinson Volquez will try to get us started on a winning streak as he takes the mound tonight. His last start wasn't terrible, but it wasn't his best either. He gave up a couple of runs in 5 2/3 innings of work while walking three batters. Volquez will be trying to end a personal losing streak as well. He has lost his last three starts and a loss tonight would tie a career-high four-game losing streak. As recipient of the lowest run support average in the league, he hopes the lineup will be able to come through for him like they did last night.

Pitching for Arizona will be Daniel Hudson, who is making his second start since coming off the DL last week. The Diamondbacks have gone 1-3 to start their six-game road trip, so Hudson will try to stop the bleeding. He has had plenty of success pitching against San Diego in five previous starts against us, earning a 4-1 career record and 1.72 career ERA. We'll see if he can continue his dominance over our Padres today.

#Padres lineup 6/2: Venable 9 Maybin 8Alonso 3 Quentin 7 Headley 5 Hundley 2Cabrera 6 Amarista 4 Volquez 1

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) June 2, 2012

Yasmani Grandal is still riding the bench with Nick Hundley still in the lineup. Hundley hit a rally-extending sac fly last night and made a nice play to second to catch Chris Young stealing. We'll see if he can prove his worth even more tonight.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

After an abysmal road trip and a much-needed off-day, our Padres return to Petco Park tonight to open up June and hopefully get back in the win column.

Southpaw Clayton Richard will make the start and hopefully find comfort in the friendly and spacious confines of Petco Park. For a pitcher who has gone 0-4 on the road this season, Richard should be happy to be home. He is also undefeated against tonight's opponent, Arizona, and hopes to keep it that way. He is coming off a loss against the Mets in New York where he gave up two homers in the first inning. However, he settled down after that and only allowed two more hits in his remaining five (scoreless) innings.

The Diamondbacks will counter with a lefty of their own. Wade Miley is coming off his third win in as many starts and hopes to keep the streak going against a slumping Padres team. His last start didn't go completely smooth, but he was able to keep his team in it and his offense came through for him.

#Padres lineup today: Denorfia 9, Maybin 8, Alonso 3, Quentin 7, Headley 5, Hundley 2, Cabrera 6, Amarista 4, Richard 1.

— Follow The Padres (@FollowThePadres) June 1, 2012

There may be a new name in our lineup tonight. Daniel Berk from the Arizona Daily Star broke the news last night that Yasmani Grandal was getting the call-up from Tucson. We'll see if he makes his debut tonight and if it does anything to revive our offense.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Yesterday's game was a close one. Our Padres had opportunities, but in the end they just couldn't make it happen. Maddening, some would call it. In the top of the eighth, Andy Parrino singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a Will Venable triple. With Venable on third as the tying run, no outs, and the 2-3-4 hitters due up, it seemed like Padres fans would soon have something to cheer about. However, a groundout by Chris Denorfia, lineout by Yonder Alonso, and flyout by Carlos Quentin kept Venable from scoring. To add to the misery, Jeff Baker hit a two-out single in the bottom of the inning to extend the Cubs' lead to two runs. A final shred of hope came in the ninth when Everth Cabrera hit a two-out double, but it was followed by a Nick Hundley strikeout to end the game.

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A great effort from our offense yesterday, which yielded seven runs on twelve hits, unfortunately went to waste as Padres pitching allowed eleven runs to the Cubs. The slug fest at Wrigley Field yesterday resulted in eight combined home runs (four from each team) and many lead changes throughout the game. In the end, our Padres came up short and the Cubs snapped a 12-game losing streak.

Today our Padres will try again and hope it won't be a repeat of the Mets series where they used up all their offense in the series opener. Eric Stults will be called on in his third Padres start of the season after being acquired by San Diego earlier this season. His last start was his first win, and our Padres' only win against the Mets. He went five innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and one walk.

Jeff Samardjiza will take the mound for Chicago. He has been a pretty consistent pitcher for the Cubs, but hasn't had a win since May 7th. Hopefully our Padres can extend that even more.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

After dropping three of four at Citi Field, our Padres will try to turn it around in this series against the Cubs. The Mets series was a tough one. We came into it looking pretty strong with an 11-5 win, but our offense failed to show up for the series, scoring just one run total over the remaining three games. Overall a disappointing weekend in New York, so hopefully a trip to Wrigley Field, and a certain new name in the Padres lineup, will be what our boys need to turn it around.

