As Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn celebrated the eve of their induction into Cooperstown, Greg Maddux and the San Diego Padres were playing game two in a series against the Astros.
The Padres scored an unearned run in the first but the Astros batteled back and struck for three in the bottom of the inning including a two run shot by Carlos Lee.
Maddux lasted 6 innings and after the first held the Astros in check. Pitching five strong innings to finish the game. Oswalt on the other hand last 7 innings and allowed just 3 hits. The Padre’ bats were no match.
Oswalt improved to his 10th win of the season. Maddux fell to 7-8 with a 4.20 ERA. Maddux finishes July 0-4.
A reminder that the Padres/Astros game on Saturday will be on Fox today.
Maddux will be looking for his 8th win of the season and Roy Oswalt will be looking for his tenth.
The Padres also acquired Scott Hairston from the Diamondbacks yesterday, though he is currently not listed on the active roster. Hairston is the younger brother of Texas Ranger infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston. He was hitting .222/.301/.358 in 76 games for the Diamondbacks.
When Greg Maddux takes the mound in Houston today he will be looking for his first win in six starts. Despite leaving with leads in his last two starts he has been stuck on 341 wins. Reports are that Maddux has increased movement on his pitches of late and appears to be geared up for a strong finish.
Going for the Astros will be Roy Oswalt (9-6, 3.80) Oswalt missed his last start due to soreness in his upper chest. Oswalt won 55 games from 2004-2006 and is 6-1 with a 2.44 ERA in his career against the Padres. In addition he is 6-1 with a 2.48 ERA on the year.
While the Padres are 1.5 games out of the west, the Asros are 13 games under .500 and appear to be ready to unload a few older players such as Mike Lamb, Dan Wheeler and Morgan Ensberg.
Despite leaving with a 5-2 lead after six innings Greg Maddux was denied his 341st win for the 5th time.
Milton Bradley hit a three run homer in the 5th to propell the Padres to the lead and Maddux allowed five hits and struck out two before departing.
The Padres held the lead until the 8th when reliever Scott Linebrink allowed four runs to score on homers from Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe. It was the sixth blown save for Linebrink and drops him to 3-3 on the season.
Taylor Buchholz picked up the win in relief for the Rockies, his fifth. Manny Corpas struck out two in the 9th to nail down his fifth save of the season.
Here’s the word from mlb.com about Greg’s next start Monday in Colorado.
Padres:: Maddux threw five shutout innings against the Mets on Wednesday, but he didn’t a decision, which is good news after lossing three consecutive games. The veteran right-hander allowed four hits and tied his season-high strikeout total with six. He threw just 65 pitches, 49 for strikes, and said he was mentally burned out by the time he exited the game. Maddux felt like his left hamstring was cramping after he ran to first base a couple times, said it was feeling better after the game.
Rockies: Francis has struggled with his fastball command of late, and it’s led to some poor outings. But on Wednesday afternoon against the Pirates, he took advantage of their aggressiveness by throwing offspeed stuff — even when behind in the count — limiting Pittsburgh to two runs and six hits over seven innings while striking out six.
Greg Maddux was forced to leave his start due to a tweaked hamstrain. Maddux is not expected to miss anytime due to the injury.
He lasted 5 innings allowing 4 hits and striking out 6 leavin with a 4-0 lead. The bullpen was unable to hold the lead though as Royce Ring served up a homer to Carlos Delgado and Scott Linebrink gave up one to David Wright.
The Padres did get the win as Linebrink was created with a w after the team scored in the bottom of the 8th. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 26th save of the season.
Maddux’s next start will come against the Colorado Rockies.
Here’s wha mlb.com had to say about Maddux’s next start Wednesday July 18.
John Maine -Mets: Maine got off to a rocky start on Friday against the Reds, allowing a double, a single, a walk and a grand slam to the first four batters he faced, ending his four-game winning streak. Maine struck out three and walked three, tossing just 4 2/3 innings before leaving the game.
Greg Maddux - Padres: Maddux’s career-long struggles against the D-backs continued Friday, when he gave up four runs on nine hits in four innings. After retiring the first two batters in the contest, Maddux gave up hits to the next five, with three runs crossing the plate. The right-hander has now lost three straight starts, over which he has compiled an 8.80 ERA. Before that stretch, Maddux had gone 3-1 with a 2.82 ERA over six consecutive quality starts.
This time when Greg Maddux faces his old team he’ll do so against Kyle Davies. Maddux was charged with six earned runs in 6 1/3 innings in his last start.
Davies (3-7, 5.85) gave up five earned runs in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, lasting just 2 innings.
Personally I never have a good feeling about Greg’s line when he’s facing a former team.
Greg Maddux was cruising along when the 7th arrived. The Padres had just taken a 4-2 lead and Maddux looked on the verge of his 5th win in 6 decisions.
Miguel Olivo singled to start the inning. After Todd Linden hit a deep fly ball for out number one, Maddux hung a pitch that Hanley Ramirez deposited into the stands. After allowing a single to Alfredo Amezaga and a double to Dan Uggla, Maddux was lifted Cla Meredith.
Meredith intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera before Royce Ring came into replace him. Ring struck tou Mike Jacobs before throwing a wild pitch allowing Amezaga to score, intentionally walking Josh Willingham and then walking Jeremy Hermida giving the Marlins a 6-4 lead.
Marlins closer Kevin Gregg picked up his 16th save of the season by striking out the side in the 9th.
