Correia gets pounded in Padres loss - again

Monday June 1, 2009

Kevin Correia gave up two huge blasts to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to start the 5th inning and the Padres lost to the Phillies 5-3 tonight in San Diego.

Correia gave up 10 hits and 4 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings with 5 k's to raise his ERA to 5.37 on the season. Reliever Luke Gregerson gave up his first earned run since giving up 3 on May 9th.

In the lone bright spots for the Padres, Adrian Gonzalez hit his league leading 21st home run and Scott Hairston followed it up with his 8th blast of the season in the bottom of the 6th to pull the Padres within a run. That was as close as they would get and former Padre Shane Victorino would drive in an insurance run for the Phillies in the 8th.

If Adrian Gonzalez played in any of the major cities of MLB he would be voted in as the All Star 1st baseman. He is hitting an astounding 1 home run for every 9 at bats. He is on pace for 66 home runs this season. That is made all the more astounding by two facts. 1- He plays half his game in Petco, the place home runs go to die. 2 - There is no one to protect him in the Padres lineup so teams are simply pitching around him half of the time.

Folks, one big bat in the lineup and this guy could hit 50 every year. He is THAT good. So enjoy him while you can. Some team is going to offer the Padres a whole minor league team for him soon and he will be playing in New York or Boston or some other big market.

Chase Headley got another night on the bench. He is struggling mightily, having struck out 49 times in 161 abs while hitting just .236/.309/.366/.675 with just 4 home runs. Hardly the hitter the Padres were expecting when they called him up last year.

You have got to wonder how long it will be before he is back in AAA trying to hone his hitting and Macias will be back in San Diego as the 4th outfielder?