Padres lose on a walk off home run by Ibanez

Sunday April 19, 2009

The Padres lost today 5-4 against the Philadelphia Phillies in pretty much the same way they have been winning on this road trip. The other team fought back from an early deficit to win late.

The Phillies got down 4-0 early and just kept chipping away. Utley hit a 2 run shot in the 6th after a Luis Rodriguez error to make it 4-2 Padres. The Phillies got another run back on a lead off home run by Jimmy Rollins in the 8th and in the 9th Ryan Howard hit a bloop single to center and Raul Ibanez followed with a blast to RF off the Padres Edwin Moreno.

Moreno was pitching in the save opportunity for the Padres because Heath Bell had pitched and saved the previous 3 games.

That is why you can never take a lead for granted regardless of the size, big or small.

It is also why Bud Black did exactly the right thing bringing in Heath Bell with a 3 run lead last night even though he had pitched the 2 previous games.

One of the oldest tenets in sports is to take care of today's game and get the win now. Let tomorrow take care of itself.

The Padres are still 2-1 on the road against the defending World Series Champion Phillies and 4-2 on this east coast swing to the 2 highest rated teams in the NL to start the season.

The Padres at 9-4 are only a game behind the Dodgers who have been red hot at home.