The depleted Jays travel down the Pacific Coast Highway (metaphorically, at least) to sunny San Diego for a three-game set. It'll be the first-ever meeting between these two franchises in meaningful games; does anyone know if they've ever even met in the spring?
The Padres also enter the game on a lengthy skid, going just 2-7 against the AL East thus far, including an embarrassing home sweep at the hands of the Devil Rays. Sadly, we know how that feels. Although San Diego began interleague play within percentage points of the division lead, they now sit third in the wide-open NL West. The Jays could continue to do the Giants favours by taking a couple at brand-new Petco Park.
This edition of the Scout includes a very familiar face gearing up to face his old club tonight, a slugger trying to slug again, and the #1 overall picks from both the 1992 and 2004 entry drafts. And check out the eerie final bullet!
On to the Advance Scout!
* Some good news for the Jays: The Padres have dropped their last five series-opening games at home ... The Petco faithful showered the Friars with boos throughout their sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay ... Adam Eaton: "If something can go wrong it's going to go wrong" ... We can relate, Adam ...
* Loud-mouthed David Wells will be tonight's starter ... In addition to the unpleasantness of having to watch him pitch tonight, he's also been excellent of late ... Since coming off the disabled list with a cut right wrist, he's pitched 12 2/3 scoreless innings against some fearsome competition -- but only has two hard-luck no-decisions to show for it ... Upon his return from the disabled list, he was taken out of a 0-0 game at Fenway Park after throwing just 81 pitches, in a game which Pedro and the Sox won 1-0. Bruce Bochy was concerned about the hefty lefty's endurance after being out of action for so long ... Then, in his return to Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Boomer went seven innings of five-hit ball, leaving with a 2-0 lead. But the usually reliable Trevor Hoffman gagged up the lead, and San Diego lost 6-5 in extras ... Always a control freak, Wells hasn't walked a batter since coming off the DL. In fact, he's walked just seven men in 62 2/3 innings, and none since May 11 ... Frankly, David Wells should be a part of the curse-lifting ceremony ... The thing is, he himself might be cursed. Some might call it karma, but it's a little crazy that Boomer has received just 14 runs of actual support (that is, runs scored while he's still in the game) in his ten starts combined ...
* The first overall selection in 1992, Phil Nevin, has not found spacious Petco Park to his liking ... The slugger is hitting just .241/.346/.375 at home this season, with just three homers ... He's been crushing lefties this season in any park, though, to the tune of .387/.486/.613 ...
* Brian Giles is also going through a power outage of sorts. He's gone deep in just one of his last 22 games ... Like most Padre bats, his has been cold in June. The Friars need better production than .217/.250/.267 ...
* Rookie shortstop Khalil Greene is 1 for his last 11 (.091) ... Although he certainly hasn't embarrassed himself at the plate this year, his 51 strikeouts are pretty high for a middle infielder slugging .381 ... He's struck out 11 times in his last seven games ...
* Nineteen of Kerry Robinson's twenty hits have been singles ... With three walks and three RBI in 67 official at-bats, Robinson's batting average of .299 is pretty empty (.299/.329/.313) ...
* Righty short man Scott Linebrink has blown leads in two of his last three outings ... Linebrink's rocky four-run, five hit inning against the Rays on Wednesday swelled his ERA from 1.70 to 2.61 in one fell swoop ...
* Long man Jay Witasick has been solid this season out of the pen ... He's fanned 34 batters in 34 1/3 innings, and his tough slider has limited righthanded opponents to just a .217 batting average ...
* Jay Payton has hit in five of his last six, but his June (.204/.228/.259) has been disappointing, especially considering his red-hot May ... He's homered just once in his last 32 games, as evidenced by his .394 slugging percentage ... Appropriately, the patient Payton has been moved up in the order and out of a run-producing spot in the order ... Though he prefers to hit second, he's ready for the challenge of leading off: "Hopefully, I'll get on and be a catalyst" ...
* Veteran infielder Mark Loretta comes into this series as one of the few red-hot Padres ... He's on an 11-game hitting streak (.391) ... Although his defence hasn't been what it usually is this season, his .318/.369/.452 production is excellent for a top-of-the-order hitter ... Loretta has 27 multi-hit games this season ...
* Another hot hitter is ex-Athletic Ramon Hernandez, who's hit in eight of his last nine (.382) ... The Venezuelan ought to be a tough out tonight, considering how he's mauled lefthanded pitching (.342/.457/.658) ... Kevin Towers is happy with his hitting, but ecstatic with his defensive contributions behind the plate: "A large part of [the Padres' pitching success] is our guys have good stuff, but Ramon has made them even better. Sometimes, I don't think a good catcher gets the credit he should" ...
* After four straight years in double digits, Terrence Long has zero home runs this season in 123 at-bats ...
* Closer Trevor Hoffman had converted fourteen consecutive save opportunities, until the ghosts of Yankee Stadium haunted him on Sunday ... Trusted with Boomer's 2-0 lead in the ninth, Hoffman gave up back-to-back home runs to Hideki Matsui and -- gasp -- Kenny Lofton ... Incredibly, those were his first and second home runs allowed of the season ... On the year, Hoffman has walked just three batters in 21 innings pitched ... Hoffman is the lone Padre remaining from the 1998 NL championship club ...