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Rise and shine, Gaslamp Ballers! It's time for another Breakfasttown game as our boys take on the Mets in this morning's series finale.

Our Padres just couldn't get their offense going at all yesterday. Four hits were all they could muster against Johan Santana's complete game shutout. After collecting season highs in hits and runs in their win on Thursday, our Padres have now lost back-to-back games and are faced with the task of surviving the series with a split today.

Edinson Volquez will try to get the job done this morning in New York. In his last start, a loss against the Cardinals, he threw four shutout innings in his six innings of work, but only collected one strikeout while walking four and giving up three earned runs on five hits. Today he will try to redeem himself and get his third win in his eleventh start of the season.

New York will send R.A. Dickey to the mound to try to lock up the series for the Mets. He is coming off a great outing against the Pirates. He struck out 11 batters (a career high) in seven innings of one-run ball, while only making 88 pitches. He hopes to continue that success and efficiency against our Padres, who he went 0-1 against in two starts last season.

Hopefully our boys can fare better than they did in yesterday's Breakfasttown game and they can leave New York with a split and some dignity on a happy flight to Chicago.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Our Padres couldn't keep up with the offensive output they produced in the series opener as they dropped game 2 against the Mets yesterday. After Thursday's game, Bud Black commented, "The trick is to keep going." Unfortunately, our Padres couldn't do that.

The boys will try again this morning as they face the Mets in the third game of a four-game series. Johan Santana will toe the rubber for New York. He hasn't pitched exceptionally well this season, but he has been pretty solid and has done a good job of keeping his team in the game in each of his starts.

Clayton Richard has also been fairly solid for our team. He is coming off a couple of really strong outings and hopes to continue that trend today in New York. He gave up just two runs in seven innings in his start against the Dodgers at home. Then he followed that up two runs against the Cardinals on May 21st.

Sit down, enjoy a nice Saturday breakfast, and watch out Padres beat some Mets butt.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Yesterday was a great day for our Padres. After an 68-minute rain delay, they were able to produce 11 runs on a 18 hits (both season highs). Every starting position player had at least one hit, including three from Cameron Maybin and a career-high four from Everth Cabrera. Starting pitcher Eric Stults did his part as well, allowing just one unearned Mets run to cross the plate in his five innings of work before he left the game with a sore left arm from being hit by a ball in the fourth inning. Four runs were scored off our bullpen, but thanks to the productive bats yesterday, those runs weren't enough for the Mets to claim the victory. Now we will see if yesterday was really just a fluke or if our Padres can keep up the production in game 2.

Anthony Bass will toe the rubber against New York today and try to continue his success on the mound this season. Since being moved into the starting rotation in April, Bass has limited opposing teams to two or less runs in six of his eight starts. However, in those eight starts he has only gotten two wins. Hopefully the lineup and the bullpen can come through for him today and our Padres can secure at least a series split and a winning streak.

Dillon Gee will do what he can to make sure yesterday's offensive success from our Padres doesn't happen again today. Gee has had some limited success on the mound this season and he is coming off a win against the Blue Jays. However, that was more of a credit to his lineup than to his pitching. Gee got a win against San Diego last season, when he allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings. However, that was at spacious Petco Park where runs are few and far between for our Padres. Today he'll have a smaller Citi Field to work in, as well as a Padres team coming off a high from yesterday's game.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

After being swept in St. Louis, our Padres really need to make something happen over this four-game series in New York. Eric Stults will take on the Mets lineup today and try to right the ship. In his first Padres start last week against the Dodgers, Stults gave up two runs on four hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings for the no-decision.

Facing the Padres lineup will be Jeremy Hefner, making his first major league start. Hefner spent five years in the Padres farm system before the Mets claimed him. He is hoping to take advantage of the Padres' road troubles (we have the fewest road wins in the league) and continue the Mets' two-game winning streak.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Every time our Padres make me forget the feeling of dropping two in a row, they come back down and remind me. But, I persevere and I keep the faith and, like tonight, I root for them to salvage the last game of the series. They've done that more often that not this year and in this series they have shown that they can hang with the Cards, so I'm not terrified of tonight's game and I think our Padres have a great shot of picking up a win to close out the series.

