Blanks hit a three-run home run today. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Just as they did last night, the Padres seized a lead over the Diamondbacks after a towering three-run home run.  The only difference was that it was Kyle Blanks who played the hero today instead of Yasmani Grandal.

Blanks’ three-run dinger broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth, and the win earlier today nudged the Padres over the .500 mark for the year.

San Diego finally broke through in the eighth after most of their hitters failed to do anything versus Ian Kennedy and Arizona’s bullpen.  In fact, outside of Will Venable’s monster home run to right-center field in the bottom of the third, only Everth Cabrera (3-4 today) appeared to be locked-in at the plate.

“Cabby” actually got the rally going with one out in that particular frame when he singled to right field off of David Hernandez.  After Alexi Amarista failed to move Cabrera over, Chase Headley kept the inning alive with a walk.

I might be a Padres fan, but the pitch that sent Headley to first with a full-count might very well have been a strike.  Thankfully, Headley’s walk gave Blanks his chance and number 88 drilled a pitch close to one of the porches attached to the Western Metal Supply building.

Blanks however was not the only star of today’s game.  In fact, probably the biggest reason why San Diego was deadlocked in a 1-1 tie to begin with in the bottom of the eighth was because of Clayton Richard’s terrific work on the mound.

Before this afternoon, the veteran left-hander’s only win of the season came in relief duty when he was forced to pitch in San Diego’s 17th inning marathon against Toronto.  Richard had probably underachieved more than any of the Padres’ regular starters this season, and he was definitely due for a strong performance.

Overall, Clayton pitched to contact masterfully and took full advantage of Arizona’s over-aggressiveness at the plate.  While he was not particularly overpowering (one strikeout), he still managed to scatted seven hits and allowed only one run during eight solid innings of work.  An outing like this should be a huge confidence boost for Richard, and hopefully a spring-board for later success this season.

As I mentioned before, this victory was not only the Padres’ sixth in a row, but pushed them over the .500 mark for the first time since April of 2011.  Now that the Friars are only two games out of first place in the N.L. West though, it is not time for them to rest on their laurels.  Tomorrow San Diego will begin the first of a three game series against the Giants, and I hope that they can come up with another sweep against another divisional foe.

Volquez won his fifth game of 2013 today. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Break out those brooms, Friars fans!

Earlier this afternoon, the Padres defeated the Braves 5-3 thanks to a solid outing by Edinson Volquez and a big first inning.

While he has been inconsistent all season long, Volquez pitched very well today.  The right-hander scattered six hits and one run over seven innings as he kept the Braves’ strong lineup in check.  Best of all though, Volquez stayed out of trouble enough and maintained his control throughout the game as he recorded nine strikeouts and only three walks.

The top of the Padres’ lineup jumped on Paul Maholm today and gave Volquez plenty of cushion to work with in the bottom of the first frame.  Atlanta’s starter had some issues with control and walked in San Diego’s first run after he loaded the bases.  The Friars then plated two more runs when Logan Forsythe, who enjoyed a terrific 2013 debut over the last three games, smacked a single up the middle.

In the bottom of the fifth, San Diego plated two much needed insurance runs to take a 5-1 lead.  Everth Cabrera laced a one out single and then stole his 30th base of the season with Chris Denorfia at the plate.  Not content to just knock Cabrera in, “Deno” slugged a two-run home run to left field off of Maholm!  The blast was huge, especially because the Friars’ bullpen made things extremely interesting over the game’s final two innings.

The score remained 5-1 until Justin Upton slugged a solo home run in the top of the eighth off of Joe Thatcher.  Then the Braves scored another with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a Jordan Schafer single.  Luckily, Nick Vincent finally put out the fire that Luke Gregerson and Tom Layne started earlier in the inning when he eventually struck out Upton (Justin) to end the game with guys on first and third.

San Diego’s bullpen is really missing Huston Street at the back end, and his replacements’ collective performance has been erratic at best since their regular closer went on the Disabled List.  The fact that potential winning runs are even allowed to come up to the plate in an inning in which the Friars have a three-run cushion is a bit ridiculous.  Thankfully, the Friars’ bullpen held tough enough to nail down the victory today.

Complaints about the bullpen aside, this was a huge sweep for San Diego.  Not only did they win three games in a row and inch closer to the .500 mark (32-34), they proved that they could hang tough with one of the National League’s best teams.

On Friday, the Padres will begin a three-game series against another top National League team in the form of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.  So get excited, Padres fans!

Stults had a terrific start this evening. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

After last night’s valiant comeback fell short, the Friars nutted up this evening in Denver and emerged victorious over the Rockies by a score of 4-2.

San Diego got all of the runs they needed to in the first four innings of the game with some timely hitting and another towering home run by Kyle Blanks.  Everth Cabrera, who had three hits in the game and pushed his batting average to the .300 mark for the season, scored on a Chase Headley single in the top of the first to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.

Then after the Rockies tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third on a throwing error by Yasmani Grandal, Blanks came through in the top of the fourth with a two-run home run to push the Friars in front.  The home run itself was pretty cool to watch as Blanks powered the pitch to left field and off of the foul pole.  Later in the frame, Cabrera also added a run-scoring “excuse-me bloop” double for an important insurance run.

Of course, San Diego never would have been able to climb out to an early lead had it not been for the effectiveness of Eric Stults.  The veteran left-hander worked seven strong innings, scattered seven hits, allowed only two runs and struck out four as he notched his fifth win of the season.  Credit must also go to Dale Thayer who pitched a one-hit eighth inning, and to Luke Gregerson who pitched an effective albeit overly-exciting final frame after he put the first two hitters on base.  Thankfully, Colorado’s hitters just could not find a way to come through when things mattered the most as they finished a dreadful 0-15 with runners in scoring position!

The Padres did not play “lights out” by any stretch of the phrase though as their defense committed three errors.  In addition to Grandal’s run-scoring mishap, Stults botched a pickoff and Cabrera screwed up a throw as well.  Still, the guys made the plays they needed to when it counted, especially Jedd Gyorko‘s nab of a line-drive in the bottom of the ninth.

Nit-picking aside, the Friars nailed down another road win against a division opponent which is what is truly important.  Tomorrow they will send Jason Marquis to the mound to nail down a series-win, and hopefully all will go well for San Diego’s leader in wins.