In the roller coaster that is this year’s National League West division, June saw the Padres playing nearly everyone but their division rivals, yet here we are at the start of July and San Diego is once again back on top, by a half-game, as of July 1.
While the team started off the month with a tumultuous road swing through Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, then hosting Florida, in which the Friars picked up only four wins in 10 games, once again they found their form while hosting the Dodgers and notching wins against interleague opponents to finish out the month.
They won series against the Angels, Rangers and A’s, while coming away with just one win hosting the Mariners on a Brian Giles 10th-inning base it.
Unfortunately for San Diego, the Padres’ good form couldn’t go toward playing any other National League West teams, but a win is a win and they’ll take it.
Currently every team except Arizona is still above .500, and last place is only three games behind first.
The Padres owe a lot of this success to pitcher Chris Young, the 6-foot-10-inch pitcher who had a tremendous month of June. At Pittsburgh on June 4, he held the Pirates hitless into the sixth inning and allowed only two hits after that. He then recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts, allowed only one run and hit a triple in his next start at Petco on June 9, as San Diego won 3-2 for Young’s third straight win.
Both of these starts followed his no-hitter through seven innings on May 30, in which he left the game allowing only that one hit in the eighth inning to go with his eight strikeouts against the Rockies. He has pitched just as well since then, going 4-0 with an ERA of 0.93, which just earned him National League Pitcher of the Month for June.
As for the rest of the bullpen, closer Trevor Hoffman recorded eight saves in nine opportunities in June, giving him 20 on the year for a career total of 456. He now trails the all-time saves leader Lee Smith ” who has 478 ” by only 22 saves. Hoffman has been selected for the National League All Star team.
While Jake Peavy didn’t have the best of months with three losses in five starts, the good news is that Woody Williams was taken off the disabled list on July 1 against the Giants after blowing out his calf at Wrigley Field in May. He allowed only one run in six innings, with four strikeouts and no walks.
Left fielder Dave Roberts, however, injured himself when he slid into the outfield wall at Angels Stadium in May chasing a line drive. While the upper portion of fence is padded, the bottom is bare concrete, which banged up his knee. However, X-rays were negative, and he’s listed as day-to-day. Despite the mishap, Roberts remains errorless in 57 games and the Padres will need him to return with his .295 batting average and National League co-leading eight triples.
Meanwhile, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez turned it on in June, hitting .330 with a slugging percentage of .560.
Regarding the catching trio of Mike Piazza, Josh Bard and Rob Bowen, Bard is hitting .390 for the year and got off to a good start in July as he went 2-for-3 and 3-for-4 against the Giants so far. Piazza batted .306 in June with four home runs. Bowen has not been a factor.
Coming up for the Padres in July, a road swing through Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., precedes the All Star break. Their only home stand will see them host the Braves and Phillies July 14-19, before traveling through San Francisco, Los Angeles and Colorado.