Jeff Suppan will make the start tonight. After going 2-0 to start the season, he has lost his last two starts. As he takes on his former team tonight, he will try to channel his 2006 self, who went 12-7 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs to help St. Louis win a world series that year.

Lance Lynn will take the mound for the Cardinals. He was undefeated in his first six starts this season but got a loss and a no-decision in his last two.

Let's hope our Padres can avoid the sweep tonight.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Our Padres were so close last night, but in the end they couldn't pull it off. But that's just how it goes sometimes and we are certainly used to having winning streaks cut short after just two consecutive wins. Tonight the boys will try to start a new winning streak as they take on the Cardinals in game 2 and try to even up the series.

Edinson Volquez has the task of getting our Padres back in the win column tonight. Unfortunately he hasn't had much success against the Cardinals in his career. He pitched five games against them as a member of the Reds and has an 0-3 record. He is also coming off one if his worst pitching performances of the year. On Thursday against the Dodgers at home, he managed to strike out six batters, but it wasn't very helpful as he also gave up five runs (a season high) on seven hits and three walks. He will be looking to redeem himself against St. Louis and help the team avoid a losing streak.

Pitching opposite Volquez will be Adam Wainwright, who missed last season due to elbow surgery and still hasn't quite found his stride on the mound. Over his last two starts, combining for 10 innings, he gave up a total of 10 runs on 15 hits and 9 walks. So he, too, will be looking to redeem himself tonight. He, however, has fared better in his career against our Padres than Volquez against the Cards. In three starts against San Diego, he has gone 2-1 with a 0.82 ERA.

Wainwright will have to watch out for Yonder Alonso, who has been hot the past month. He has hit safely in his last four consecutive games and in 20 of his last 23. Also, Everth Cabrera has gone 2-3 with a double in his career against Wainwright and Will Venable has gone 4-7 with a double. Venable has also been pretty hot lately, batting .333 with six extra-base hits in his last 12 games.

Padres lineup 5/22: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Alonso 3, Guzman 7, Baker 2, Amarista 4, Cabrera 6, Parrino 5Volquez 1

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 22, 2012

Let's see if Volquez can bounce back from his last start and keep the hope of a series win alive.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

It has felt great to be a Padres fan these last couple of days. Greater than usual, I mean. With a two game win streak and winning homestand fresh on our minds, a .500 record in May now, and the Rockies behind our Padres in the NL West standings, the Friar Faithful have a few things to smile about. Cardinals fans, on the other hand, are getting a taste of what it was like to be us in the beginning of the season. St. Louis has lost four consecutive games and eight of their last ten. While they still lead the NL Central, it is only by half a game, and the Reds are right on their heels.

So the Cards will be looking to snap their losing streak tonight against our Padres at Busch Stadium. They will send Jaime Garcia to the hill to try to get them out of their funk. In the two outings prior to his last start, he gave up a combined ten runs in 11.2 innings. However, he is coming off a great outing against the Giants, where he gave up just one run in 7.1 innings. Hopefully our Padres can fare better than our NL West foes in San Francisco.

Clayton Richard, whose pinch-hit heroics yesterday helped earn our Padres an important victory, will toe the rubber in tonight's series opener. As one of the heroes of last night's game, he will try to build off of the team's momentum and get us our first three-game win streak. He will also try to build off his last start, a win against the Dodgers, whom he held to two runs in seven innings last week to snap his personal five-game losing streak.

#Padres lineup 5/20: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hundley 2, Amarista 4, Cabrera 6, Tekotte 7, Bass 1

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 20, 2012

Both the Cardinals and our Padres have a lot to play for tonight. The Cards are on a downward trend that may cost them control of the NL Central and our Pads need to continue to win and stay out of that NL West cellar. Let's hope we can refrain from being St. Louis' slump buster and get that elusive third straight win.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Our Padres evened up the series last night in a 3-2 win over Dan Haren and the Angels. Eric Stults made his Padres debut and fared pretty well despite getting the no-decision. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, gave up two runs on four hits, walked three, and struck out two. Alexi Amarista and Cameron Maybin were the offensive keys of the game, teaming up to score the tying runs in both the third and fifth innings. Amarista also knocked in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and our bullpen kept the Angels off the board to secure the victory.