* Rod Beck fared even worse than Hoffman on Sunday ... In the twelfth inning, the Padres struck for three runs. Beck then gave four right back on three hits and a walk in a third of an inning to lose the game ... Beck on the Yankees' double comeback against himself and Hoffman: "They just took 700 saves and put them in the laundry" ... Pitching coach Darren Balsley's brief advice to Beck and Hoffman after Sunday: "Don't dwell on it" ... In his nine appearances since coming off the DL, opponents have been hitting .314 against the 35-year-old ... I bet you thought he was older than that, didn't you? ...
* If not for bad luck, tomorrow's starter, Dennis Tankersley, would have none ... Simply put, his teammates have neither supported him with the bat nor with the glove. In his last three starts, he's lost 4-3 (all runs unearned), 3-1 (one run unearned) and 3-2 ... The highly-touted Tankersley has dropped eight straight decisions since his last -- and only -- big league win, in May of 2002 ... Tank has struck out an impressive 21 in 20 1/3 innings this year, including nine Brewers in a game in May ...
* Burly rookie outfielder Jon Knott went 3-for-5 against the Devil Rays with two doubles for his first three major league hits ...
* Miguel Ojeda, a native of Sonora, Mexico, isn't playing all that far from home ... A good receiver, his hitting has been backup-catcherrific at .235/.280/.338 ...
* Ryan Klesko returned on Wednesday from the DL, where he was nursing a strained oblique ... A fantasy bust this season, he's homered only once all year in 121 at-bats. ... He's blamed the park, but he shouldn't: The avid surfer is hitting just .250/.352/.333 away from home, with zero longballs ... Klesko claimed to have been psyched out after hitting three warning-track fly balls in the home opener that would have left the yard at Qualcomm ... Klesko's attempting to regain his line-drive swing, from which he hopes power will come ... Bruce Bochy is optimistic, noting that Klesko was hitting the ball with more authority during his Peoria rehab assignment than he had been all season ... Nevin: "When he's healthy, Ryan hits the ball harder than anyone in the league" ... But he's only gone deep three times since the '03 All-Star Game ...
* Sunday's starter, Brian Lawrence, has been the anti-Wells -- and not just because he's a comparatively slight 195 pounds ... While Wells has been cursed with feeble run support, Lawrence has benefited from a strong attack, contributing to his 8-4 record ... He had made three consecutive excellent starts before the D-Rays tagged him for five runs on eight hits in five innings on Tuesday ... Lawrence on that start: "I definitely didn't have the sharpness on my pitches" ... He's also been effective in getting out of jams. Opponents hit .324 off him with the bases empty, .273 with men on generally, and just .239 with runners in scoring position ...
* What a bargain Akinori Otsuka has been ... He's held 17 of the 18 leads with which he has been entrusted ... And you can't beat the price: $700,000 this season, $800,000 next season and a team option for 2006. The transfer fee was just $350,000 ...
* Jake Peavy's strained flexor tendon in his pitching forearm is responding well to treatment, but he's still about two weeks away ... The emerging sinkerballer felt good after throwing about thirty pitches in the bullpen earlier in the week ...
* Kevin Towers has been candid about why he didn't draft Stephen Drew: His demand for a major-league contract ... Towers gave a big-league deal to another Boras draftee, Xavier Nady -- and his salary for a 0-to-3 player has made Nady basically untradeable ... So local boy, Matt Bush, got the nod. He signed immediately for a bonus of $3.15M ... Bush wowed the Padres with his throwing arm from the hole at short ... Giles jokingly chided Bush for his breach of pregame etiquette: "Obviously there's going to be a lot of learning for him at every level...The biggest adjustment is going to be that when you're in the first group of hitters in batting practice, you're supposed to take six swings, not twelve swings" ...
* Can the Jays' curse all be the Padres' fault? ... This season, the Padres have really picked their spots with scheduling. They've faced the Expos without Everett and Johnson; the Mets without Floyd and Reyes; the Braves without Chipper, Furcal, Giles and Drew; the Cubs without Sosa, Prior and Wood; the Phillies without Thome and Wagner; the Rockies without Helton, Wilson and Walker; and the Red Sox without Nomar and Nixon. Now, it's the Jays without Delgado and Wells ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
5 Burroughs
4 Loretta
9 Giles
3 Nevin
8 Payton
7 Knott
2 Hernandez
6 Greene
1 [pitcher]
vs. RH
8 Payton/Robinson
5 Burroughs
4 Loretta
9 Giles
3 Nevin
7 Klesko
2 Hernandez/Ojeda
6 Greene
1 [pitcher]
Pitching Probables
Friday: LH Wells vs. Lilly
Saturday: RH Tankersley vs. Towers
Sunday: RH Lawrence vs. Batista
Bullpen Usage
Long: Neal R, Witasick R
Short: Linebrink R, Sweeney R
Setup: Beck R, Otsuka R
Closer: Hoffman R
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