The first few months of Padres baseball featured the worst Padres squad I have ever seen. The team was forced to start pitchers like Jeff Suppan and Kip Wells, and the team was out of the pennant race before the calendar switched to June. Being drunk should have been a prerequisite to watching a Friars game in those awful two months.

September 23, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley (7) hits the ball against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at AT

The team has played solid baseball since June, and I am sad to see the season winding down. There have been a lot of positive signs that point to the Padres having success in 2013.

Chase Headley has emerged as one of the best third baseman in all of baseball — and he is still under team control for two more seasons. The Padres have actually resigned some of their most important players, have developed a very good farm system, and have a new ownership group in place.

Sure, the Padres are still the 4th best team in this division, but with a few moves in the offseason, there is no reason why this team cannot contend next year. So we wait for next April to roll around, in hopes that our Padres will contend. Hey, there’s always next year.

July 21, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Kip Wells (60) takes a deep breath during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at PETCO Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Wells, who is 35, went 2-4 with a 4.58 ERA in seven starts for the Padres. He had more walks (20) than he did strikeouts (19) in his 37.1 innings of work. Wells signed a minor league contract with the Padres on May 8, and was only expected to provide minor league depth. Injuries necessitated his presence in San Diego.

Wells has a career record of 69-103, in parts of 12 Major League seasons. According to Baseball reference, he has made over $17 million in his career.

The Padres announced that Eric Stults will take Wells’ place in the rotation.

San Diego got out to the early lead in the first inning when Chase Headley hit his 13th home run of the year — a new career-high. The good times and the lead were short-lived, however.

July 21, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley (7) after contact during the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at PETCO Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

The Reds bounced back with three in their half of the first off of Padres starter Kip Wells. Ludwick capped off the scoring with a two-run shot, his 19th of the year. Ludwick has two home runs and 10 RBI’s in the first three games of the series.

The Padres took the lead back in the 4th inning, on an RBI single by Will Venable, and an RBI infield single by Chase Headley. The runs would be all the Padres could muster.

Cincinnati scored two in the fifth, including the go-ahead single from Ryan Ludwick. The runs came off of Kip Wells, who gave up five runs in 4.1 innings.

The Reds bullpen kept the Padres in check, and fireballer Aroldis Chapman pitched a spotless ninth for his 23rd save of the seasin.