Today we've got Anthony Bass on the bump to try to lock up the series. His last outing was one of his best, as he won the battle against Stephen Strasburg on the mound. He threw 98 pitches over a career-high eight innings, giving up just one run while striking out seven batters. Today we will see if he can repeat that performance.

Pitching for the Angels will be Ervin Santana, who is also coming off a great outing. In his last start he gave up only four hits and no runs in 7 2/3 innings, and struck out nine in his fourth consecutive quality start. After a rough start to his season, Santana has really picked his game up, and he will try to continue that today.

#Padres lineup today vs #Angels: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hundley 2, Amarista 4, Cabrera 6, Tekotte 7, Bass 1

— Sarah Trotto (@sarahtrotto) May 20, 2012

The all-time record between our Padres and the Angels is currently tied at 12, so the winner of today's game will have the advantage in the all-time series. Let's do it, boys!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Another tough loss last night means a two-game losing streak for our Padres coming into tonight's game. Jered Weaver dominated our lineup, limiting our Padres to three hits in his seven innings of work. He allowed a solo home run to Will Venable in the sixth inning, and then gave up back-to-back walks and an RBI groundout to Alexi Amarista in the seventh. However, those were the only two runs our Padres scored last night. Jeff Suppan seems to be coming back down to Earth after 2-0 start to the season. He allowed a season-high four runs on six hits. He had no strikeouts and allowed a season-high five walks (one intentional). Luke Gregerson and Miles Mikolas combined for three shutout innings. However, Brad Brach wasn't so successful. With a 4-2 Angels lead going into the 9th inning, a win still seemed to be in reach for our Padres. But the Angels scored three runs off Brach in the top of the 9th and we couldn't get anything off Ernesto Frieri in the bottom of the inning. Tonight our Padres will try to bounce back and stop the losing streak at two games.

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I was listening to Weezer today (weird, I know) and I decided that this should be Jeff Suppan's theme song:

And by "back to the good life," I mean "back in the win column." Suppan will try to make that happen tonight as our Padres open up a three-game series against the Angels. His last start wasn't a bad one, but he took his first loss of the season against Cole Hamels and the Phillies. Our Padres are coming off what was one of the worst games of the season, losing 8-1 to split the two-game series with the Dodgers. Tonight we will try to rebound and give the Angels a warm welcome to our ballpark by giving them a loss.

This will be the Angels' first time playing at Petco Park. They will turn to Jered Weaver to lead them to a victory in their Petco Park debut. He is coming off his worst start of the season, and one of the worst of his career. He gave up eight earned runs on ten hits and lasted only 3.1 innings. Before that start, though, he was on a roll. He had given up only one earned run over a total of 21 innings in the three starts prior to his last, so tonight he will try to go back to that.

It's 70's Night at the ballpark, and the Padres will be rocking the hell out of the '78 throwbacks tonight.

Tonight's 1978 throwback jerseys, SWEET!! @Padres twitter.com/MicahOwings/st…

— Micah Owings (@MicahOwings) May 18, 2012

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Our Padres came through yesterday for Clayton Richard in a solid 4-2 win over the Dodgers. Chase Headley led the team on offense with a solo home run in the first inning to cut the Dodgers' lead in half, and a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning to bring the Padres up 3-2. Our Padres loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but were only able to score one insurance run on a bases-loaded walk. But that was enough for the win as Padres pitching kept the Dodgers at bay. Richard had a bit of a rough start, giving up two early runs in the first inning, but settled down after that and breezed through the next six innings, allowing only two more hits and retiring his final 11 batters in a row. In the eighth inning, Andrew Cashner came in and struck out the side like a boss. Finally, Dale Thayer closed the game and earned his fourth save of the season.

Tonight we go for a two-game sweep of the Dodgers behind Edinson Volquez, who has been a reliable starter for our Padres this season. San Diego has won each of Volquez' last four starts while he has allowed only four earned runs combined. Although he is only 1-1 on the season, he has done a good job of keeping our offense in games and limiting the opposing team. Hopefully today's lineup can repay him with a victory tonight.

