Padres take 2 of 3 from the Nats, and are out of the cellar

Padres win 5-2

Credit where it's due during the rubber match goes to Will Ledezma for starters. He's taken over Peavy's spot in the rotation, and those are large shoes to fill. Some might suggest that he's been on the short end of the stick during a couple of his starts getting no run support or poor defense behind him in essence wasting a solid outing. Well it looked like that was going to be the case once again on Thursday under the sun at Petco.
Ledezma went 5 strong innings giving up only 2 hits, 3 walks, and K'd 7, and got the ND when the bullpen allowed the Nats to tie the game in the 7th. That's when it looked like the Padres were going to waste another great start and role over for the loss.

In the 8th inning, with the game tied at two, Jody Gerut was brought in to pinch hit with two runners on, and promptly sent a ball about 18 rows deep in the RF stands. It was Gerut's 2nd HR of the season, and he's really making a case for himself as the everyday starting CFer for this team. I think the only question left is do they sign him now to a multi-year deal, or wait 'til the end of the season when he might cost even more. His HR put the Friars up by 3, and instantly Hoffman was on his feet, and warming up. The bells tolled, the batters fell, and Hoffy notched Save 11/535 in typical dominating fashion.

This win takes the Padres out of last place in the NLWest and into 4th place. Amazingly enough Friar fans, it's conceivable for the Padres to be in 3rd place by the end of the weekend, but they Giants also are playing pretty good ball right now, so lets hope they take their hot bats on the road, where they typically hit even better than they do in Petco.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Washington	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0		2	4	0
San Diego	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	X		5	9	0

Play Ball !!