Saturday, August 08, 2009

Latos K's 7k in 4th win as a Padre

Saturday August 8, 2009

Mat Latos continued to impress in his 5th start as a Padre, striking out 7 while only allowing 4 hits and 1 run in 6 full innings to earn his 4th win as the Padres defeated the Mets 3-1 at Petco Park tonight.

Latos only mistake was a fastball to the light hitting Alex Cora in the 1st inning, who connected for a solo shot to right center. After that Latos settled down and recorded five scoreless innings.

The Padres were once again in double digits for hits. This is the 2nd time in the past 3 games and 8th time in the past 13 games that the Padres have had 10 or more hits. That is a very encouraging stat for a team that plays in the hardest park in baseball to hit in and has the lowest batting average and runs scored in baseball.

Tonights game was not without controversy as Everth Cabrera was called out on a play that he was obviously safe at home plate.

The Padres bullpen was once again outstanding as 4 pitchers combined for 3 scoreless innings and Heath Bell earned his 28th save of the season.

Was Barksdale the Umpire In Colorado in 2007?

Saturday August 8, 2009

In the worst blown call by an umpire since game 163 in 2007 when Holliday never touched home plate, home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called Everth Cabrera out on a play in which he was clearly safe in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Manager Bud Black was thrown out of the game for arguing the call.

Now Black will be fined for being thrown out of the game. A MINIMUM of $25,000.

Will Barksdale be fined or be suspended because he missed such an obvious play that he was in the perfect position to see?

If the Padres lose the game by a single run will the commissioners office make the Mets come back and play it over from that point on?

Of course not. Umpires get to act with complete impunity. No matter how bad they are or the result of their mistakes, they cannot be punished in any way.

Its a joke.

There needs to be instant replay for plays like that. They did it for home runs, its time to add plays at the plate. Its also time to give managers a red flag so they can challenge any call.

I also think that in this case, Barksdale should pay Black's fine. It won't give the run back or the game back if it results in a Padres loss, but it would take some of the sting out of a horrid call by the umpire.

(note: If I mispelled anything sorry. No spell check on my Crackberry.)