Former Padre Aaron Harang toes the rubber for LA, coming off his best start of the season. He allowed just one run in eight strong innings against the Rockies. However, he has lost his last five decisions against us, a streak that we will try to continue tonight.

Our lineup got shaken up today as Orlando Hudson was designated for assignment and Jason Bartlett was put on the 15-day disabled list with a "knee injury." Alexi Amarista and Everth Cabrera (!!!!!!!!) were called up from Tucsonand will start in tonight's game at second base and shortstop.

#Padres lineup today vs Dodgers: Venable 9, Maybin 8, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Darnell 7, Baker 2, Cabrera 6, Amarista 4, Volquez 1

— Sarah Trotto (@sarahtrotto) May 17, 2012

I can't even put into words how excited I am for Everth to be back up here with the big league club. I'll leave that up to everyone's imaginations. The most important thing is our boys go out there and win tonight. Everyone has finally gotten what they've been asking for with Hudson and Bartlett out of the lineup. Time to see if we will get rewarded with a victory and our first series sweep!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Our Padres are coming off a confidence-boosting 6-1 win against Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals yesterday and split the two-game series. Anthony Bass put up a very strong performance and our Padres played some great baseball to get to Strasburg and come out with a victory. Today they open up another two-game series at home against our Southern California rivals, the Dodgers.

We will send Clayton Richard to the mound to try to turn his luck around against LA. He has lost his last five starts, and in those starts he has racked up a 6.32 ERA. Today he hopes to go back to the form he was in the first time he faced the Dodgers this year, when he pitched seven solid innings without allowing an earned run in his season debut. Richard is 5-1 in nine career starts against the Dodgers so hopefully he can continue to dominate them.

LA will send a lefty to the mound as well. Chris Capuano is undefeated this season for the Dodgers, but our Padres will try to change that. He has gone seven innings in each of his last three starts and has given up only six runs total in his last six starts. However, our Padres have faced worst (see: Strasburg, Halladay), so hopefully the team can build off its solid performance yesterday and get Richard his second win.

B Cres will be in the house today filling Petco Park with some sweet organ tunes. If you're going to the game, stop by section 311/313 and say hi!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Well, our Padres couldn't get the job done yesterday against the Nationals. Tim Stauffer, fresh off the DL and a few rehab starts, made just a few mistakes but overall pitched well in his 2012 debut. He allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out five and walking three, and even brought home the tying run in the 4th with a sac bunt. Our Padres then scored the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth on a Chase Headley two-out single, and Stauffer pitched a scoreless bottom of the 5th. Stauffer was then due up in the lineup in the 6th, but Bud Black sent in Jeff Suppan as a pinch hitter to lay down a bunt to try to score an insurance run. The insurance never came, however, and the bullpen turned our 5-4 lead into an 8-5 loss.

Today's chances don't look so great either as our Padres get set to face Stephen Strasburg in the finale of this two-game series. Strasburg is currently tied for the NL lead in strikeouts (51), and he hopes to really add to that tally against a Padres lineup that has accumulated the second most strikeouts in the majors. His last start against the Pirates saw him strike out 7 consecutive batters and 13 total batters. It seems like our only hope is for Anthony Bass to really get into a groove early and shut down the Washington offense completely.

Bass is coming off a couple of rough outings and hopes to rebound by taking advantage of a low-scoring Nats lineup. Since joining the rotation out of the bullpen, Bass has struggled now and then, but overall has thrown the ball well and has shown a lot of progress. I'm sure most baseball fans tuning into today's game will be doing so to watch Strasburg and to see just how many Padres he can strike out, but hopefully Bass will give those fans something to watch as well. If Bass can pitch like he's capable of, I can see this game being a really good pitcher's duel.

#Padres 5/15 lineup @Nationals Venable 9, Maybin 8, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hudson 4, Darnell 7, Baker 2, Parrino 6, Bass 1

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 15, 2012

It's our second Breakfasttown game in three days. Hopefully Our Padres fare better in this one. Let's all watch the game and chat here in the game thread while eating breakfast. Ready GO!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Jeff Suppan dropped his first game of the season in yesterday's series finale against the Phillies. He kept the game close, allowing only three runs (two earned), but that was just a little too much for our Padres to overcome. Unfortunately we couldn't get much off Cole Hamels. Our Padres made it interesting in the 8th by scoring to get within a run of the Phillies, but couldn't muster up enough offense to win.

Today we get what seems like the first bit of really good news in a season full of bad news. Tim Stauffer returns to make his 2012 debut after suffering an elbow injury at the end of Spring Training that landed him on the DL. He will take the mound and kick off a two-game series against the Nationals today. Stauffer pitched three rehab starts in Tucson and Lake Elsinore, striking out nine and issuing zero walks in 15.2 total innings. He posted a 1.72 ERA in his rehab work and feels good coming into today's game.

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Hey, Breakfasttown! Hope you've had / are having a great Mothers Day and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast/brunch! Thanks to a good win last night, our boys will get a chance to take their third series of the season in today's rubber game.

Our Padres, led by Edinson Volquez' strong outing and some solid pitching out of the bullpen, beat Roy Halladay for the second straight time yesterday. In doing so, they became the first team since 2009 to win multiple games in a season against Halladay. He did, however, manage to strike out ten Padres batters while walking only one in his seven innings of work. His offense just couldn't come through for him. It's funny because Roy Halladay is like a super good pitcher. That guy has won multiple Cy Young Awards. He even tied for first in the SB Nation Cy Young Award voting last season, which is crazy because that guy should have won OUTRIGHT. But our Padres have managed to beat him twice in a span of less than a month. It's reasons like that which give me the strength to keep the faith like I do. Thank you, Padres. Now do it again today against the shame of San Diego that is Cole Hamels.

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It's been three days since the Friar Faithful have tasted the sweet taste of victory. Hopefully that will change today.

Edinson Volquez takes the mound in game 2 at Philadelphia and hopes for a repeat of his last outing. In his first win of the season last week against the Rockies he gave up two earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out five batters in 5.1 innings of work. Overall, he has pitched pretty solidly but hasn't gotten much support from the lineup, so hopefully they will turn it around today.

Our Padres will be facing a tough opponent in Roy Halladay. Halladay has been great this season. However, he picked up a loss against us in April when the Phillies came to San Diego. In what has been dubbed the 2nd best game of the season for SD, Halladay lasted 7 innings and gave up two earned runs, but those two were enough to give him the loss as his Phillies teammates were unable to score a single run of support for him. Cory Luebke was dealing that day and the Phillies lineup just couldn't get to him. Hopefully Volquez can do the same and we can embarrass Halladay some more while extending his 4-game winless streak.

#Padres lineup 5/12 @Phillies Venable 9, Kotsay 7, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hudson 4, Maybin 8, Baker 2, Bartlett 6, Volquez 1

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 12, 2012

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

After a loss on Wednesday and an off day yesterday, our Padres kick off a series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park tonight. Clayton Richard, who hasn't won a game since his first start of the season, will take the mound and try to put up another quality start. He has pitched a lot better than his 1-4 record indicates, and hopes that will pay off tonight.

Vance Worley will make the start for the Phillies, coming off a loss to the Nationals. Against Washington, he gave up five runs on 11 hits, so he will try to rebound from that and keep the Padres off the scoreboard. In his first and only career outing against San Diego last month, he struck out a career-high 11 batters. He will try to repeat that performance and get the Phillies back in the win column after being swept by the Nats.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Mr. Padre! Happy Birthday to you!

A win last night means we go for our first sweep of the season today. Our Padres will take the field at 12:35 for the series finale as Anthony Bass tries to bounce back from his last start. He gave up six runs over six innings against the Marlins. However, he has pitched well overall since moving into the rotation in April. This will be his second start against the Rockies after giving up three earned runs on four hits in five innings at Coors Field last month.

Colorado will send Christian Friedrich to the mound for his major league debut. Friedrich was called up from the minors to help out a Rockies rotation plagued with injury. He went 2-0 in his five starts for the triple-A club this season and hopes to prove himself worthy of this opportunity.

It's hard not to have a good feeling about today. These last two nights have been happy ones for Padres fans. Today, Tony the Gwynn celebrates his 52nd birthday and B Cres will be rocking the organ music at the ballpark. Also, I will be at the game and I would really love to witness a sweep. So everyone just keep the faith and bust out the broomskies because the Padres are gonna clean up the trash at Petco Park.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

... [Jeff] said "BE STILL!" and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once [as he struck out the side looking] and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all...

After last night's victory, our Padres will be going for their second series win of the season and will send Jeff Suppan to the hill tonight to take on the Rockies. Suppan was called up last week to fill in for an injured Cory Luebke. He pitched five shutout innings in his start against the Brewers, which marked his first time pitching in a major league game since 2010. He allowed only four hits and two walks while retiring 15 of the 20 batters he faced, leading our Padres to a solid win. Tonight he will try to repeat that performance and keep the Rockies off the board to secure the series.

Much like our Padres, the Rockies are turning to their farm system to help them out as a result of injuries to their starting rotation. Tonight Alex White will take the mound for his first start of the season. Colorado acquired White from the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade last season and he pitched seven starts for the big league club, but struggled due to a middle finger injury. He will try to take advantage of this opportunity to bounce back from his pitching woes in 2011 while ending the Rockies' four-game losing streak.

#Padres 5/8 lineup vs. @Rockies Venable RF, Maybin CF, Headley 3B, Alonso 1B, Kotsay LF, Hudson 2B, Baker C, Bartlett SS, Suppan P

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 8, 2012

LET THE WILD BASEBALL RUMPUS BEGIN!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

P.S. Alex Hinshaw got promoted from AAA Tucson today to join the big league club. GO AZTECS!!

Coming off a sweep at the hands of the Marlins, our Padres will try to right the ship as they welcome the Rockies to Petco Park for a three-game series. After this past weekend, our rotation is under some pressure to work deeper into games. Not only did we lose our closer to the DL, but our rookie-laden bullpen is taxed after having to pitch into the 12th inning on Saturday.

Edinson Volquez toes the rubber today in his seventh start of the season and his fifth career start against Colorado. He is coming off a great start, in which he pitched seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and two walks. However, a lack of run support got him his fourth no-decision of the season and has him yet again seeking that elusive first win tonight. Volquez has improved a lot since the beginning of the season and has put up solid performances with nothing to show for it, so we really need our offense to figure something out and work themselves out of this losing streak.

They will be facing rookie southpaw Drew Pomeranz, who is coming off his longest outing (6.2 innings) against the Dodgers. He allowed just one run on four hits, but was also plagued by a lack of run support and ended up with the no-decision. Pomeranz is also looking for his first win of the season as he takes on San Diego. But he'll have confidence in the fact that the Rockies have won 12 of their last 16 in San Diego and took 2 of 3 from our Padres last month in Colorado. It'll be up to our lineup to shake that confidence and find a way to get some runs on the board.

#Padres lineup: Denorfia RF, Maybin CF, Headley 3B, Guzman LF, Alonso 1B, Hundley C, Hudson 2B, Bartlett SS, Volquez P. v. #Rockies

— Andy Masur (@PadsCast) May 7, 2012

Both of these teams are coming off weekend three-game sweeps and are looking for redemption coming into this series. The Rockies gave up 29 runs over the weekend in their series against the Braves, so they're hoping to take advantage of Petco Park's pitcher-friendly atmosphere to shut down the Padres offense. This should be an interesting series but I think our Padres can put up a good fight.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Despite Clayton Richard's solid effort yesterday, our Padres could not come up with an answer on offense against Mark Buehrle. It took 116 pitches in a span of just 2 hours and 18 minutes for Buehrle to pitch a complete game while allowing just one run on five hits and two walks. After a 12-inning affair on Friday night, both teams needed their pitchers to go deep into yesterday's game, and everything was looking good as Richard and Buehrle took a 1-1 tie going into the eighth inning. But Richard couldn't keep it going and had to hand it over to the bullpen, but remained on the hook for two more earned runs in the eighth. The Marlins then scored an insurance run in the ninth with a solo homer off Miles Mikolas, who was making his big league debut, and our Padres failed to answer back.

Today, we will try to avoid the sweep with rookie Joe Wieland on the mound looking for his first win of the season. In his last start, Weiland struck out a career-high eight batters, but gave up five runs in five innings for the loss. In that start, he was roughed up by Ryan Braun, who had a 4-for-5 night including three homers (two off of Wieland) and a triple. Today he will need to find a way to shut down Giancarlo Stanton, who homered yesterday and has hit safely in his last eight consecutive games.

Making the start for Miami will be Ricky Nolasco. He is coming off a great start in San Francisco, where he allowed just one run on seven hits in 7.1 innings of work. Nolasco boasts a 3-1 record at Petco Park and hopes to tack on another win today to give the Marlins a sweep.

Miami is riding a five-game win streak so hopefully we can put together a solid performance today and snap it. But as fans, I think we should do everything we can to help out our Padres, so for the love of the Friar, can we please get 20 Gaslamp Ballers to comment before first pitch? [Record when this happens: 2-0; Record when this doesn't happen: 0-2].

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

A disappointing night for our Padres last night means we need this win more than ever. Hopefully Clayton Richard can get us back in the win column tonight as we take on the Marlins in game 2 of the series.

After a nearly-five-hour battle last night, we need Clayton to go deep tonight (TWSS). After losing his last three starts, he will be looking to redeem himself and lead our Padres to a victory and bring them to a rubber match tomorrow. He has only pitched against the Marlins one other time in his career, back in 2010, and he earned the win, so he will try to remain undefeated.

Pitching opposite Richard will be Mark Buehrle, who is seeing the Padres for the second time in his career as well. Buehrle has a 1-4 record, but has pitched well.

Alright, guys. Last night we got some indisputable proof that the game thread superstition is a real thing. So I'm gonna make sure to schedule this game thread to post an hour early as usual so we can get 20 of you Gaslamp Ballers to comment before first pitch. Because last night that didn't happen and look at the result. We can't let that happen again tonight. I've come to hate losing streaks, as well as series losses, even more than I had before. We need to win tonight. MFMWG.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! Be safe and ktf!!

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Fresh off our first series win of the season, our Padres take on the Marlins and hope to extend their winning streak behind Anthony Bass. Since moving into the rotation, Bass has improved greatly. He has pitched 23 1/3 innings , struck out 27 batters, and walked 10. In his most recent start, he went a career-high eight innings and limited the Giants to two runs while striking out eight.

Pitching opposite Bass will be Josh Johnson, who hopes to earn his first win of the season. His last outing wasn't so great. He pitched 5 1/3 innings in which he gave up five earned runs on ten hits.

Our Padres have played well the last couple of games. Also, Padres pitchers haven't allowed a run in 18 innings, so hopefully Anthony Bass can keep that streak going.

#Padres lineup: Venable 9, Kotsay 7, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hundley 2, Hudson 4, Maybin 8, Bartlett 6, Bass 1.

— Follow The Padres (@FollowThePadres) May 4, 2012

Let's stir fry these fish in our wok.

We go on, 'til the break of dawn. Mowin' down Marlins like we mowin' O-Dog's lawn.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!! DO IT FOR MCA!!

Off days are the worst. Especially after a game like last night's, which ranked first on the Padres 2012 Game Rankings. So I was trying to decide how I was going to distract myself from a Padres-baseball-less day/night, and I figured I would see what some of our Padres did to take advantage of their off day.

A lot of Padres spent their day in Camp Pendleton.

Anthony Bass, Yonder Alonso, Andy Parrino, and Kyle Blanks spent their off day suiting up with the marines.

#Padres @YonderalonsoU @AnthonyBass45 Parrino & Blanks w/marines & Maj. Gen. Bailey at Camp Pendleton on their off day twitter.com/Padres/status/…

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 3, 2012

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Jeff Suppan will face his former team today in his Padres debut. With Cory Luebke missing his start due to a sore elbow, Suppan was called up to fill his spot in the rotation.

Yovani Gallardo will make the start for the Brewers and try to rebound from an awful start in which he allowed eight runs on eight hits in just two innings.

#Padres lineup vs. #Brewers: Venable 9, Kotsay 7, Headley 5, Alonso 3, Hudson 4, Maybin 8, Baker 2, Parrino 6, Suppan 1.

— Follow The Padres (@FollowThePadres) May 2, 2012

B Cres will be filling Petco Park with some awesome organ music again today. Also, since we won yesterday, I'm gonna need 20 people to comment before first pitch again. Keep the streak going, Gaslamp Ballers! Organ magic and superstitions should help us win, right?

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!! WIN FOR JUNIOR!!